Cappuccino and a muffin.

Posted on May 9, 2025 Posted in Memories, Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Art, Black and white drawing, cappuccino, Coffee, muffin, Pen and ink, SketchingLeave a comment

I do like drawing in my little sketchbook. It’s getting full of pictures and poems and some short stories.

This morning a friend took me out so we had a cappuccino and a muffin. It was lovely to have a chat. I decided to draw what was on the table so here’s the result. I like crosshatching to add shape and shade to make it more 3 dimensional.

We were talking to the waitress and and she saw my sketches. She said that she used to be good at art and sometimes shows her children how to do things. I suggested she get a little sketchbook to start drawing in again, I hope she does.

Trying to do a self portrait

Posted on May 7, 2025 Posted in Fine Art, Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Acrylic on canvas, Art, Fine Art, front view, Life, Painting, Photo, self portrait, Sketching4 Comments

Not right yet, eyes too close together, my nose is too long. But it’s getting there slowly. I need to try and make the eyes slightly smaller too. I tend to paint self portraits straight on although I might try and do a three quarter profile one instead as it can be more dynamic. This took about an hour and a half. In acrylic on canvas.

Digital drawing of a woman

Posted on April 30, 2025 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Art, ArtRage app, Digital drawing, Metallic, Sketching, stained glass idea, Stylus, WomanLeave a comment

Playing with Artrage, it’s been a while, I wanted to create the impression of a stained glass window. I like drawing digitally and I used a stylus to try and control my shakiness. I like this app because it had various pens and the ability to make the colours metallic. I paid for it, but not much and I’ve used it for several years .

Horsing about

Posted on April 30, 2025 Posted in Fine Art, Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Acrylic on canvas, Art, Design, Fine Art, gnarly, Horse, Medieval, Painting, Texture, Tree, ZebraLeave a comment

I only had an hour at art group today so I messed about and came up with this. It’s a semi abstract painting of a horse/zebra. I was concentrating on a limited pallette, green, burnt umber, a lighter brown, silver and white. First I painted the horse and highlighted it in green, then I added the gnarly tree. Finally I added textures, including the striped zebra idea. I think it has a vague medieval feeling. I’m calling it finished. Acrylic on canvas.

Cat design

Posted on April 28, 2025 Posted in Cat, Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Art, Bed, Black and white cat, Cat, Celtic cat, Curled up, Design, Life, Poem, Poetry, SleepLeave a comment

Semi celtic cat design

I love the way cats twist

And squirm

Paws and tail,

Mouth and leg

Shuffle over on the bed

You like to sleep

In my way

But I love you so much

You can stay!

Bird doodle

Posted on April 28, 2025 Posted in Memories, Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Art, Bird, Black and white, Childhood, Doodle, Fun, Imagination, Memory, Silly, Sketching, squeakLeave a comment

I love my little notebook, getting filled up with sketches and doodles and bits of writing prompts. This bird recently appeared squeaking and squaking (odd word spelling I know) on the page. With this drawing comes memories of drawing odd bits when I was a child. I used to try and draw butterflies and moths and horses too. It is about learning to draw and freeing your imagination. Art is life!

Painting update

Posted on April 26, 2025 Posted in Fine Art, Memories, UncategorizedTagged Acrylic on canvas, Art, Art group, Imagination, Life, Painting, Seascape, Work in progress2 Comments

I’m still working on this. I tried to sort out the horizon line as it was wobbly. I think that the land in the background is too dark. I want to try and resolve the colours and waves on the sea…. Is it too light or dark….

This is from my imagination but I might try and find something that is similar. Or I could turn it into a more abstract image?

Crafts

Posted on April 21, 2025 Posted in Memories, Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Art, Black ink, diamond art, Drawing, Life, notebook, person, Portrait, Sketching, WomanLeave a comment

Portrait of a woman called Carol in our craft group working on some diamond art picture. I enjoy doing small portraits, quickly done, it fits in with my Parkinsons shakes, if a line goes awry I can hide it in cross hatching. I have a small notebook with very pae blue lines so they are not very noticeable. I never want to stop drawing and painting. It’s my life. X

I must finish this

Posted on April 20, 2025 Posted in Fine Art, Memories, UncategorizedTagged Acrylic on canvas, Art, cataract, Eyesight, Fine Art, Life, misty, Painting, Stopped, Teapot3 Comments

About three months ago? I started this, but then winter arrived and I stopped painting. My eyesight has got worse, I’ve found myself cleaning my glasses and realised it was my eyeballs that need “cleaning”, my cataracts are getting worse, extending into my central vision. It’s like a vaseline smeared camera lens that they use to make scenes in films look more romantic or nostalgic. In my case it’s like looking through mist. And it’s bloody annoying! Luckily I’m having my eyes checked out to have a cataract operation. Hopefully I will be able to paint again soon.

Two more cat doodles.

Posted on April 18, 2025 Posted in Cat, Memories, Sketching, UncategorizedTagged 2017, Art, bad photo, Cartoon, Cat, Designs, Doodle, Fun, Ideas, Memory, Pottery, Sketches, Stoke-on trentLeave a comment

From 2017. Quite eccentric ideas for cards and Stoke-on-Trent that I was playing with. We are known as the potteries because that’s what is mainly manufactured here. I had a bit of a play with scale. Sorry they are not good photos. My odd humour.

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: Art