Poppies near Argenteuil.

Posted on June 19, 2020June 19, 2020 Posted in Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged Art, Claude Monet, Fine Art, French impressionist, Life, Monet, Painting, Poppy field, Relaxing, Summers day, Walking7 Comments

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Monets’ painting of a poppy field is such a ubiquitous image, but beautiful nonetheless. The figures at the top of the hill are the same couple at the bottom of the hill, though I doubt that he painted so quickly that he managed to paint the rest of the picture by the time they had walked down the hill.

The trees in the background and the house set at the back of the field frame a beautiful summers day. It always seems so calm and peaceful when I look at it. I feel joyful and relaxed, thinking of glimpsing a view like that in Devon or Yorkshire. I know many wildflower meadows have gone, but maybe we will restore more of them in the future so people can enjoy walking through them again.

Drawings

Posted on June 19, 2020 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged #uskstoke, Art, Calendar, Covid 19, Lock down, Memories, Sketching, Stoke-on-Trent Urban sketchers, Thoughts, Time2 Comments

17.4.20, after I had drawn for thirty days with Stoke Urban Sketchers, and I guess at that stage I thought we wouldn’t be in lockdown for long. Our government, and in particular our prime minister was giving out optimistic press conferences saying that we should be able to get over it pretty lightly. I think he even said it was like some sort of flu? Of course things didn’t go that well for us, and now over 42 thousand people have died from covid 19 in the UK. Its almost like the government thought we would be immune with our “stiff upper lips” and “gung-ho” mentality. Clearly they were wrong.

So here we are. How many more drawings will I do before it’s safe to go out properly and not just dash to the shops to get essentials. Who knows when that will be?

My mona

Posted on June 18, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Digital drawing, Drawing, Fun, Leonardo, Life, Mona Lisa, Painting, Sketch, SketchfuLeave a comment

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I drew this at sketchfu about eight years ago. It is simply drawn with vasious circular brushes. Different sizes, a palette of colours, different opacity and transparency and an eraser.

I was looking at a post on Facebook by portrait artists. They thought digital art was just taking a picture in Photoshop and using filters to make it look like a drawing. I don’t think they understood the hours it takes to do something like this. It’s not brilliant, but it was difficult.

What’s in the bag?

Posted on June 18, 2020 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Art, Black and white, Blogging, Drawing, Ink pen, Plastic bag, Shopping, Sketching, Stoke-on-Trent Urban sketchers, Usk challengeLeave a comment

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Today’s Urban sketchers drawing was to draw what’s in a bag. I have drawn a plastic bag containing different items obscured by the plastic.

Ink pen size 0.5,iI think I possibly should have used a bigger nib? But it did mean I’ve goy some nice fine lines. I think we are about half way through this set of challenges. The are happening three times a week. It’s keeping my mind occupied. I have other things I need to get done that I’m putting off!

Reflected

Posted on June 16, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Abstract, Art, Image, Layout app, Multiplied, Peeling paint, Photo, Spode, Stoke, ThoughtLeave a comment

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Looking in and looking out, mirrored sky shining. The window frames flaking and peeling. Put through a mirroring filter and you find a floating tower. Could it be magic. What is art? Why is a photo? Can an image be trickery in a friendly way? Must it be cryptic.

See the world through an ant or a bees eye. See the world through the eye of a whale or a satellite.

Our vision is an average humans vision. At a cartain height, with colour vision like primates have. We don’t have slits in our pupils, or black and white vision. We don’t use echo location.

Photos are interesting to play with.

Souvenir

Posted on June 16, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged #uskstoke, Art, Black and white, Colour, Drawing, Knitting, Life, Pattern, Pen and ink, Picture, Sketching, Souvenir, Thai doll, Urban sketchers challenge, Urban sketchers Stoke on trentLeave a comment

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Texture and pattern. Today’s Urban sketchers challenge was drawing a souvenir so I drew a Thai woman and baby doll that my friend gave me. As I’m doing textures and symbols on my illustration course I decided to try out different marks to show the knitting on the cushion underneath the doll.

I have been doing a lot of pen and ink drawings lately, not using pencil or charcoal much. Maybe I should try some other techniques?

Art…

Posted on June 15, 2020June 15, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Architecture, Art, Biology, Design, Drawing, Essential workers, Mechanical design, Medicine, Non essential workers, Online design, Pictures, Science, Sunday Times article, Technical drawingLeave a comment

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The Sunday Times newspaper has run an article which compares essential and non essential workers.

Their survey had a list of images, essential has doctors I think at the top, and artists at the top of non essential jobs. So it says artists are the least essential workers?

I feel this argument should be challenged.

So no one ever designs things using their artistic skills, or paints scenery, or designs art for their walls, or cars, or wallpaper, or covers for books, or diagrams for science books, or medical textbooks. Or designs for online gaming art, or creating beautiful jewellery, or clothes or shoes. Or patterns on China and pottery. No art is used in news papers to show images of essential or non essential workers, how could anyone be employed to illustrate anything? No one ever read a cartoon or a children’s book! Obviously……! No one ever drew rainbows for the NHS. Children don’t need art to learn how to understand biology or architecture or any other complex concept. Richard Feynmann and Steven Hawking never used pictures to explain their theories of quantum mechanics. What about technical drawing? But… statues are now grey boxes, Leonardo is a turtle…. And he was never drawn!

Today’s challenge, water or washing

Posted on June 14, 2020June 14, 2020 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged #uskstoke, Art, Charity, Drawing, Drawing challenge, Drinking water, Ideas, Sketching, Tap, Thinking, WaterLeave a comment

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It was another drawing challenge with Stoke Urban Sketchers, but I think it means more than that…. I am privileged to live in a country where we have sufficient rain, most of the time, to fill our needs. Last year we decided to have an outside tap fitted. It means that if there is drought we can use watering cans and a hose to water the garden. Ideally we need to fit a waterbutt to become more self sufficient. Drawing a tap is significant, a basic I sometimes take for granted.

The need for fresh water is a desperate problem across a lot of the world. There are charities you can donate to including Wateraid which is trying to bring fresh water to some of the poorest countries in the world.

So I’m just suggesting making a small donation. Each tiny drop of water from many people can turn into a torrent if enough of us give. If you can wash your hands it aids the health of people, the ability to grow crops and reduces famine and disease.

The cat sculpture is happy

Posted on June 13, 2020June 13, 2020 Posted in Cat, UncategorizedTagged Art, Blacksmith, Commission, Design, Etruria forge, Happy, Pleased, Sculpted Steel, SculptureLeave a comment

The cat sculpture by Charis Jones, of Sculpted Steel based at the Forge at Etruria, Stoke-on-Trent, has settled nicely into the greenery of our garden. It stares out from between geraniums and lilies. The light glints on its glass eyes and shows off the lovely green coppery finish.

I don’t commission art very often, but Charis translated my two dimensional drawing into a remarkably beautiful cat. Proud and purrfect. It’s crinkly whiskers full of character. I’m pleased to possess it.

Circles, today’s USK prompt.

Posted on June 11, 2020June 11, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged #uskstoke, Art, Circles, Drawing, Dream catcher, Ellipses, Life, Mobile, Mug, Objects, Rings, Sketching, Urban sketchers Stoke on trentLeave a comment

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I just had to find circles to draw for today’s Stoke on Trent urban sketchers challenge. I hope ellipses count as tipped up circles. In that case there are rings, a mug, a dream catcher and a mobile in this sketch… If not I guess the dream catcher and mobile in the window count. Black ink on cartridge paper. Next drawing due Sunday I think….

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: Art