Before it was jazz

I started the previous drawing like this. It was going to be a background for something else, so the pattern is spread across the whole surface. I might recreate it on a canvas in paint. Not decided yet. I have an exhibition coming up in November and I’m thinking of creating a series of abstracts based on some of these designs.

Jazz melody

Today’s #bandofsketchers prompt was melody. My melody is Jazz. Subtle juxtaposition of lilting tunes and jagged zinging dischords….

I added gold leaf to add the sparks of musical energy.. I used felt pens for the background. I drew triangles around dots that had bled through from the other side of the page.

Moving less

Steps… The last few days I’ve kept my phone with me and measured how far I walked throughout the day. Over the week since I pulled my calf muscle I have stumbled and ambled about and managed to walk around five thousand steps a day… Not today. I’ve had more pain in my leg and I was so tired I fell asleep for the first time properly in a week. I didn’t fully wale up fully at about 1pm today.

Being injured is a bit like house arrest. No images to take photos of. No sunsets, if I hadn’t been doodling I would not have any art to show. I’ve got things to do but I can’t. I was going to go to a portrait workshop today but I didn’t dare risk it. There is a problem with petrol supplies and it’s affecting all transport so I might not have been able to get a taxi.

So, life continues to be painful but hopefully things will get better soon. X

A creature?

Twisting the pattern I drew as a doodle seems to create a strange creature reflected in a mirrored surface. There could be other alien creatures lurking in there. I enjoyed doing this. I had some fun with it. I could make three more versions, choosing different corners to match up in the middle. I think this is my favourite.

A few recent doodles

Playing and twisting lines. Black and white, gold and grey. Plus gold leaf. A bit of collage too. Its a bit of fun, different ideas, not sticking to one style. Using contours and texture to get different ideas across.

One thing I do tend to do is draw profiles or three quarter portraits facing left. I discussed this with other artists a while ago. It may be that right handed artists draw left facing profiles and vice versa? Is it something that’s ever been tested?