Close-up

Posted on April 14, 2020April 14, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged #uskstoke, Apple, Art, Cartridge paper, Charcoal, Colours, Crayon, Design, Drawing, Illustration, Ink pen, Permanent markers, Sketch, Sketch book, Urban sketchers Stoke on trent2 Comments

I just thought I would show you a close-up of the apple I drew today, so you can see the effect of layering up pencil crayon and permanent marker, black ink pen, and charcoal pencil. I enjoyed using fine lines to define the shadows. I was going to leave a patch if white paper as a highlight on the apple, but when I looked at it, it was to white. So I used orange, red and pink permanent markers to try and make the apple stand out. Using different colours and textures is really exciting, it makes the image less flat. But I’m not trying to make it 3d either.

Setting up a still life.

Posted on April 14, 2020April 14, 2020 Posted in Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged Art, College, Looking, Melamine?, Metallic plastic, Oil on board, Painting, Setting up, Still life, Tin cansLeave a comment

These are a few pictures I took when I was at college. They are pictures of objects I considered to turn into still lives. I finally did a painting based on the shiny plastic melanin? These pictures were taken almost forty years ago in my studio. The final one is oil paint on board. In one corner if you look closely is the painting of a hill covered in terraced houses that I did a copy of recently.

It’s good finding an old sketchbook with old hotis. It reminds me of what I was doing then. I also found pictures of old friends. I might post a couple of photos of them.

Stay safe and do Art!

An apple a day

Posted on April 14, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged #uskstoke, Apple, Art, Challenge, Drawing, Food, Fruit, Fun, Life, Urban sketchers Stoke on trent, Usk Stoke-on-Trent12 Comments

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USK Stoke day 26 challenge. Eating fruit. So I drew this wrinkly apple, balanced on my easel, then ate it… Not the easel, but the apple.

Drawn with coloured pencil crayons, charcoal stick, black ink pen and permanent marker pens.

I’m now hungry….

Digital galaxy

Posted on April 13, 2020April 13, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Astronomy, Digital drawing, Drawing, Galaxy, Nebula, Past, Sketch Fu, Space, Spiral galaxy, Stars10 Comments

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Another one of my digital drawings on sketchfu. Probably drawn in 2013 before the site closed down. A lot of this is done by using opacity and transparency. There were about seven sizes of pens on the website and a large colour palette and a colour picker and erasers that I think had a varied transparency.

When you do something like this you have to build up from a basic background, layering details, adding more and smaller detail as I go along.

Observation is important. I can excuse slight mistakes, but I try and be as accurate as possible.

I’m interested in astronomy so being able to draw from beautiful images is a real pleasure. I think this either came from a stock image, or somewhere like NASA or ESA, but it’s so long ago…

Black and red sketches..

Posted on April 13, 2020April 13, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Black and red, Blogging, Design, Drawing, Fun, Graphic art, Ideas, Ink, Pattern, Random, Two inch squares8 Comments

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I might be submitting some little black and red drawings to a group exhibition. It’s not something I’ve done before. The work is meant to be two inches square with it being in ink and on white paper.

After drawing the two images on the left side of the paper, I realised there was not enough white and I had used too dark a red in the first one.

I tried to draw the two patterns again, but they didn’t come out as well as I’m still quite tired from staying up too late last night. What do you think? Are they interesting enough?

Day 26 usk challenge

Posted on April 13, 2020April 13, 2020 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged #uskstoke, Art, Biro, Daily challenge, Drawing, Ink, Pen, Sketch, Sketching, Urban sketchers Stoke on trent, View through a window12 Comments

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Quick sketch in biro, looking out of our back living room window into the yard. You might be able to see a dream catcher in the window. There’s a lot of brambles out there growing through from next door. But in the summer it’s full of colourful flowers. I usually cut the brambles so only bits with flower buds re left, then I pick the crop when the fruit is ripe sometimes a squirrel comes along and harvests them before I get there!

I had already ordered hanging baskets that generally arrive in June. I hope they still come. Its something to look forward to.

Waiting for it to warm up a bit, then I’ll go outside and do a bit more.

Old digital drawing

Posted on April 12, 2020April 12, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Astronomy, Design, Digital drawing, Drawing, Expressing myself, Fun, SketchfuLeave a comment

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Ten years ago or so I drew this at sketchfu. It’s an astronomer and a sort of face. I wonder sometimes where I get my ideas from. I enjoy astronomy programmes but I guess this started out as a doodle and then I embellished it. This was what I was talking about when I said about being experimental in a previous post, this isn’t controlled. I didn’t have to use ellipses or straight lines. I was not constrained by any rules.

I have a deviant art account and I used to draw in photoshop and post the results there. I might go back to doing that. Using a phone is simple, but it’s limited.

I have drawn so much in my life. I want to continue….

Drawing our Easter Garden

Posted on April 12, 2020April 12, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged #uskstoke, Art, Blossom, Easter, Flowers, Fun, Garden, Life, Plants, Sketching, Spring, Trees, Urban sketchers Stoke on trent3 Comments

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Day 25, urban sketchers challenge. Suddenly the blossom has burst in the garden, where there were buds a couple of days ago, now tiny pinky white flowers are sprouting out of the branches and twigs. I’ve seen and heard a very loud bumble bee, and also worker bees and hover flies. Hopefully they will do their job of pollinating the blossom and we will have cherries and pears and plums as the summer progresses.

The garden was hard to draw because of all the details. I can get the branches approximately right, then adding leaves and blossom complicates things. Distinguishing between leaf shapes and colours for instance.

I used two thicknesses of black unipin pens, fine line water and fade proof pigment ink (0.5 and 0.8). I also used a Faber-Castell Pitt artist pen black 199*** S size. Then I shaded in with a 3B graphite pencil and a charcoal pencil. I would have liked to add some dabs of colour, but I think the overall effect is quite good. I’ve taken a picture and used a black and white filter because I took the photo under electric light and one corner, a bit turned up, was reflecting back quite a bright yellow.

Mask for today?

Posted on April 11, 2020 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Art, Design, Digital art, Drawing, Drawing apps, Fun, Mask, Owl, Sketchfu, SketchingLeave a comment

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Digital drawing I did at the now defunct sketchfu web site, several years ago now. I called it owl mask, which is what it is. The site got too popular and the owners couldn’t afford to keep it going. I have lots of art from there and other websites. Luckily I saved a lot before it closed.

These days there seems to be less freedom, more colouring in images that someone else has drawn, for instance. Less chances to do different styles and ideas.

I think it’s also because of the ubiquitous play stores. It seems hard to find pure drawing websites that aren’t about gaming. Why aren’t more ideas are allowed. It’s hard to know what is going on.

Keep drawing, stay safe.

Playing games

Posted on April 11, 2020April 11, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged #uskstoke, Art, Chess, Colours, Design, Drawing, Fun, Glass chess set, Playing games, Sketchers, Urban sketchers Stoke on trentLeave a comment

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Oh, the things you find under the cupboard, covered in years of dust. I put it away ages ago because one of my old cats used to squirm under there and get stuck.

My chess set is glass. I hope to play a few games whilst things are locked down here. I’m not good at it, I can’t tell you how far ahead check mate is, and I’m never sure how or when to ‘Castle’.

I drew this because today’s sketching challenge from USK Stoke was playing games and I don’t know where my scrabble set has gone….. Day 24 of thirty. Drawn in pencil crayons and permanent markers.

I enjoyed using these colours, they may not be an exact match for the reality, but red and green are complementary colours, as are orange and blue. I thought they gave it some pizazz…!

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: Art