Sweet treats

Our #bandofsketchers prompt today was sweet treat in honour of artist Wayne Thiebaud who died recently and who created art based on this theme (he did some beautiful work). Mine is Sweet treats. A bit dodgy because of my shaking arm and I was drawing on the back of a page where ink had bled through. Cup cakes in paper cases with icing and cherries on top…

Old cartoon

I painted this little cartoon years ago. Don’t remember the date but probably 20 years? I think I’d splashed drips of watercolour onto the paper and the cat was a way of using the paper up and not wasting it. Photo taken late afternoon with a dim sidelight on. I could have waited till tomorrow but I wanted to share.

I have a friend that hates cats. I wish I could explain how I love them. Their character, their expressions, their true friendship when you get to know them. They seem aloof, but once you know them they are not…. And they don’t seem to hate rain. I’m often soaked when they come in from a rain shower, but I thought this looked funny. X

Dragon hide

What does a dragon need to stay safe? If you read The Hobbit, Smaug the dragon was killed by an arrow that pierced a soft area in his skin under his arm. Dragons have to have a strong skin..

So what would it look like? I’ve been experimenting with how big the scales would be. I guess they would have to be like an alligator or crocodile skin, rather than a lizard or snake whose scales seem smaller or softer. The dragon would need fire retardant scales to prevent charring or burning either around its mouth when it is fire breathing or on the rest of its body. Maybe male dragons duel in short fights, if they were to attack each others wings they would need to be strong. Dragons wings always look vulnerable. The skin is stretched between bony fingers. Surely that could easily be holed if it were not well maintained. Lots to consider.

Dragons get everywhere

Oh I do like creating a dragon now and then. I decided to rotate my sky drawing and then add a bit of symmetrical drawing over the top. I think the result is quite cute.

It’s getting towards the end of the day, week, year and I’m looking at some of my older stuff. I might have to delete some of the earlier work. Memory on computers and phones seems to run out faster than humans!

Two clicks and a crop

My earlier ‘hope’ drawing with one lot of added texture, a smudge of gundge, then cropped to cut out my writing at the top. It’s amazing how quickly you can change something by just altering them slightly in an app. In this case I used photodirector. It’s OK, some of the stuff on it is too advanced for what I want, but I just use the simple stuff that’s free. What I don’t like is how a lot of art sites charge a monthly fee instead of letting you buy a package like you could in the past. Over time it adds up, and I can’t afford that.

Hope….

Today’s #bandofsketchers prompt. What to draw for hope? I saw the sunset yesterday and hoped one day I would see a beautiful starling murmuration. But as I drew it I also thought of the Greek myth of Pandora and her accidentally releasing all the ills into the world until only one thing was left… Hope.

I wonder if the name Pandora is linked with the word Pandemic? As with many myths it seems like a woman always gets blamed for causing the trouble! By the way it took over an hour to add all the dots!

Have a great and safe 2022! X