New paintings and regular art updates.
Things to do at a loose end… I was asked to try and draw something with a fork for a Facebook group, I don’t know whether anyone else had a go? .. Well it ended up being a sort of forking cat! It was fun, but the acrylic paint didn’t make much of a mark, I tried adding water and then it splodged!
No doubt I will be posting more weird images as the days go on.
X
Selfie’ portrait, including phone and the canvas of a kingfisher it’s propped up on. Old brushes and easle. Background on the phone is a painting I did in about 1982,of my imagined self, so a selfie of a self portrait? Happy to join the challenge. Why is the photo a mirror image to what was on the screen I was drawing?
Oh my double chins! How difficult it is to draw while trying to look over your glasses because I can’t see clearly. I need varifocals, but after spending loads on a pair a few years ago I hated them so much I never wore them again!
Sketching with urban sketchers means including the background and having the image in context. Why not do your own selfie?
X
Things to do…
Spring cleaning,
Painting,
bread making,
Cat watching……
Archeology in the garden,
Helping build a train set,
Home brew?
Read books,
Laundry…. Ironing, folding, fetching, carrying.. Read more books.
Reality? Procrastination…
Two year old digital sketch. I’m just posting it for fun. All I’ve done for the last couple of days is moan about the virus or WordPress. Enough!
My love is for colour and pattern. Cats are also in the mix. I’m not saying this is a good drawing. It’s rough and ready, not anatomically correct, but it’s a bit of fun.
I’m going to try and find more apps to draw on. I’ve got obsessed by a colouring by numbers website and I’ve coloured over 200 images in just a few days. I think I’m sticking my head in the sand.
Primary colours, bold lines, pattern = fun?
I need some inspiration for new paintings. Now I have to stay indoors or in my garden because of the orders to self isolate if you have underlying health issues, I can’t get out and look at things, I can’t go and see the sea. I’m trawling through my phone to see if I can find images to paint. This is a strong candidate (taken at the waiting room gallery, which is closed for the time being). This has an old fashioned look of a still life, with strong shadows and modelling with the sunlight.
I will try and find a canvas for it. I’m worried that the shops I get them from might close? I will have to go out tomorrow and panic buy canvases! And that is not sticking to the self isolating rules!
X
Things to do when self isolating. And to prevent cabin fever…
Dear Editor
Can I recommend joining an urban sketchers group and following one of the ‘drawing indoors’ challenges that are being set up. The first I knew about it was a Facebook post from Urban Sketchers in London. They had decided to do a thirty day challenge while they spend enforced time at home. After all you only need a pen or pencil and some paper.
My branch of Urban Sketchers in Stoke-on-Trent are thinking of doing the same…
Yours X
This has been hidden behind envelopes and letters for weeks, artists block holding me tight in its grip. So why is it uncovered? Is there going to be a spurt in activity? No, spring cleaning, removing piles of old letters and finding things to shred or burn…. And I cleaned the cooker, cleaned the bathroom sink, did the washing up, cleaned the fridge, the sink in the kitchen, wiped the walls down and… Still didn’t paint, despite having things to do…. My bum needs a good kicking!
When you live next to a road, without a front garden, you need something to obscure people views of the inside of your home. I mean, if it was a show home it might be different, but I’m messy when it comes to life. I’ve got lots of art materials and canvases so you can imagine.. I have a studio at Spode, but in winter it’s too cold to use.
Anyway I used to have lovely net curtains, with cat patterns on them, but they got clawed by my new cats, so these are stronger, less easy to damage. The cats still climb on the windowledge and look out, half the time they pull the net curtains along with them, so I’m constantly having to straighten them up…. Like a nosy neighbour twitching their curtains!
Just got some new brushes, they usually cost a lot, but these were not expensive. They are value brushes, £3.99 each pack. I bought one lot of smallish round headed brushes and one pack of flat ones. That’s eight brushes (nylon) at about £1 each.
Apart from these I must have about twenty or thirty old brushes. I must go through them, maybe throw a few away. But they are like old friends, I use them till all of the bristles have worn away!
Using different shapes gives you different mark making. Round, pointed ones can describe the shapes of petals or leaves. Flat, chisel shaped ones can be used for painting things like bricks, or to fill in larger areas.
These brushes are ‘golden taklon’ by Royal Langnickel. I like them because they are nylon so the bristles last longer and don’t tend to snap or fall out. Also they have rubber grips so they are non slip and easier to handle. They can be used for acrylics, watercolours, oils, temperas and glazes.
I got these from a craft shop in a local garden centre.
X
I think it says 2005.
There had been a massive Tsunami on Christmas Eve in the Philippines. Our offices decided to do an auction I think for a fundraiser and I offered to do a painting for whoever bid for it.
The winning bid wanted a painting of three dogs. I think they are French bulldogs? They were named after characters from Buffy the vampire slayer, which was a popular TV programme at the time.
It’s funny the little details you remember. But yes, I used to love doing pet portrait. Contact me if you are interested….
Mallaband-Brown