New paintings and regular art updates.
When the ink bleeds through the back of a sketch you can draw contours around the splodges of ink. I think the negative space it creates is quite interesting. You can vaguely tell its a still life (with Christmas cactus and flowers in a fish shaped glass bottle. The original felt pen drawing (sharpies) is about three years old.
I’m on day 66 and I’m still writing and drawing three small gratitudes a day. From getting a good night’s sleep, to playing with the cat, to reading a good book, nothing is too small to be grateful for. I’m sure over these last few weeks it has helped keep me going. Putting positive thoughts in the front of your mind isn’t always the most normal or natural thing to do, but it helps you to step back from what might be a dreadful time. I like drawing and writing, but I’ve got my hubby just writing a few lines every day. It doesn’t have to be profound, that would be amazing, but wonderful things just don’t happen everyday. So accept the small stuff….
Another filter
Another day
Another drawing
With which to play.
Some of them work
Some of them don’t
But without trying?
You never learn nowt!
(Nowt in The UK is slang for nothing)….
Once I had a drawing (this took thirty minutes), I played with different filters to create different effects. This was using the negative filter on my phone. I have so many sketches and sketch books that I think I ought to store together. I also have thousands of photos on my phone. It’s a way of keeping memories and meaning. But sometimes the photos you really want are the ones you never remembered to tske…
Today, after a very bad night’s sleep, I got up and decided to go to the Orme Art Group today. We had booked a life model to sit for us and I didn’t want to miss it. I had bought new ink pens and black sharpie pens to use in my sketchbook. This drawing took a couple of hours, I wanted to capture the patterns on her skirt and scarf and the autumn leaves outside the window. I think this went well and I’m pleased with it. Going out and talking to the friends in the group really helped.
The cats stare at me, what do I mean to them? What do they want? Unblinking, looking silently. The sight is unnerving. And so many cats, all together. Like a jury sitting at a trial. No tails twitch, no ears turn. The concentrated look is infinitely worrying. Like some form of hive mind…. Do cats do that? I thought you couldn’t herd cats, but these ones? They know what they want, and I feel like a mouse in their glaring cats eyes….. Inscrutable…
Summers over and my sandals must be put away for another year. I will have to get my flat heels out again. I don’t bother to buy pairs of shoes. I bought three sorts of the same type in different colours, and never wore them! It’s strange, some women have tens or hundreds of pairs, and different ones for different occasions, I never got into that. I think it’s because I’ve never had much money. When we had a death in our family when I was a teenager, my mother gave us money to buy a dress and cardigan and shoes to wear to the funeral. I think that’s why I don’t get excited buying clothes or shoes. As long as they aren’t falling apart I keep wearing them….
Today’s #bandofsketchers prompt was paper. I realised I’m surrounded by the stuff. Sketchbooks, newspapers, cards, envelopes, etters, books, novels, paperbacks, calendars, magazines, print outs. I’ve tried to represent them in a sketch. The image is imagined, but my house is a mess at the moment so it is littered with paper things.
Autumn comes round
every year
the leaves change colour
from green to golds
and reds and yellows.
Falling in ragged heaps.
Flashing like a beacon, connected in all different directions, emotions bursting out into the world. Thoughts spiralling. Pain, anxiety, calm, hope, dreams, fear, sadness all mingles. If I can find a thread to pull me through all of the entangled ideas. The tears keep falling.
Today I reached out and so many people reached back to me. I feel overwhelmed with their support. I need to hope things will improve. I think the friends I have made that hope more real.
Mallaband-Brown