Kilometers

How far I walked today. Its not a massive amount but it was up and down and up again. Lots of hills. I’ve been doing this walking challenge for 56 days now and my total mileage is around 181.5 since 1st February. That’s an average of 22.6 miles a week. My hubby has walked with me a few times and the rest mostly with my friend. She always walks further than me.

It’s interesting to me to work it out, but I might be boring you!

I did work out that if I walked another 12 miles I would have got Exeter in Devon!

As I walk

As I walk I’m looking at trees, I’m waiting for the buds to burst, the leaves to stretch and expand. But we need some rain now to get the buds to swell. Then I will have more idea of what these trees are.

Oak before Ash,

In for a Splash.

Ash before Oak,

In for a soak….

The old rhyme of what to expect from the weather this Spring…

Also the weather has been very windy after a quiet start to March.

The saying for that is :

In like a Lamb

Out like a Lion.

(it can be vice versa), old weather saws that my grandma told me…

Virtual tour

Well I decided to do a collage for #bandofsketchers prompt virtual travel. This is using bits of monoprint, bits from magazines, green post it notes and black ink pens. The view is where I want to be, Bovisand Bay, near Plymouth, South Devon.

I wanted you to feel the warm sunlight and the tide as it sweeps in and out of the bay. If I could be anywhere now it would be there!

Cat map?

I drew this years ago. A celtic style cat. I did a full colour acrylic painting afterwards but I don’t have a photo of that and I think my sister has it now.

I was trying to think of a subject for an illustrated map we have to do for college. I’ve been visiting a local lake recently and there is a hedge maze there. You cannot see the shape of it from the ground and it would be interesting in mapping it out, but I don’t own a drone camera! Then I thought the map might be based around ideas of the Staffordshire Hoard found in this area a few years ago. This was coins and gold sword ornaments and other pieces of treasure. I might base my map on these Saxon patterns. Then I did my original thesis on pre Christian celtic art, and that’s where the idea of a celtic cat came from.

Decisions…. What to draw…. Hmm

Moon

One moon, high above the clouds. Seen on a walk, popping up like a bubble from the lips of a cloud.

It’s hard to capture the moon on my phone. The definition of the photo is not good, and having to zoom in makes it more blurred. I think I avoided too much camera shake.

It’s not often you see the moon in the sky in daylight. But I like this photo. Simple view and with the clouds it makes it more interesting.

I have short legs

I just checked my step counter and it came up with this for March. But I do have short legs so it’s not as impressive as you might think. Plus this is steps not miles! Anyway I’ve surprised myself. I think I’ve done 55 days since starting the 100 day walking challenge with my friends. I think I’m slowly getting fitter. My average walk is around three miles. I’m tired and aching, but I will keep going barring injury or illness. Still over 250,000 steps is not bad going for someone who was basically sedentary before that. Yes I was doing a few walks a week , but I think doing this has helped enormously. X

Today’s portrait session.

Today’s sketches…

Today’s sketch portraits, I used cut up mono prints that I had made for the print workshop earlier in the week. I glued bits down then added black calligraphy pen and fine liner, then graphite from a graphite stick. I had to unstick one bit of paper and redo it because it was wrong and overlapped bits of the drawing. …

Printing…. Simply

I have been enjoying some print workshops at college.

We were shown how to create a printing surface by gluing tin foil to a board.

Then you paint it with black acrylic paint or ink.

Use impliments / household objects to make marks on the surface (sponge, pegs, coins, nails, comb etc). Each time you make marks place a sheet of paper on top and rub over with a bunched up pair of socks (stops you ripping the damp paper)

When your prints have dried you can cut them up and collage them. We did self portraits.

Cheap, fun and messy!