Category: Uncategorized

How do I accept messages on WordPress?

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Someone tried to send me a message on WordPress but unfortunately I could not open it, and now I seem to have lost it? How do I pick them up if I want to speak to someone?

It is probably quite simple but I only have a basic tablet and sometimes it is quite glitchy. The broadband is tempremental too and that means that sometimes it takes ages for a page to load. …

Think I need to clear some of my files to give me a bit more memory. But when I think of the old computers I had, with dial up modem, which made a strange bring boing noise when it connected to the internet, I know this is a lot better ….

So

If you tried to contact me…

Hi, and I’m sorry

I didn’t

Reply

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Misty cows

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Standing in the cold, waiting for friends out at Heath House in Staffordshire, I decided to take photos of the view of the mist and cows on my phone….

 

When I was chilled to the bone I decided to take photos of the trees across the road, the board advertising the Heath House, and the drive up to it. These have also been posted to Instagram, so I used a couple of their filters  to change some of the pictures to black and white, and also slightly pink or blue. I think this heightens the misty feel.

Some if the cows in the feild opposite were scratching their heads  against the trunks of the trees . What an itch they must have had. As the mist came down I realised what an ideal location this was for our expedition. …..

We have been extra’s in a local film, and we had gone to The Heath House to be filmed in some exterior shots.

The trailer for the film is at  humanus.uk

I hope the link works!

So, now I can Tag….

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How do I find Tags on other people’s posts…?

You know it was inevitable, once you know how to do something you realise you need more information. So many questions.20180409_180812

You find out how to paint then you try new mediums….like jam or jelly…….

Or find something interesting and take a photo of it…IMG_20180401_115802

So ……I can go to my Tags, and see the piece I have published…but where are other Tags using that or those words? I don’t think I’m the only person who has used Art or Digital Art as Tags…

 

I have a very varied interest in Art and I want to find other like minded people , who flit like a butterfly from style or medium to different creations.

Is there a page …like the Reader page, where I can find similar posts through the bloggers tags.

So…If you know how … please help xx

Seriously, how do you add hashtags?

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I want to add #hashtags on WordPress but I cannot see how?

 

A friend pointed out today that I don’t use hashtags or categories here, and I replied I don’t know how. I have tried finding the editor section to put them on but I can only see an edit button.

I would like people to find my posts, I don’t want to be shouting into the dark, and I want people to see what I’m up to.

Question…if I put #artist into the body of the text here, will that work?

Is it because I only have a basic WordPress account ? I have noticed some things won’t work because I dont have a premium plan.

Any thoughts or advice will be gratefully received.

#art #stoke-on-trent #Spode #painter etc,etc……..

EDIT… another blogger called cosistories has explained x

Thanks!

 

Serendipitous?

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Two pictures seperated by 12 hours….

I did the drawing on the left 12 hours before I saw the stones and ammonites on the right.

I was playing with colours on a digital drawing and added swirls and expanded some areas to look like marbles or stones.

12 hours later we decided to visit a friend, I had no idea she had this collection of stones (caboucions?), but took this colourful picture to put on instagram.

When I got home and posted it I was struck not only by the similarity of shapes in both pictures, but also by the colours. I have to say we are both artists, so we probably have similar tastes, but this coincidence is interesting. I dont believe in the occult or anything like that. I just think this is interesting and the colours and patterns are pleasing to the eye.

#digitallydoodling

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It’s time to show you some of my recent digital drawings posted to my instagram account…

 

While I usually draw and paint in traditional materials like paint on canvas, or ink and pencil on paper, I regularly draw on various apps aswell.

This started when I found a web site called Youdraw around 10 years ago. At that stage I did not have a drawing tablet so I went out and bought a small one with the pen attached by a wire. I was really pleased with what I could do, and I eventually progressed to a bigger tablet but still with a pen that was attached by a wire. I used it so much and did so many drawings I wore the knib of the pen down!

Then I was offered a second hand wacom tablet, it was a revelation. I had got a photoshop programme and I was learning about layering and cropping, basically all the little things that help you morph pictures. In the meantime I had found various drawing web sites, like 2draw and wetcanvas and floating ginko. I was using their apps, which were quite complicated, but the results were fun. I frequently got told off on one site for drawing too fast. I was not allowed to be an expert on it because I didnt take enough time!

