Glue, Glitter and paint
Blue, green and black
Spiralling round
Like a maze on the ground
Metallic paint
Set with sparkles
Like an ancient mound
The path wound around
Playing with art
Staying happy.
Glitter spiral
How to change?
How would you improve your community?
How to improve my town? We are a bit of a post industrial area. A lot of industry has gone, mining, steel works, a tyre factory and a lot of the local potteries.
There are a lot of empty industrial buildings that have been left to rot. Our country charges less VAT on new builds than restoring old buildings, so a lot just gets left. We have recently had a spate of fires in these buildings, which is worrying and probably to the advantage of absent owners ( I have no proof they are involved I must add).
Our local government seems set on building apartments and car parks, but whether they are in the right places is open to question. Meanwhile plots of green land are threatened by the builders, and like everywhere else trees are cut down, roads are built and “levelling up” is touted as a great achievement.
But why are potholes in roads left unfilled? Why are historical buildings surrounded by fencing till they fall down, why aren’t crafts and arts, which bring a wealth of creativity into an area encouraged. This was once the centre of pottery in our country, no more? We have lost so much.
Then add trees and environmental improvements to the local canal and river and maybe people would take more pride in their surroundings. I just hope things can improve. It needs LOVE!
Doodling digitally
When you get new apps you have to learn how to use them. There are similarities and differences. You try one app and then transport an image into another app and try and alter it by using different filters and pens and markers. Each of these started with the bottom left sketch and then I took a screenshot of it ( I had to find out how on this new phone), then added more on top. It’s not going to be my favourite method of altering images, but I’m learning. I have found recently that drawing tools seem to be limited. Instead you get backgrounds and filters to alter faces and landscapes but using photoshop like tools, not paintbrushes or pens. I know I can do more if I had the tools. Perhaps I will find something more satisfying soon.
Being pestered on Instagram
A comment on my Instagram photo of my cat offers me the opportunity to sell my work as NFTs. I know NF stands for Non Fungible (transactions?). I noticed that a friend of mine has had a similar proposal offered to her. I immediately got that sinking feeling that this is dodgy. My images are covered by my copyright, but what happens if you start selling digital images. Aren’t they sold via crypto currency? How is it converted into something tangible. My art is OK but I wouldn’t say it was exceptional. Isn’t this just a bit of ego polishing? Like vanity publishing, and who gets any profit. I have friends who were going to set up an NFT gallery with a lot of friends art last year, but after a while I didn’t hear anything more. But the thing that really put me off was the silly Trump NFTs which were sold for masses of money, but almost instantly crashed a few weeks later. Until the whole thing is regularised I won’t touch it with a barge pole!
Swallow falls a year ago
I don’t remember when we actually visited Swallowfalls, it’s in Wales near Capel Curig. The water flows off the Snowdonia range. I think I drew this from an old photo. It’s one of my felt pen drawings that I do with #bandofsketchers. This was drawn in May 2022, when we were more restricted in where we could go and I was being so cautious I drew from references more than real life (I still limit where we go). I wish I was up to travelling over there. Wales is a wonderful, picturesque, friendly country. Visit if you can X
Furry friend
Added a filter to emphasise the fur on my furry friend. It looks strange but I don’t think it looks bad. He’s sitting on the chair arm next to me starting to nod off. Black and white cats are so sweet. I might try some other filters to see how they come out. I might also try a black and white filter.
Going to a new home
Autumn painting. A woman with a red umbrella walks through a damp and misty forest with leaves scattered around. I worked from a photo someone lent me so I don’t know who’s photo it was. If there is a copyright issue I will delete this post.
I had problems with the body length and the length of the legs, trying to get them and the arms in proportion. I had to play with the colours and shadows to try and get a realistic light on the figure. I also tried to make the trees bluer to send them back into the distance.
Daffodil face
Just look at me! I’m a daffodil face!
A nose, two eyes, and ears in place?
I could be a skull
Or a monster too
I definitely am yellow
And a little sallow
I wonder what beast
I could be the least
Beautiful flower
Or petals in a bower…
Bad rhymes
Silly times!
Spring sketch
Tuesdays #bandofsketchers prompt was Spring. My sister bought me a couple of bunches of daffodils at the weekend. It’s wet outside so I decided to draw them. Close up and using felt pens decided to make it slightly abstract.
I don’t go out much
How have you adapted to the changes brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic?
I still wear a mask when I go in shops, especially supermarkets. I rarely go out except to try and walk a bit to keep myself fit. Sometimes the world seems like an alien place and I feel like I have walled off the world. I have stopped visiting many friends and don’t like going in pubs or places where there are a lot of people. I still have covid testing kits and I try and remember to test once a week, mainly when I go out to choir practice. I have not had covid19 (yet) and I do hope to continue to avoid it, but I think people are forgetting about it, and really it’s not surprising because it isn’t in the news headlines any more. But millions died and millions more have been disabled by it. I’m not going to put my life at risk if I can help it. Stay safe x
Mallaband-Brown 