New paintings and regular art updates.
I saw a horse in my digital drawing from earlier. It’s funny but I didn’t see it until I looked at a smaller version of the doodle. It’s a strange picture but I might turn it into a painting. I like the way the swirls look like a huge mane. I think I will get my paints out soon! Digital doodling over a photo of a felt pen sketch.
Today’s #bandofsketchers prompt was Rustic. What to draw for this? I looked up milk churn and tractor tyre on the Internet. I have drawn a churn based on one of the images, but not a direct copy and a part of a tractor wheel from another picture. The vegetation is imagined. Felt pen drawing.
I need to get my paints out again. Doodling abstracts on my phone is OK, but I’ve hit a bit of a block at the moment. I have an easle set up on a chair but it’s covered in post and bits of paperwork. I think it’s because of having shingles. A lot less painful but I’m not getting out much. I haven’t done things I planned to do like going for walks with my hubby. Now the nights are drawing in. Soon the clocks will go back and it will be darker earlier in the day. Sorry for the meh post!
Mixed up. Abstract digital drawing. Drawn on top of another image. I like the fact that digitally you can keep adding and erasing parts of a drawing, covering areas with new effects. Changing the opacity of tools so you can see through to previous layers. You can also change the colours of your image to that you totally alter the mood of your artwork. This abstract could become a whirlwind or a rose? Who knows. I might do more to it.
Our PM is finishing tomorrow. Another PM will replace him. He or she (probably she) is being chosen by 160,000 Conservative party members not the British electorate. We might have a general election until next year or the year after. Our old PM has been found to have lied and broken laws. His popularity meant his party got an 80 seat majority in the 2019 election and are changing electoral boundaries to make it difficult to defeat them. It also seems Scottish voters may try and go for independence making it virtually impossible to get the Conservative government out of power.
I think of our PM as a Trump mini-me. He even thinks he can get back in power! The new PM will probably be Liz Truss. She does not seem to know what she is doing. It seems the rich and entitled rule. The rest suffer.
Look up Whitby steps on the Internet and you find out there are 199 steps from the town up to Whitby Abbey at the top. Dracula by Bram Stoker was set there. The town has many tourists visiting because of this. There is also a history of jewellery making in the town because it is the home of Whitby Jet. This is a black, fossilised substance that was originally ancient monkey puzzle trees. The steps or stairs offer a spectacular view down over the harbour and bay.
For #bandofsketchers prompt today ‘stairs’
I’m getting some help with my mental health and one of the things I’ve taken up is to do a gratitude diary. Basically you write down three things you are grateful for every day. I do it before bed, and I remember small things that have made me happy during the day. Not big dramatic things (today was a bit of an exception because two things were slightly more important) on other days I’ve included the cat on my lap, or standing in the garden full of flowers.
So why do it? It appears to rewire your brain, cutting down on negative thoughts and turning them positive. I have been advised to do it for at least 28 days. I’m not suggesting anyone else does it, but it’s helping me.
Changing ‘curves’ in digital photo editing apps can really change colours and make them ‘pop’. Initially you see a square with a diagonal line on it and also a series of squiggly lines underneath that indicate how much of the spectrum is in what part of the box. If you click on the diagonal line you can change the shape of it. Raising the line by dragging it makes it your image lighter (you can watch the image change as you drag on the line). Pulling the line down darkens the image. But altering the line into a flowing curve also changes the colours without altering the underlying pattern or shapes. You can also change colours in other tools. Have a go. See what happens.
Today’s #bandofsketchers prompt was column. I’ve layered up sketching, lines and flood fill tools to create some sort of Greek or Roman column. It’s very sketchy and sort of rustic. I might change it and add leaves to it. I haven’t decided yet. Other column ideas were light and newspaper. I wasn’t sure what to do. But it was an interesting experiment.
Found my stylus so tried using it on a dotted drawing I did a while ago in ArtRage oils. ArtRage has a metallic slider scale so you can make your drawing look metallic and as it says in the name also has pens that look like oil paint. ArtRage oils is a free app. I actually bought ArtRage which is the full app and it has lots more pens and tools, but I keep forgetting it because its on my tablet, and that’s in a cupboard. Oops! Must get it out and charge it!
Mallaband-Brown