Colourful, today’s usk challenge.

Today’s challenge was to draw something colourful. My eyes fell on an owl sculpture by a blacksmith who works at a Forge at Etruria, Stoke-on-Trent. She’s called Charis Jones and her company is called Sculpted Steel.

Behind the owl is a plate that my hubby painted at the Gladstone pottery museum in Longton.

I started by drawing the outlines in black ink. I then filled in the colours with permanent ink markers and a few coloured pencils.

The colours are not all accurate, but as the brief was colourful I added some to the books and cds in the background while trying not to overdo it.

I’ve included a reference photo to give you an idea of what I was working from.

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Hello duck!

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This was a sign in a local museum that someone shared on Facebook.

It was strange coming to live here. In my home town people would say hello chick, or love. But Stoke people say ‘duck’. I had no idea of the origins, and the first few times I heard it I literally did duck! I thought someone was warning me! Eventually, though, I got used to the greeting. Together with the phrase ‘cost kick a bow agin a woe an it it wi yer hed til ya bost it?’ I may have misspelt this but it means ‘Can you kick a ball against a wall and hit it with your head until you burst it?’

As you can see, the old dialect and pronunciation is interesting. But as someone with a west Midlands accent. Oim not reealy botheered abowt iyt.

What?

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What did I hear?

What did you say?

So many rumours fly this way..

What someone thought

What myth revealed?

What does this days news report ?

Breaking stories,

The fakes are out

Telling us all in loud shout.

The world is ending

Or soon will fall,

Is there nothing

To do at all?

Step back,

Breathe deeply

Take a break,

Switch off your phone,

Some news IS fake.

Instead you should

Go rest and sleep.

Maybe tomorrow

Sense will seep

Into your mind

Into your dreams

“Hope springs eternal”

It now seems.

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Edinburgh Castle by zoom.

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Urban sketchers Stoke-on-Trent are holding weekly virtual visits to places we cannot go to at the moment. This week it was Edinburgh Castle.

About fifteen of us joined a zoom meeting to draw scenes from the castle and its grounds. We use Google to find the images to draw.

In my case I was late joining, and there was only a short time for me to draw before our throw down, that’s where we all get together to show our art, and to take pictures for a joint photograph of the results.

I’m not sure where we are going next week. But I’m enjoying these virtual visits.

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Drawing flowers for a border.

sketch-1588435527385 I just drew these flowers, then tried to position them as borders for the edge of a page. The thing wasn’t working so I added blank pages to make it more of a border. I’d taken a photo of the drawing so there was shadow on the paper. I made a bit of a mess trying to use an airbrush tool on it, so there are some areas which are a bit to shady round the flowers. Then I decided to see how I could use it for a poem, so I wrote it line by line. Positioning each line in turn.

It’s not brilliant, but it’s not something I’ve done before.

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Day fourteen USK challenge.. Pets

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I drew this at about 3.30am but waited to post till now. This is my fourteenth urban sketchers Stoke-on-Trent drawing.

I have tried to draw the darker areas with heavier pen strokes. The lighter ones I’ve drawn with the same pen, but trying not to put as much pressure on. I used a unipin ink pen 0.8 size nib. On an A5 sheet of cartridge paper.

The stripey thing he is lying on is a knitted cushion in the shape of an owl. It’s my cats favourite sleeping spot as it’s over the gap between the chair arms of our two arm chairs, so he gets the chance to sleep between the two of us when we are there. He’s lying there now. Dozing…

Tulips

These were growing in our garden six years ago. The garden is more overgrown now and we didn’t put in as many tulips this year. I will have to put in more next year. Part of the problem is also the squirrels digging them up. I think they eat them in the winter.

Tulips were precious plants in centuries gone by. Some were more expensive than gold. I can remember the details, but they are beautiful plants. I’m afraid this post is a little lacking in detail. I shall try and add more to it.

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Another drawing

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Today’s #uskstoke challenge, day 13, Friday, back gate / door. As I don’t have a back gate these  are  reflections and distortions in the window of my back door. I hope you can see my hands and the black sketchbook reflected in the frosted glass. (it it frosted or patterned?). Anyway it’s quite difficult to draw your hands while you are drawing. They tend to move about, so this is more of an impression.

Some of the colour is outside, some inside. I think the patch of red and orange above my hands might be my face? I know the sketchbook is too small, bit it was difficult to see where the book ended and my cardigan started….