New paintings and regular art updates.
I’m playing with Photodirector. This part of it is called ‘splash’.
You can outline an area and make the background black and white. Then I changed the hues in the app. The buddlea in our garden are a slightly more red colour. It’s also changed the green of the leaves slightly too.
I think people should play with different apps and learn how interesting they can make editing photos. Not just to enhance photos and airbrush them but to get creative and have fun.
The top image is a painting of my eyes reflected in various ways, the second has been adjusted in Photodirector that can change the style of your image and has lots of tools that I have used, but this is my favourite. It’s interesting to see how a painting can look if you were painting it in a different style. I don’t know if I could achieve this in actual paint. It also gives you new ideas that you could maybe use instead.
I do like experimenting with art. The original painting is a bit different. It was about looking into myself. Possibly a failed experiment. But I like it.
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Two of my old cats. From these you can see I’ve been interested in patterns and cats for a long time.
I did have a box kite someone made me for Christmas although I never actually flew it. The cat jumped into it and I drew a quick sketch. This was the result. I wish I had taken a photo. The other painting was my old cat lying on a colourful throw. She was very old when she passed away. In her twenties!
I’ve done many portraits of animals from photos but these are more personal and painterly. I also enjoyed playing with colours.
Three of the four kittens our female rescue cat had. This was three years ago. They went to new homes soon after this. I know they are happy and I’m glad we rehomed them. Six cats would really have been too much for us.
As it is our cats are starting to be introduced to the stray that has been hanging around for a couple of years. I managed to get both of ours down to the vets for their first inoculation. Now I’ve got to get the abandoned cats microchip changed and have him taken to the vets for a health check up and shots. Suddenly things are getting serious. We have decided he’s not spending another winter in the shed if our two will tolerate him. We are going to gradually introduce them to each other. I hope this will work out. X
Urban sketchers Stoke-on-Trent challenge today was to draw an animal. It was easy to choose my cat. He loves sitting in his box in the kitchen. He’s got a few boxes around the house he sleeps in. He likes putting his paws out and was after my pen as I started to draw him. He didn’t stay very still, but I’ve got a good idea of what he looks like.
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This was a mural I painted quite a few years ago of a local colliery at a place called Florence, near Longton, Stoke-on-Trent. I was commissioned to paint this as a piece for the working men’s club there back in the 1990’s. The image is based on various historical pictures and photos. I had fun putting it together. It took me about six weeks to complete during weekends and evenings. It was painted in the corridor inside then installed later. X
Pink lily, pink glass with grey shadow, lowering grey cloud. Just three things that I noticed today. Pink and Grey really do work well together. I’d say never be afraid to allow colours to clash. Enjoy what you do.
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I went out for a walk today up our steep hill and then called into the local pub to see our friends in the Boatband who were playing outside in the beer garden. We stayed to listen to the music, it was the first time we had been there since March. Everything was socially distanced with a one way system in the pub so you could use the facilities. The music was cajun. You can find them on YouTube. We had an excellent socially distanced afternoon although I drank far to much gin and tonic! (it’s taken me three goes to type something coherent here).
I went out to meet someone and saw a bank of weeds at the end of the carpark. There were some interesting flowers amongst the plants and the bees and hover flies were drinking at them. I recognised Himalayan balsam and Convolvulus, Dock weed and Teasle, Thistles and Ragweed (I think its called). I think it’s amazing how plants can push up through tarmac, live in walls, grow on cliff faces. Life will prevail!
I don’t put up pictures of myself very often. Why would you want to see me? I only had five hours sleep. I have pulled something in my arm, I think it’s a trapped nerve in my neck and I keep ending up in pain when I lie down. So if you will forgive me here I am. I’m tired and grumpy. I hope to get an appointment with a physio soon but there are not many appointments. I think I have what I’m calling lock down neck. My shoulders are constantly tense, tight and painful. I do feel like I have the weight of the world on my shoulders. Oh well….
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