It was then that I came across a site called sketchfu. (Now closed) this had the simplicity I was looking for, large, medium and small pens, an ability to change the opacity and a colour picker, but the way it worked meant that you could create really interesting drawings without all the finicky bits.

This site and its sister Muzy were closed by its owners a few years ago. I think they were getting too much traffic and not enough revenue.

I decided to do more drawing, I got a bamboo tablet, and for a short while posted on line on instagram and Facebook. But then I got another tablet, a computer…I downloaded a few apps like sketcher free, ArtRage oils, kaleidoscope, and others, all free. The only problem then is having to draw by finger. It’s not as smooth and clean as a tablet pen. I have used stylus pens, I think I will do that again.

Currently I have lots of art on instagram, and some if the digital art has the hashtag #digitallydoodling if you want to find it.

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Finding old sketchpads

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I recently found a couple of old sketchpads from the 90’s

I had forgotten about them, but I am trying to collect them all together. They may be a resource for IMG_20180402_163425_592IMG_20180402_170812_095IMG_20180402_171038_493IMG_20180402_163002_221IMG_20180402_163514_936ideas for paintings.

The drawings are a mixture of a figure in a landscape. Two drawings of views  in Derbyshire, an abstract pattern, and a caricature of a friend.

I do think it’s worth keeping old sketchpads even if you are not sure the art is something you will use. You never know.

I realise the pattern is very similar to what I now draw when creating digital patterns. The figure in the landscape will be turned into a painting, the two wide landscapes inspired me to do a drawing of a cafe in a wider format than I would do normally. I’m not sure if I’m a caricature artist, but the drawing does bring back fun memories .

Tonights lifedrawings

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Tonight life drawings at Caverswall.

The model is studying yoga so her first pose was based on a yoga position. I was drawing with a very soft pencil so the final drawing is a bit smudged ( I use both sides of he page and the graphite from the pencil can transfer across).

The first two drawings were 15 minute poses, enough time to get a reasonable representation. The last three drawings were all the same long pose but I chose to try and draw it for half an hour before the break, which was not very successful as I struggled with the fore shortening. I am quite pleased with the models face and upper body, but the legs and hands are a bit too small.

The fourth drawing was also for half an hour. While I might have got the figure slightly more in proportion I think the face is wrong and the drawing is too tight .

Finally I gave up and moved so the last drawing was for half an hour drawn from the other side of the room. I was much happier with this and used the final few minutes to draw the surrounding objects and a couple of the other artists.

Life drawing does help with understanding the human body.

There are quite a few local classes, and if you want to learn how to draw or paint portraits, or even just so you have a working knowledge of the human body I would recommend joining one.

Celtic art

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I recently looked through some old sketchbooks. These drawings are from one from the 1990s.

 

I have been interested in Celtic Art for a long time. I wrote my thesis on pre Christian Celtic art and I think these were drawn a while after that. I know they were drawn in  the early 1990s as I found a drawing of one of my old cats in the book.

Drawing knotwork is not easy, the trouble is getting the pattern right. Weaving the lines is quite difficult and I think here I was practicing the positions of each line. There are other circular patterns where two or three parts interlink. If I remember rightly these can be used on brooches and sheild bosses.

I still try and do this kind of pattern occasionally, for example a painting of a snake recently which had this kind of feel. I  also like the animals that are used as terminals to the knots.

Recently a hoard of jewellery, armoury and gold peices were found in Staffordshire. This was a Saxon Hoard but you can still see the influence of knotwork in the peices. I want to create something like the figure of a woman (see top of page ) as a painting.

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How to paint Snake and Ladder

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What a random painting!

It started out as a series of splodges. I was not sure what it would turn into. I am interested in Celtic knotwork and also Saxon metalwork. The Staffordshire hoard of Saxon gold was found nearby a couple of years ago and there are many animals and monsters found in that kind of art and craft work.

Suddenly the idea of a snake popped into my mind so I added scales and a head to the pattern, but why would it be there, what was the reason behind it. I remember being intrigued by Snakes and Ladders when I was little. I always landed on a snake and slither down to the foot of the board .

I decided to add the ladder, but the background was too dark. I was modelling the 3 dimensions of the snake with dark and light paint but the snake was merging into the background. What to do!? I tried a green, but felt that was not the right colour. …why not a bold red? I had got a bottle of glittery deep red and I tried that. Bingo I’m pleased with the result.

That’s how you paint a Snake and Ladder. ….