Not satellite images. These are photos of my washing up bowl with the cold water tap running and a little bit of washing up liquid added. The bright patch and the dark curves are the sky and plant leaves reflected in the surface of the water and the running tap gave swirls and vortices that made the slight foam look like swirling clouds.
Symmetry makes interesting patterns. I took a few photos of my kitchen window ledge a few days ago and then tried using a vertical mirroring to create something different and unusual. Something you wouldn’t see unless it was in a reflection. I always think it’s worth doing this because it can look really alien. This photo has a large cat doorstop in it at the back, a Spanish pot with a tile design pattern and a large, dark pink cactus. But I can see a face, with pink hair and a moustache at the front with dark eyes and nose? The cats could be like conjoined twins, like a Greek mythological monster. And the cactus leaves in the middle seem to show a green face with an open mouth. Why not try this yourself?
Today’s #bandofsketchers prompt was musical instruments, I drew a recorder. I have a plastic one, but when I was a kid I had a lovely wooden one. The wood was golden and had an amazing grain to it. I’ve tried to remember how it looked. I didn’t do much music as a child and it was one of my sisters that tried to learn more complicated instruments such as the violin.
Sundays #bandofsketchers prompt was close-up. I decided to try and draw a close-up of some plaid cloth. I used a digital filter from photodirector to add some texture. I think it makes it look more interesting.
Thursdays #bandofsketchers prompt was Clue. I only just did this one. I like trying to do the New Scientist Magazine Quick Crossword. I’d like the backgrounds of crosswords to be coloured, but the ones I try and do are always black and white.
Abstract self portrait. I can’t remember how I got to this point. It’s got to be a couple of years since I created this. I’ve got an idea that I used various filters but which ones? My WordPress Media library has some odd images in it and every so often I have to edit them and delete some of them because my memory on WordPress is 99.8% full. I can’t afford to pay more for my blog page so it’s a case of managing what I have.
Saying that, does anyone know what else I can do? I don’t want to delete blog posts, I don’t have the time or the energy to do it. What I am doing is to delete some of the images as they take up more space on my site. What do people think?
A crab? A pouting face? A reflection of a dragon? You can do funny things with symmetry and photos. Christmas cactus turned into something surreal. It would be better if it was less blurred, but my arm shakes so much sometimes that I get camera shake. Still it’s an interesting image and it’s an example of Pareidolia (seeing creatures in a pattern that isn’t actually there). I have posted a few of these on the blog over the years.
For Tuesdays #bandofsketchers prompt Chaos. This is an old digital drawing I did on the computer years ago. I don’t know if this is cheating but I tried to draw the Mandelbrot set, a fractal image that can be viewed at all scales and this shape keeps being revealed. It might be infinite. It is a product of Chaos theory! If this wasn’t OK I said I would try and draw something else.
Five years? Where did they go? How have I changed and what am I doing differently.
The trouble is remembering everything. It’s half a decade after all. Along the way I’ve made friends here, and also lost a few. Like ghosts they just disappeared from WordPress. People I enjoyed reading most days just stopped, but without resolution or explanation in most cases. Even the ones I found elsewhere then disappeared again off the new platforms.
The trouble is trying to keep things fresh, trying to discuss different ideas. I used to write little short stories sometimes, spooky little tales that had a twist in the tail, but I don’t know if they were any good. I’m still writing short poems some humerous, some more serious. And I try and write about my artistic endeavours, whether that’s about painting or illustration. I hope they are not too boring. It’s been a bad few months and I know I haven’t been as upbeat as I could be. We will see what comes in the future but I hope I can keep going without getting too boring or inconsistent. Thank you for following me! ❤️