Block of flats

What to do with bits if left over paper when you’ve taken out pages from your sketchbook? I cut out the page egdesby snipping where the paper has squares cuyt out for the ring binding. I took some orange post it notes then glued the offcuts on top so it looks like windows… Crumpled up some green post it notes for the grass and bushy bank the flats sit on. Then I used my ink roller (that is meant to blot out your address when you throw letters away) to roll over the background, leaving a vertical line for a lamppost. Finally I added an orange oblong of post it note for the street light. I added felt pen for trees and the lamppost and drew in the squares to add shadow to the windows…

Portrait session

This weeks portraits using a little ink roller that normally is used for blotting out addresses to draw the basic structure, then soft pastels to colour them and a bit of black ink. Used hairspray to fix them.
The second set were played with in the Photodirector app I have, but I only put them through one filter.

Otter?

Reflection of two ducks, turned through 90°. Somehow it became an otter or a beaver? Eyes, nose, mouth, pale fur. Maybe even some ears? Above it I can see some sort of dark eyed creature. Two large eyes and a pale button nose? Arms stretching out to either side of the picture. Ready to pounce on the otter head?

So many questions, imagination can be surprising, finding odd creatures in pattern, Pareidolia….

Maze

There is a maze at the far end of Westport lake which we got stuck in (some muddy patches). It’s only got small hedges so you can’t really get lost. Yet another mirrored photo…. And why not?

My collection of them keeps increasing, I look at each view with the thought that I can make it into something quirky.

Faced

Digital faces, played with in the Layout app. I think this is a couple of years old. I think I did the original drawing in ArtRage oils. To me this feels ancient and modern. I’m thinking of iconic mediaeval paintings. Also with the faces without eyes I somehow think of Heironymous Bosch? Weird images. The columns also make me think about columns of figures in stained glass windows. Each face is the same image, imagined and representing a female face. I did not try to interpret it or give an explanation when I made this image. Perhaps I needed a couple of years to think about it!

Cat bell

Wooden cat ‘bell’ one of the weird things I’ve collected over the years…

I seem to collect cat ornaments and friends give them me as presents, so much so that they clutter up everywhere. I’ve got cheap cats and cheerful ones, a few expensive ones… What other collections? Books and paintings and indoor plants. It’s amazing what you can fit on hotizontal surfaces in a tiny terraced house!

Canal view

Tuesdays #bandofsketchers prompt was decay. It took me a while to find a subject that I liked. In this case it was a photo I took of an old bottle oven and fencing / boarding reflected in the Trent and Mersey canal. This was near Dolphin boats in Stoke, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire.

I used Boldmere colouring pencils for the drawing which made it paler than the photo. I could use some watercolour washes to increase the depth of colour but I quite like the way this is blended. One thing I didn’t include was the debris floating in the canal after so many windy days.

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Reflections

I love using mirroring to change how a photo looks. You can do it vertically (top), horizontally (middle) or both (bottom).

I called them ‘Westport mirrored’, ‘I see frogs’ and ‘stained glass westport’.

I used the layout app which can be used to post images to both Facebook and Instagram. I’m on Instagram @mallabandbrown or #mallabandbrown (I never know which it is!) if you want to see more of my art.

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Handle

Today’s #bandofsketchers prompt was Handle. I couldn’t think of anything ornate to draw so I just did the front door handle with my keys in it. Black calligraphy ink pen with metallic watercolour paints for the details and view through the front door window. My arm still shakes so as I hold my sketchpad it wobbles…..

#mypaotw

I’ve been meaning to catch this series but of course the last programme was the one I finally caught! Anyway I just drew Oti Mubusi from the TV screen so I think I spent about five minutes on it (not including ad breaks and changes of the people on the screen). I think I caught her likeness…

Ah well there is always next year!