Drawing faces

Posted on April 29, 2020April 29, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Black and white, Cartridge paper, Cross hatching, Drawing, Face, Life, Pen and ink, Renaissance, Sketch2 Comments

Last night I was watching a programme about the European renaissance. You know, one of those ones where you get a glimpse of paintings for a few seconds, before they are on to the next face or body. Impossible to draw a face from there.

One revelation was that the Greek and Roman statues would have had painted patterns and faces coloured when they were first carved. As the centuries between then and the renaissance passed, the colours would have faded or washed away. The response of sculptors like Michaelangelo was to carve their figures out of bright white carrera marble. Because what they were seeing coming out of the ground was sculptures that had lost their paint.

That is why I drew patterns and shade on this drawing, it’s an imagined figure. If I had some good colouring pencils I might colour it in… I will look.

Vehicle

Posted on April 29, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged #uskstoke, Art, Daily challenge, Drawing, Sketches, Staffordshire, Urban sketchers Stoke on trent6 Comments

I drew this today. Its part of the urban sketchers Stoke-on-Trent challenge day eleven. I think most people drew their cars outside their houses. Few are moving anywhere. Batteries will be going flat. Spark plugs are dry, oil has settled in the bottom of the engine.

The tree shaped marks on the drawing are the pattern on my net curtains. Well you can’t have people walking past and looking in, can you?

He won’t put books back!

Posted on April 29, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Annoyed, Bookcases, Books, Fun, Imagination, Life, Short story, untidy, Very short storyLeave a comment

We have bookcases, but the books from them are on the floor, on tables, on footstools, in flurries and drifts. So I asked him. Why won’t you put the books back? I will do, he snapped back. He is the one who puts them there, often opened and left unread.

When I change the bedsheets his side of the bed is six inches deep in books. I have to force my way through a tidal wave of them…

I plot now. I think about what to do. I want one of those camouflaged book cases, where you tilt a book back and a door opens. I would like that.

Open the door, fill it with books, or push him in and throw away the key. Oh don’t get me wrong, food would be delivered three times a day. There would be a laundry chute and a bathroom. A comfy chair and a bed. A secret trap door would be there to pass in things, or hook things out when he’s asleep. He would be happy, I would be able to tidy up….

Life goes on in lockdown. Ideas spring to mind. They are not serious.

I wish I was….

Posted on April 28, 2020April 28, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Danger, Health, Hoping, Ideas, Luck, Poem, Poetry, Poverty, Sad, Thinking, Thought, Values, WishingLeave a comment

Dancing at a barn dance,

putting up an exhibition,

displaying art on my craft stall.

Walking along the canal,

cycling through the countryside,

taking tea at a posh teashop.

Visiting a castle,

looking out to sea,

feeling the wind in my hair.

I’m glad I’m not

suffering from hunger,

hiding from bombs,

frightened and missing my family.

Too poor to buy medicine,

and all the time oppressed.

I may wish for things,

but I’m lucky to have things.

Trying to make banana cake without all the ingredients.

Posted on April 28, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Bad baking, Banana, Banana cake, Cooking, Food, Ice cream, Kitchen, Learning, Making it up, Sticky, Tasty, Toffee, TryingLeave a comment

I give you (please take some).
Home made banana cake with toffees melted on the top.
Ingredients.
Half self raising flour, half plain flour, about 8oz with a bit of yeast. (what I had in the cupboard).
Some granulated sweetener, about a tablespoon full.
4 oz approx of butter
Two eggs
A small mug of milk.
A bit of orange juice.
Two sliced bananas.
Toffees melted on top for the last twenty minutes.

Method
I added the flours together with the yeast, added the sweetener, then added the butter and broke it up until it was crumbly. Then I added the eggs, mixed in milk. It was still a bit dry so I added a bit of orange juice, till it was quite soft. A bit like wet mashed potatoes.
I then chopped the bananas up and mixed them in. I left it for a while to see if it rose (it didn’t!)
Cooked gas mark four for an hour and ten minutes. About forty minutes in I noticed it was rising but split in the top. So I got some toffees we had at Christmas and placed them on top. The mess is where they melted.
Not pretty but tastes OK. Served the first bit with some ice cream while it was hot. Not bad!

Bread making, USK S-O-T challenge.

Posted on April 28, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged #uskstoke, Art, Baking, Black and white, Bread, Cooking, Drawing, Food, Ink pen, Kitchen, Oats, Rye flour, Sketch, Sketching, Staffordshire, Urban sketchers Stoke on trentLeave a comment

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Making not made! I found some rye flour and half a pack of yeast in the cupboard. Hubby and I both worked on it. Really tough to knead. We added porridge oats because it was too squidgy and I’d run out of flour. It’s taking time to rise but hopefully it will be OK… X

Update, cooked OK its a bit doughy in the middle. Not bad. Had some hot with butter.

I did the drawing as today’s challenge was something you’ve made for the urban sketchers new challenge. It’s black ink pen in my A5 cartridge paper sketchbook.

Dance

Posted on April 27, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Colours, Contrasting colours, Dance, Dancer, Digital drawing, Exciting, Fun, Learning, Playing, Red and greenLeave a comment

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Green and red can really zing. It depends on the brightness and hue of the colours, here I used the sketcher app on my tablet to create a simple image of a dancer. You don’t have to be exact or realistic to create art….. Just have fun. Something will make you happy or sad, will surprise you. Art us learning, sometimes every day or month. You do art and it can move you. It grabs you and wants you to make more. It is a buzz….

Sleeping cat

Posted on April 27, 2020 Posted in Cat, UncategorizedTagged Black and white cat, Cat photos, Cute, Friendly, Fun, Happy cat, Photos, Relaxed cat, Sleepy, Sweet, Tummy rubLeave a comment

Then he decides to pose, to shade his eyes with his paw. To look cute, so sweet. Staying still so I can get photos of him. And no claws or biting, just wanting comfort and friendship. Warmth, snuggling, happy.

I know not everyone loves cats. They are seen as aloof and stand-offish. But when they trust you. They can be truly loving.

Cat…

Posted on April 27, 2020 Posted in Cat, UncategorizedTagged Art, Awake, Cat, Life, Mice, Movement, Poem, Poetry, Sketch, Sketching, SleepingLeave a comment

Cat

Why can’t you look at me?

why won’t you stay still,

always moving,

except when you sleep….

Even then you chase mice.

feet flailing,

galloping across dreaming gardens,

or hazy, cobwebbed fields.

Cat, statuesque,

gorgeous, flexible, strong,

you won’t keep still

and be drawn.

Portrait of hubby

Posted on April 27, 2020 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged A5 sketch, Art, Charcoal drawing, Grayson Perry Art Show, Hubby, Portrait, Reading, Sketch, Watching TVLeave a comment

He was watching a TV programme about portraits. Grayson Perry’s Art Show. So I decided to draw my hubby. He also reads a book at the same time. Talk about multi tasking.

I woukd like to do a portrait of him but he doesn’t keep still. Might have to find a photo.

Plans..

Start painting again.

Tidy up the house.

Try and do some relaxation.

Try and sleep better.

Take care of us both.

Mallaband-Brown

Author: artbychristinemallabandbrown