Gecko

Posted on May 5, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Design, Digital art, Digital drawing, Fun, Gecko, Life, Orange and green, Pattern, SketchfuLeave a comment

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I drew this at sketchfu probably about ten years ago. I’d drawn the orange and green pattern first, and then added the gecko afterwards. I love the idea of camouflage. I can’t remember if I made the lizard up or if I used an image of one from somewhere. If I did I would have modified the colours.

One problem with sketchfu was the way the colour laid down on the screen. Different drawing apps work differently. With sketchfu what happened was that if you did not have the pens on full opacity you got a slightly fuzzy effect. Imagine if you had an old felt pen. The colour is fading and the nib is a bit frayed. That’s what the effect of the pens on the digital app was like.

I hope you like my dinky little gecko.

Remembering

Posted on May 5, 2020 Posted in Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged Art, Beech, Bovisand Bay, Devon, From life, Landscape, Painting, Plein air, Poem, Poetry, Sea, Seaside, SummerLeave a comment

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Bovisand Bay, painted from life several years ago. Acrylic on canvas. This is what I remember…

The beach at Bovisand.

Warm sand beneath my feet.

Gritty rock, specks sparkle in the sun.

Water laps my feet.

Feet sink into soft sand…

Cove enclosed by cliffs.

Blue sky and tiny clouds.

Close growing plants are sheltered.

Back of the bay, a valley nestles in the hills.

A golden grass snake basks in the heat.

I remember.

I remember the thunder storm.

Lightening strikes in dark night.

Watching flashes over the sea.

Awesome beauty.

Remembered.

Day 17, artists materials, quick sketch.

Posted on May 5, 2020 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged #uskstoke, Art, Artists materials, Day 17, Drawing, Permanent marker, Quick sketch, Sketching, Tired, Usk challengeLeave a comment

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I’ve run out of steam a bit, so today’s sketch (day 17), is of the artists materials I’m using. Nibb bright coloured permanent markers.

I’ve drawn them with coloured pencils behind them and on my sketchbook. I could have added more of a background but it’s hard sometimes to be inspired. I might go out in the garden later and try and come up with something more interesting.

My energy levels are really down (I feel like my battery is flat) went to bed early last night and slept in. I still feel shattered. Ah well its all part of life.

Today’s challenge was clothes

Posted on May 4, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged #uskstoke, Art, Black, Clothes, Day 16 challenge, Grey, Owls, Red, Selfie, Sketching, Staffordshire, Usk challenge, Usk Stoke-on-Trent2 Comments

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Day 16, USK S-O-T sketching challenge is a self portrait of me wearing my favourite top, covered in red and black owls. It’s funny and quirky.

A few people are still keeping to the challenge, and some say they will catch up later. Some of the subjects are a bit odd, but it’s fun.

I was watching the artist Maggie Hambling on a programme called ‘Grayson Perry’s art club’. It’s a weekly programme on channel four encouraging people to do art while we are in lockdown. Maggie Hambling said draw something every day, and Grayson Perry reiterated that. I think they are right. The drawings I’m doing are my diary of my life at the moment.

Other celebrities were either drawing or making sculpture. Grayson and his wife created ceramic images based on their cat Kevin. Both created wonderful, abstract, exciting sculptures.

After seeing it I decided I shall continue….

Pen tops..

Posted on May 3, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Colours, Design, Hues, Learning, Negative, Phone apps, Photo editing, PhotosLeave a comment

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Here are the permanent pens I’m using for my sketches.

I just thought I’d post a picture because I liked the bright colours. I’ve actually got another challenge I’ve been given to post black and white photos for seven days, so I could alter this…

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Of course you can use your photo editor to change the hue… _20200504_004437

Or create a negative image…. _20200504_004321

So what am I saying? If you have a smart phone, it’s fun to play with your phones photo software. You might be surprised what you can create.

Colourful, today’s usk challenge.

Posted on May 3, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged #uskstoke, Art, Colours, Drawing, Fun, Photo, Picture, Staffordshire, Urban sketch day 15, Usk challenge, Usk Stoke-on-TrentLeave a comment

Today’s challenge was to draw something colourful. My eyes fell on an owl sculpture by a blacksmith who works at a Forge at Etruria, Stoke-on-Trent. She’s called Charis Jones and her company is called Sculpted Steel.

Behind the owl is a plate that my hubby painted at the Gladstone pottery museum in Longton.

I started by drawing the outlines in black ink. I then filled in the colours with permanent ink markers and a few coloured pencils.

The colours are not all accurate, but as the brief was colourful I added some to the books and cds in the background while trying not to overdo it.

I’ve included a reference photo to give you an idea of what I was working from.

Primates

Posted on May 3, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Animals, Apes, Art, Black and white, Drawing, Fun, Monkeys, Primates, SketchingLeave a comment

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I’m watching a programme called Primates on BBC TV. Its about all the different primates in the world. I couldn’t draw them because they move so fast.

Anyway this is the best I could do, just the enjoyment of drawing something so interesting and I amazing.

Ginger swirl

Posted on May 2, 2020 Posted in Cat, SketchingTagged Art, ArtRage app, Cat, Design, Drawing, Fun, ginger cat, Sketch, Sketching6 Comments

I did this drawing on the ArtRage app. I wanted to create something a bit different, fluid, expressive. Most of my pictures are of black and white cats, but this reminds me of a swirling ice-cream, perhaps ginger and vanilla, or caramel and white salt.

Signature.. sometimes I use my full name, but for years I’ve also called myself cmb, which I like because it also stands for cosmic microwave background..but that’s another story.

Edinburgh Castle by zoom.

Posted on May 2, 2020 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Art, Drawing, Edinburgh Castle, Quick sketch, Sketching, Staffordshire, Urban Sketchers, Urban sketchers Stoke on trent, Virtual visitLeave a comment

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Urban sketchers Stoke-on-Trent are holding weekly virtual visits to places we cannot go to at the moment. This week it was Edinburgh Castle.

About fifteen of us joined a zoom meeting to draw scenes from the castle and its grounds. We use Google to find the images to draw.

In my case I was late joining, and there was only a short time for me to draw before our throw down, that’s where we all get together to show our art, and to take pictures for a joint photograph of the results.

I’m not sure where we are going next week. But I’m enjoying these virtual visits.

Drawing flowers for a border.

Posted on May 2, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Border, Drawing, Flower border, Flowers, Learning, Plant, Poem, Poetry, Sketch, TextLeave a comment

sketch-1588435527385 I just drew these flowers, then tried to position them as borders for the edge of a page. The thing wasn’t working so I added blank pages to make it more of a border. I’d taken a photo of the drawing so there was shadow on the paper. I made a bit of a mess trying to use an airbrush tool on it, so there are some areas which are a bit to shady round the flowers. Then I decided to see how I could use it for a poem, so I wrote it line by line. Positioning each line in turn.

It’s not brilliant, but it’s not something I’ve done before.

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: Art