Trees

The roots of trees penetrate the ground, anchoring the tree in place. Sometimes in windy conditions a tree can be shaped. Especially if there is a prevailing wind, like at the coast, where the wind blows mostly in one direction. Then the tree is sculpted and sometimes stunted, growing horizontal, pushed inwards towards the land. Like someone’s long hair blown back by the wind. Wild looking. The same can happen on high moors and mountains. Shaped and transformed.

Drew the box…

Today’s #uskstoke challenge was to draw something to do with restrictions. The box is being posted up to Lancashire with a bike frame as we can’t deliver it directly to hubbies brother. So I think this counts? Pencil sketch, 6b, on an A6 cartridge pad. Tried to do the writing on the box as neatly as I could. X

Fish patterns,

Fish drawing in permanent inks. Patterns in the water, scale patterns on the fish. I left the edges blank but I think it might look better if I add more or crop the image closer in. I do know I have a style of drawing. When you move your hands it follows a certain pattern, I sometimes try and fight the way I do things, but if I imagine something it usually comes out similar each time. Faces generally look left, three quarter faces look towards the right. Horses heads look left. I think it’s because I’m right handed? Maybe it is because I draw left to right, the same as writing?

Tree spirits

Acrylic on canvas

I keep finding old photos of paintings that I have done over the years. This was called tree spirits and went to a lovely couple who had fallen in love with it. Those that follow my blog know I love pattern and shapes. My favourite shape is the spiral. I don’t know why… But curving round and twisting, leaves shading the faces. I want to do more like this.

X

Lizard

Hitting the wrong buttons again… So for some reason I’ve got this list of categories above. I have no idea how to delete it!

I was going to talk about my digital drawing of a lizard. I’d originally just drawn the background but decided to add this because I liked the idea of camouflage. It was drawn at a now defunct website called sketchfu which closed a long time ago. It had simple tools, but I could draw what I wanted to. Freedom in art is wonderful!

My mural of Molly Leigh

Molly Leigh was said to be the Burslem witch. She lived in a small cottage, a photo of which I based this picture on. There are no photos of her so I tried to find a painting of an elderly woman from about that time and chose a picture of a French peasant by Theodore Gericault as an inspiration. The plants in the background are meant to be foxgloves and different herbs in a garden I imagined to be full of things you could use for remedies. I didn’t find much out about her life, except she is meant to be buried in a local church yard with the grave orientated East West, instead of the normal North South way. We went for a walk and ended up in the graveyard, only to get told off by someone from the church who kept getting people messing about round Mollys grave. When we explained we were on a photo walk of Burslem and we didn’t want to do any strange rituals he was OK. The painting is set on a night of the full moon and I tried to make the sky atmospheric and spooky. I’m sorry people won’t be able to see my murals in the Leopard anymore. No doubt they will be painted over or removed.

Sleepy

I keep nodding off, falling asleep, almost in mid sentence. Stayed up too late for the last three nights. Going to bed at three or four am. I was trying to get my coursework done, but I’ve fallen into a bad habit of going to bed late and getting up late. I keep having interesting dreams, in them I’m at university walking through rooms and lecture halls, I’m doing a distance learning course, but clearly I want to go there. Can barely keep my eyes open. I keep having to check my grammar and writing. I nod off as I’m typing sometimes. Wake up to gibberish. V V g g kg v”fcggffvb or something like that.

I might try and write something else. But what? What do people want to hear? I don’t know. Brains running on empty….

Sketching tutors

When you are in a webinar and you are listening to people talking, why not sketch them? I don’t get much chance of doing portraits of people at the moment and so I take them when I can. Our webinars require students to have their mic and camera switched off, and only switching the mic on if you want to say something. When you are in a group of up to forty students I guess it makes it easier to hear what’s being said and it’s less distracting. I make notes, but I can’t help wanting to draw…

So if you are ever in a zoom meeting with me… Beware I might do a quick sketch of you too!