Plotting an idea

EPSON MFP image

we have had to create our own lexicon of shapes to create an alphabet. But when we did it we didn’t know what letters we would be given for each challenge. in this case i just have 90 degree and obtuse angles, little squares and moon shapes. How do you fit them together to make a face? And as the subject was a self portrait I didn’t know whether to do something current or a piece based on previous work. In the end I based the final drawing in black and white ink pen, on my 1981 self portrait from when I was a fine art student. The resulting picture doesn’t really resemble the original (not publishing them here) but it was an interesting experiment.

One annoyance is that as I’m using sketchbooks the shadow where the paper does not make proper contact with the glass is really bugging me, I will have to either cut pages out or work out a way of supporting the sketchpad.

I am going to be busy in future so I may visit WordPress a bit less, but I like using this as a diary and sketchbook so I wont be far away.

Drawing

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One of the things I have to do on this illustration course is of course drawing. But I want to learn to do more digitally/visually. Its been a few years since I have drawn at websites or used photoshop. I usually use apps, which is fine, but I need to hone my skills. Finding out again how to shade and add texture. I used to be able to do it straight away, but after three or four years of not using photoshop it takes time to pick things up again. Plus I keep getting error messages- I don’t think Adobe know anyone who still has the programme I’m using, when I looked at a couple of YouTube tutorials the screen appeared different with a black background and far more sophisticated tools, I think I’m going to have to save up and invest!

So this is a little doodle based on an illuminated I. I actually submitted a pen and ink drawing, but there’s nothing wrong with experimenting and learning. In the meantime its hot and muggy and thunderstorms are due!

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Profile

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Profile

You looked out in May

So proud and keen

Your profile reflected in glass

In the window.

Sure you would keep safe.

The sky would not fall…

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Now you have dissolved,

Lost your identity.

Impaled on shards of humanity.

Sifted and sprinkled

With covid 19.

Stay safe they said

As you disappeared.

Catch up with urban sketchers

Two for the price of one! The first was tonight’s sketch… Environment. It was going dark so I drew the fence with some hanging baskets, with our weather station above them. It measures wind rain, temperature and pressure. The dusky sky is visible above the silhouette of the buildings opposite.

The second drawing is spots and stripes. It was due on Tuesday 23.6.20, but I forgot. The first time through all these challenges that I missed doing one. The stripey thing is a cover on our settee. There are spotty and stripey cushions on it and a spotty lampshade. Neither drawing is articulately exciting. They are just about how and where I live..

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Shibui

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I’ve just been invited to join a page on Facebook about Shibui. A Japanese word that seems to mean calm and understated. The art there is ‘found’ with things like paint splatters or blown watercolour paint used to create images. Maybe trees, maybe flowers.

I  had a go at creating something. I used my finger to draw on my the screen and created a digital image. Using a few apps to make something interesting. I want to find out more about the art form.

My favourite Star Trek character.

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Always was, always will be. Spock. Played by Leonard Nimoy in the original series.

I quite like Zachary Quinto who plays him in the recent Star Trek movies. I haven’t seen the new outing of a new Star Trek series with Spock played by a different actor, and Captain Pike before Captain Kirk took over the part.

Anyway this was drawn at an old website called sketchfu which is sadly missed by a lot of people.

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Face mask

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I think I painted this self portrait in the early 1980’s. It’s disconcerting seeing my younger self. I used to like to hide my face away sometimes and the green face mask was fun to paint, although I remember it cracking as I painted! I did two versions as a friend bought one of them from a little exhibition I held. The other one has red and white earrings if I remember.

I know this was painted in oils on a homemade canvas. I think it was probably about 1ft square. The background was the pink wall in our room. The picture behind me was of a train by Cuneo. (not sure of the spelling). It was a print my mother got my hubby as he loves trains. I think I wore the red beret and yellow jumper to create some contrast to the green mask.

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They want me to use wordpress editor?

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I’m an old fuddy duddy, I do things how I like to.

I try and make original paintings and write as spontaneously as I can here.

I’m getting pretty nervous of the new editor. Yes I could try it but what happens if I like this one? Will they switch it off. I’ve invested a lot of time in WordPress and I hope my blog isn’t too boring. It would be a real pain to learn it all again. I’ve got enough on my plate without having to be doing with it .

I’m getting old and cermudgenley. I’m also trying to confuse spell checker with old words!

Goodnight one and all . X

Pop art.

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I’m playing with images again. These are vaguely based on Andy Warhol pictures in a cartoon form.

I’m reading about pop art, artists such as Roy Lichtenstein, David Hockney and particularly Andy Warhol. But there were others. Females. That have been lost in the 1960’s without the recognition they deserve. One such artist was an American nun.

From Wikipedia: “Corita Kent, born Frances Elizabeth Kent and also known as Sister Mary Corita Kent, was an American Roman Catholic religious sister, artist, designer and educator. Key themes in her work included Christianity, and social justice. She was also a teacher at the Immaculate Heart College.
Sister Corita Kent’s primary medium was silk screen, also known as Serigraphy. [4]She became self-taught after she sent away for a DIY silk screening kit.[5] Her innovative methods pushed back the limitations of two-dimensional mediums of the times. Kent’s emphasis on printing was partially due to her wish for democratic outreach, as she wished for affordable art for the masses.[6] Her artwork, with its messages of love and peace, was particularly popular during the social upheavals of the 1960s and 1970s.[7] After a cancer diagnosis in the early 1970s, she entered an extremely prolific period in her career, including the Rainbow Swash design on the LNG storage tank in Boston, and the 1985 version of the United States Postal Service‘s special Love stamp.[8]

If you look at her images they are very colourful sometimes using letters in various fonts. They are beautiful and interesting. Her artistic ability was wonderful and she should be recognised.

I saw a face

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I saw a face,

I blocked out some of the photo, and added some lines to the result in a sympathetic green colour. The blue mecanopsis flowers form stunning eyes, the concave petals give it depth. The dark purple makes the mouth and upper lips. It’s a almost insect like, perhaps like the head of a dragonfly? I can see antennae on it. It’s something I enjoy doing, playing with images.

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