Painting and drawing

What do you wish you could do more every day?

I used to paint and draw a lot more than I do now. I feel though that recently I’m quite blocked, stuck, nervous of creating. Yes I sketch every couple of days, but my easle is resolutely empty. The paints in their boxes, the brushes lying fallow. The trouble is my physical health. My left arm keeps shaking and I have pain in my elbow. I’m still waiting for a full diagnosis. I don’t think it’s anxiety, but not painting makes me anxious….

I just saw a painting/art competition online, but the entry needs to have been created after 1st January 2023. The painting I had in mind, and it was a good one, was from a couple of years ago, so it was not suitable. Also the entry date is tomorrow, I’m not going to have time unless I get my paints out NOW and paint all night..

I have a list of paintings to do for friends and family. I feel oppressed by that. I should feel glad. I need to break the block.

Why?

What tattoo do you want and where would you put it?

I’m not sure I want a tattoo, I’ve managed not to get one so far in my life, but I might be persuaded if someone could give me a good argument to get one?

So what should I get an image of and where should I have it….? Perhaps a discrete one on a hidden part of my anatomy, my upper arm, back or leg? I’ve got no one to hide it from though, and they are much more beautiful than the old fashioned love and hate words on peoples knuckles. I know people with sleeves and huge tattoos on their backs or legs. I’m not afraid of being tattooed but I would rather design something for someone else..

A tattoo for me? My hubby always says I have eyes in the back of my head….

Need more….

My craft stall

I’m running out of minature paintings, I’ve sold a few and given some as presents. They are all different and I need to paint some more. What to paint? I’ve done anything from a Morris minor car to the planet Jupiter. I’ve also painted the moon, birds, flowers, hearts, patterns and giraffes in the sunset. Cats of course and stained glass windows.

They are more craft than fine art I think, but if someone wants a tiny painting, matchbox sized, they don’t need much space to display it! It can go on a shelf or a bookcase, or anywhere else. They are not expensive despite the time it takes to paint them. I just love sharing art.

One word?

What is one word that describes you?

How to choose? I have a few in mind, but I guess the main contender is Creative. That’s because of all the art I create and things like this blog. I love experimenting with images and working on them in different ways, I am quite eclectic, I might never have used a technique before, but I will go through different stages and steps to come up with a fresh idea. My mind thinks about all sorts of things all the time so it could also be the word Chaotic, but I have discounted that because I do plan things sometimes. I am not totally disorganised.

Hot

Today’s #bandofsketchers prompt was hot. I drew flames and then use photodirector to add texture and pattern. I liked imagining the different colours in flames. I think this has a watercolour feeling to it. The app gives it a more even look, as without it the felt pens I have used look a bit rough because the tips of them are wearing out and getting broken and the ink is drying up.

The Owl and the Pussycat

Went to sea, in a beautiful pea green boat…

They took some money and plenty of honey, wrapped up in a five pound note….

A nonsense poem by Edward Lear, who also wrote the Dong with the luminous nose and the Yonghie Bonghie Bo. There used to be a TV show in the seventies that included these characters, but the animation was very weird and too colourful if that’s possible with the poems set to odd music, and I’m afraid it actually put me off reading them!

I also get Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll ( who wrote Alice in Wonderland etc) mixed up.

I realised this morning that I have the iconic animals sitting on my bookcase in the bedroom. They are a tiny cat made by an artist friend and an owl  I made of clay pressed into a mold. I hadn’t put two and two together before. I guess that anything can spark a chain of memories, there’s a phrase for it in semiotics, about signs and signifiers, but I’m afraid I’ve forgotten it!

Waiting for coffee

Hubby yesterday, we had gone over to Middleport pottery so I could draw with the Stoke on Trent Urban Sketchers group. We decided to grab a cup of coffee but the cafe was very crowded and I’ve just got over a cold and didn’t want to catch another or worse. I decided to sit at one of the big round tables outside and so took the opportunity to draw my hubby and the canal and view behind him. The pointy thing about a third of the way in on the right is a church steeple but my ink brush wasn’t thin enough to get a point on it! Anyway I was pleased with the results.