Take a break

Posted on June 11, 2021 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged #bandofsketchers, Art, Bodnant Gardens, Day out, Garden, Life, National Trust, Sketching, Wales, Welsh hills, Welsh mountainsLeave a comment

Thursdays #bandofsketchers prompt was ‘take a break’ so I chose to draw this image from the front of the 2021 National Trust Guidebook. It’d just drawn in coloured pencil, charcoal pencil and fine liner black ink pen.

I need a break! So I would take it at Bodnant garden near Llandudno in Wales. It’s a National Trust garden. A beautiful place which drops into a wooded valley and is surrounded by the Welsh hills and mountains. We are missing the laburnum walk that will be in flower now. I hope to go there soon.

Holly leaf

Posted on June 9, 2021 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged #bandofsketchers, Art, Arteza metallic watercolours, Drawing, Gardening, Holly, Life, Nettles, Painting2 Comments

Watercolour with Arteza Metallic paints for the #bandofsketchers prompt for Tuesday ‘sunlight,’. A holly leaf caught in the sunshine. The painting was done from a photo, I painted it straight away without drawing it out first.

I need to do some gardening at the moment, the nettles are taking over so I need to cut them back a bit. They are good for butterfly 🐛 caterpillars but if they sting you as you walk past they do need attention. The Holly bushes are a little overgrown too. It’s turning into a bit of a mammoth task, and I’m a bit nervous of taking it on!

Panels in illustration

Posted on June 7, 2021June 7, 2021 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Art, Black and white, Drawing, Fun, Icecream, Life, Sketching, speech bubbles, thought bubbleLeave a comment

Now we are learning narrative art at college. Learning how to lay out panels. I think you are meant to have an idea and base the shapes of the panels on what we are drawing, but as usual I did it back to front, drawing the panels first, adding the speech and thought bubbles, then adding the people. The ideas for the story came last! My mind is strange. Anyway it worked quite well. I would try and make it neater if I were to do it again and perhaps import it into photoshop to tidy it up? Overall it was relatively painless to do. Note to self, why has the mother’s dress changed?

Doodled faces

Posted on June 6, 2021 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Art, Artrage oils, Crowd, Drawing, Faces, Life, Photodirector, Sketching, Thinking, WorriedLeave a comment

Artrage oils and photodirector used to make these slightly worried faces in a crowd. Perhaps I should have given one of them a mask? They certainly feel crammed together. And what are they watching? Why are they there? Is it something pleasant or unpleasant? Who can say. From the depths of my mind to the page. I sometimes don’t know what’s coming!

drawing of a profile

Posted on June 6, 2021 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Art, College, Colour, Design, Fun, Illustration, illustration MA, pastel, Portrait, portrait sessions, Profile, Sketching, studentLeave a comment

drawing with an ink roller

This was one of the portraits I did in a student led portrait group at college during the last few months.

The face was mostly drawn with one of those ink rollers you can use to blank out your address on letters so that you can throw them away without anyone seeing your details and stealing your data. Its quite hard to use because you have to sort of turn and twist your hand and press firmly to sketch curves. AfterId done that I added colour using pastels and the thick black lines were done with black calligraphy pen (most of these have run out so I need some more).

I quite like the strong feel to this. I am trying to find my illustrational voice. I have been told to look for illustrators that my work resembles, but I think mine is different? Is this a good or bad thing? I’m definitley developing my analogue skills. Digital work is more difficult for me.

Four drawings

Posted on June 5, 2021 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged cafe garden, Cheshire, Dorothy Clive garden, Four sketches, Quarry garden, Shropshire, Staffordshire, View, woodpecker carvingLeave a comment

Four sketches I did at the Dorothy Clive Garden. The view from the hill it’s on over to Shropshire and Cheshire. The Quarry garden with the waterfall. Sculpted woodpecker in the bark of a tree stump and my hubby sitting in the cafe garden.

Post it note portrait…

Posted on June 4, 2021 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Art, Drawing, Experiment, Life, Pencil, Poem, Poetry, Portrait, post it notes, SketchingLeave a comment

Art can be anything

Anything if you experiment

Experiment and learn

Learn to try

Try to play.

Play with Art

Art….

Trying to think of a three panel story

Posted on June 3, 2021 Posted in Cat, Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Art, Cat, cat cartoon, Cat doodles, College, Funny, Humour, Learning, Life, no words, Thinking, three panel storyLeave a comment

Rough sketches, three panel wordless piece. I experimented with colour and the positioning of the panels. Also could it be a front, side or top or bottom view of the cat and of it breaking out through the cat flap? Could the sequence change? What are the cats emotions? Why does it want to get out? Fear, adventure, looking for a friend? Lots of reasons, even sunshine….? Or a bird it’s seen singing outside… Oh dear!

Dancer/music

Posted on June 3, 2021 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged #bandofsketchers, Art, Arteza metallic watercolours, Drawing, Experiment, Fun, ink liner pen, Learning, Sketching, Watercolour sketch2 Comments

I went a bit mad for this, today’s #bandofsketchers prompt dancer/music. Made a drawing in metallic watercolours of a ballet dancer, I didn’t base it on a particular pose. When it was finished I wasn’t happy so I drew over it, then changed it in the photo app on my phone . I’m including all three versions I saved.

Using monoprint

Posted on June 2, 2021June 2, 2021 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Acrylic paint, Art, Black and white, Drawing, Experiment, monoprint, Picture, Portrait, Sketching, TextureLeave a comment

Ten minute sketch using cut out monoprint

The monoprint was made by rubbing paper onto black paint brushed onto silver foil and then scratched through a bit. I then cut out a shape to fit to the shape of the woman body and arm, side of the face and hair, (basically the shaded side of her face and body). This was a bit nerve wracking as I only had ten minutes to do the cutting out, sticking, and drawing the rest of the portrait. I used the monoprint from a stock of them I’d made already.

Mallaband-Brown

Category: Sketching