This morning the last flower on the Gladioli stem had fallen onto the path. I think someone had knocked it off as they walked past. I picked it up and put it on my step because I liked it’s beauty against the old peeling paint. It will soon fade and wither so I’m glad I captured it before it’s gone.
This would have been 17 years old if the Leopard Hotel in Burslem hadn’t burnt down two and a half years ago. I don’t seem to have had much luck with murals. At least three were in buildings that were later knocked down. The risk of being a mural artist I guess is that if they are painted in old buildings they might not outlast you!
If you were going to open up a shop, what would you sell?
My digital drawing of an apple
I’ve accumulated a lot of physical and digital art over a lifetime of being an artist. A lot of it is still in my house. I would set up a shop to clear some of it so it could go to good homes. I’m sure friends would do the same.
I realise people like to be clutter free, and now AI is creeping in they could press a few buttons and make something. But wouldn’t it be nice to have a creation made by a human that suits your taste and is created with love and attention? Go on, give an artist a try.
Ten year old sketch. I used to like drawing people when we went out to the local pub, or to visit friends. It’s just an easy and quick way of keeping my hand in for drawing portraits.
There are groups you can join on the Internet to draw portraits of each other but I always forget its on until it’s over and I hardly go anywhere anymore.
I do like adding texture to photos, in this case I used an app called photodirector. There are lots of options in it, but I tend to use the same tools each time. It has the effect of just ruffling the surface rather than adding some mad AI effects which you have to pay a premium for anyway. This was my lost cat, but he came back!
Old building in Stoke Town centre. The paint and layers of wood have been deteriorating for years. It’s like some fancy abstract painting. As the weather attacks the surface, more of the lifts. Part of me would like to see it in good repair, but my artistic side sees it as a painting.
I forgot to talk about being in an art group because I was interested in what I had painted. I know that talking to people helps my mood, it’s just going that’s the problem….
I knew I needed to get some sleep but after going to bed relatively early I was awake from 4 in the morning until 9am. Then I fell asleep again so I was late getting to the group.
I am glad I went. It was a good session. I managed to work on my green woman painting. I noticed how helpful people are making suggestions and supporting each other. Sometimes I just keep my head down and just concentrate on what I’m doing. But listening today made me feel less anxious. X
I’m painting a green woman and I’ve been trying to sort out how to differentiate the foreground figure from the background trees. I’ve accentuated the stripes on the bark and made them more black and white than in reality. Since the figure is abstracted in a different way I think it’s starting to work.
Imagined view, I think I need to have a look at some real clouds. I’m not sure if I’m going to call this finished. Acrylic on canvas. I just wanted to paint something calm and peaceful so I created this sketch view X