Sonnets

Posted on May 14, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Blogging, Digital drawing, Inspiration, Instagram, Life, Next generation, Patrick Stewart, Shakespeare, Sketchfu, Sonnets, Star TrekLeave a comment

Digital drawing of Partick Stewart as captain Picard from Star Trek. Drawn on the sketchfu app a few years ago. I was quite pleased with the result.

I’m currently watching Partick Stewart read Shakespeare’s sonnets on Instagram. He is reading them from lockdown, and I think he is on sonnet 54.

I love his voice, it is so impressive, I think it has ‘gravitas’ and he has a thoughtful way of putting the words across. When I’ve had a stressful day his reading calms me down.

I do not know the sonnets, I’m hearing them all with a fresh ear. I don’t have expectations of how they should sound. Listening is like a meditation.

Fun

Posted on May 14, 2020 Posted in Cat, UncategorizedTagged #uskstoke, Art, Black and white sketch, Cat, Cat toy, Challenge, Drawing, Fun, Playing, Pouncing, Urban sketchers Stoke on trentLeave a comment

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Following the cat theme.

As she is so quick, I had to take a quick photo of her, then I drew her and added in the background. The toy has cat nip in it, it’s fun for her to chase and jump.

Urban sketchers Stoke-on-Trent challenge, day 26….5b pencil in an A4 cartridge paper sketch pad.

Sleeping cat

Posted on May 13, 2020 Posted in Cat, UncategorizedTagged Black and white cat, Fun, Humans v cats, Humour, Photo, Sleep, Tired cat, Tom catLeave a comment

Cats are good at sneaking into places when you are not looking. Here’s our Tom cat. Now my hubby can’t sit down because the cat has picked his armchair to lie down on. My hubby has gone to bed.. (I sometimes think in the game of cats v humans, our cats have won!).

Add to this getting shares of food we are eating, and you can see they are onto a good thing!

Saving an economy?

Posted on May 13, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Blogging, economy, Environment, Greed, Green growth, HS2, Life, Thinking, Time, Trident2 Comments

IMG_20200416_154522_428 What is life worth? when will we see the green shoots of growth?

I’ve seen discussions on line to cancel the trident nuclear deterrent and maybe HS2, which is a high speed railway line that could take you from Leeds to London twenty minutes faster. These are huge projects in Britain that have been voted for by the government. But surely we should spend the money we have on improving the environment? Think about it. After all, people can hold on line meetings now instead of commuting. The work day could be 9 till 5, no more early starts and late finishes because of travelling to work and kids will get to see more of their parents. And why would we want to bomb people? The virus is causing enough deaths as it is.

When you think about it, the world has had a chance to rest. So instead of going back to normal, chasing greed and growth, let’s give ourselves a chance and a rest.

Usk challenge, day 25, ‘dizzy’…

Posted on May 13, 2020May 13, 2020 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged #uskstoke, Art, Bathroom, Dizzy, Drawing, Fun, Humour, Life, Sketching, Spinning, Usk challenge Stoke-on-TrentLeave a comment

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Dizzy? How do you draw that? I spun round in the bathroom and then decided to do a panoramic drawing. Only one object missing (lol).

I was trying to think about how to depict dizzy, I almost tried to add a bit of blurring, like motion blur. But that wouldn’t be true to life. I could also have drawn our dizzying array of books. But I think people already know about that. So to the tune of ‘you spin me, baby, right round’, I will pinwheel into the distance, byeeee!

Drawing challenge day 24.

Posted on May 13, 2020May 13, 2020 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged #uskstoke, Art, Cat cushion, Crochet, Design, Drawing, Fun, Humour, Owls, Sofa, Urban sketchers Stoke on trentLeave a comment

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Yesterday’s challenge was draw a sofa, so I did, with my two owl bags staring back at me! Also the brown throw, two green, crocheted blankets, a stripy cushion, a cat cushion with polka dots, another multi coloured throw, all trying to hide a very old, scruffy sofa. The one where the cats clawed a hole in the back. The one where I fixed it, by painting the pattern on some old canvas, and then stapling it in place. The one where subsequent cats have shredded the back corner again.

The sofa should be recognised as a historical monument.

Today’s challenge will probably be equally odd.

On my shoulders

Posted on May 13, 2020May 13, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Covid 19, Dream, Outpouring, Poem, Poetry, Poetry and the virus, Sleep, Stress, tension, Thought, TiredLeave a comment

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The weight of the world,

making me creak,

making me break,

making me crumble and quake.

Pushing me down,

pushing me under,

finding a crack,

break me asunder.

Restricted and tight,

no room for movement,

shoulders so stiff,

I want to surrender.

Sleep is my safety,

sleep is my friend,

but like a lost child,

I cannot find peace.

Dreams do not come,

only a blackness,

to tired to think,

curled on my mattress.

One day I’ll wake,

free from this tension,

or I’ll be gone,

broken,

departed.

Turned the whirlpool into a seashell.

Posted on May 12, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Digital manipulation, Drawing, Fun, Morphing drawings, Pattern, Photo director app, Seashell, Sketching, WhirlpoolLeave a comment

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I tried to change the whirlpool into a seashell… Then I added gold glitter kiss paint. It looks like sand. I put it through the photo director app , there is a way of creating bits flying off the picture. In the animation it looks like the seashell is under water, the bits coming off look like they are floating. Totally random result. I wish I could share it here, but it’s on my Instagram account. X

Life drawing live

Posted on May 12, 2020 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Art, Bbc TV, Drawing, Life drawing, Life drawing live, Sketching4 Comments

Just been drawing at the BBC life drawing live TV programme. A series of short poses of models, all done under social distancing rules. 15893172736382071260241553628239

It was quite stressful. Trying to see the model on the TV when you only have a small screen. I needed a closer view. But overall I enjoyed it.

Various things used to draw, ink pen, charcoal pencil, a metallic pencil and 5b pencil.

Whirlpool

Posted on May 11, 2020 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Animated, Art, Doodling, Drawing, Glitter glue, Instagram, Pattern, Permanent marker pens, Sketching4 Comments

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Another abstract. Just silver glitter glue swirled around, then permanent markers using blues, greens and purple to create a spiralling pattern. Why? I don’t know. Spirals have always appealed to me. Spiral galaxies, spirals in ammonites, spiral cloud formations, spirals in the seed heads of sun flowers.

Of all the shapes I see in the world, these are my favourites.

I put this through photodirector and the subsequent animated clip is on my Instagram account.

Mallaband-Brown

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