Today’s #bandofsketchers prompt was cornering. Cat covering a book covering a mat covering our floor…. He likes to keep his paws warm. Funny how they find the warmest places despite having fur! Felt pen and black ink drawing.
Covering
Category: Sketching
Lace?
Once I start playing with apps I go back and make new patterns. I realised that using the symmetry tool on my sketch app I can offset them so they don’t overlap, and I used various colours from the same part of the spectrum. Then I duplicated and rotated the pattern, creating a lace like design.
Favourite filter
I like this particular filter on photodirector. It creates swirls but of a definite size, texturising the felt pen shading, and making a more graphic design. It sort of reorganises my artwork into something more abstract but coherent. Less realism, more illustrative. Drawing and playing with the resultant image is keeping me occupied on a very cold day, with temperatures below freezing in some parts of the country and a sprinkling of snow here, but deep elsewhere. And I dream of going to Bodnant in the spring.
History
Today’s #bandofsketchers prompt was history. I decided to draw the pool at Bodnant Gardens, a house and gardens run by the National Trust near, Llandudno in North Wales. Its well known for its beautiful laburnum walk and many flowering shrubs and plants. The upper part near the house has lawns and perennial plants while the garden slopes down to a river and has lovely wooded areas.
Snow expected
It’s getting colder here and the forecast or Scotland, parts of Wales and the North West is for snow over the next few days. That made me want to draw snowflakes, and that led me to using the sketch app again.
At the moment I’m trying to keep warm and get over the bug I’ve had for a few weeks. The thought of colder weather does not fill me with joy. Just dread!
Still I like my colours that I’ve used on the drawing, a little bit like Wedgwood China.
Flower finger painting
A digital drawing of a flower, perhaps a chrysanthemum? Drawn in a sketching app on my phone that has a symmetry tool. It means that as you draw a curve it can be mirrored, or made symmetrical on different axises, (not sure if that’s the right word). Doing a finger painting is hard to control. I do have a stylus for my screen but I don’t know where it is. Perhaps I could have done a better job with it. The sketch app is not one I use that often.
Myth
Sunday’s #bandofsketchers prompt was Myth. Oh what to do? I am in love with gryphons, unicorns, winged horses and many other things, but as my most recent study was about dragons, I chose to draw one. I started out with three pens held together to try and create a triple image, but the middle pen had dried out. So I finished off with two. If you look carefully you can see the outline of two other eyes below the ones I have outlined. Then I coloured it in with metallic felt pens. I might do more to it but this is good enough as a sketch.
Things to do
Tired, didn’t sleep last night so had several naps this afternoon and evening. I saw the start and end of one film, but nothing in between. My eyes have kept closing, while I’ve been dozing. But I have lots of things to do. I must get better and find the time to get them done. Stupid chest infection.
I digitally manipulated the previous grumpy drawing to try and make it look sad.
Staring cats
Hours of staring
Looking, viewing
Taking time to see
What is moving
Running, twitching
What could it really be?
Cat is looking
Viewing, staring
Through the window wide
Keep the door closed
Keep him inside
Well away from the wild….
Cross eyed
A felt pen and black ink doodle/sketch of different eyes. I found it hard to blend the colours of the pens because they dry quickly so you have to try and shade in thin layers and build them up. It’s only a small drawing and blowing it up a bit really shows up the blotchiness. Mind you when I paint I do find it hard to blend colours. I think that’s because I use acrylics which dry very fast as opposed to oils that can take a very long time to dry. I don’t do photorealism but I once had the local newspaper art critic talk about one of my paintings in his report about a local exhibition. He said if I wanted to be a photo realist I should try harder! I was insulted because a) I was not trying to be one and b) he didn’t ask me what my style was! I think it was lazy journalism. Filling up a couple of lines. But he didn’t see how much it upset me. And I still feel it, even years later!
Mallaband-Brown 