I can’t spell Sicilian…. Today’s #bandofsketchers prompt was defence. I didn’t want to draw an army or war image, so I looked at chess. I don’t know how the Sicilian defence works but it seemed like a good idea. Just a felt pen drawing.
Defence
Tag: Art
Vow
Today’s #bandofsketchers prompt was Vow. Hard one to do, I didn’t want to draw a couple at a marriage do I drew two gold rings and adapted a pattern I’d been drawing to try and make it look like lacework. I only spent about ten minutes on the rings. Felt pen drawing again using some metallic pens.
More paintings
Spode reflected and my willow pattern painting. I like pattern and design so doing both of these a few years ago was a delightful challenge. The window frame in the bottom painting was old and peeling and it was fun trying to get a likeness of it. The top painting was a willow pattern platter but using two different images to meld together to create a unique image. The border around the painting was all my own design. (There is a teapot painting on the table but the details are not visible). They are being photographed so I can have cards and prints, they are up for sale at the Arts and Minds Gallery, Veterans Support at Harper Street in Middleport.
Work at Arts and Minds
I’ve just dropped off a few paintings to the Arts and Minds Gallery at Harper Street in Middleport opposite Middleport Pottery. I have asked them to do some cards from them and they have also taken the pictures to sell for me. It’s really pleasing to have my work included there. The galley has a wide range of beautiful art work. It also is part of a network that supports local veterans and their families. I have been able to show and sell work there because my hubby has a link to the military.
The gallery is warm and friendly and are always supportive. I think it helps that it doesn’t feel exclusive and snobbish. It’s in a great place too, helping to expand the creative area around Middleport pottery in Middleport, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire.
Digital earth and moon
This was an old drawing I did online a few years ago. It was at the website called Sketchfu (closed about five years ago). I’ve always loved astronomy and this was a good challenge to try and get a reasonably accurate drawing using very simple tools. The hardest thing was getting the image blurred enough to feel realistic. Colours were chosen from a couple of hundred choices. There were only five sized circular pens and a slider to alter the opacity. Plus an eraser to clear away mistakes. You could add layers so you could show your progress, or do a collaboration with other artists, the only real problem was the images took ages to load.
Abstract Christmas tree?
Art is complex, it can mean anything. Art can be good and bad, but one person’s good art is something someone else might loathe. I just edited this image to crop a smaller area and add a circular frame. Now I look at it I can see a series of stacked triangles that look like graffiti. It could represent a Christmas tree, or a forest, or rain on a window distorting an image outside it. It could also be a Christmas tree bauble. The digital filter distorts my linework, and adds textures and pattern to my drawing. The colours were originally felt pens but they to have been altered by the digital filters.
Radio
Today’s #bandofsketchers prompt was radio. A bad and wobbly drawing of my old bush radio. Bought it at a car boot sale years ago. It was covered in emulsion paint that I managed to scrape off. It works, takes a huge battery. Can only get long wave.. Which is OK when there’s a test match on.
Bust doodle
Doodle in gold and silver pen. Originally a contoured drawing in three quarter position, I added chequered squares to fill in the spaces. That left the image surrounded by blank paper, so I added silver triangles. The gold ink had covered some of the original drawing so I added black pen shadows. I thought this was a fun idea.
Tabby or tiger?
In a display case, trapped like a tiger in a cage. Black and brown tabby sculpture. Little legs, massive tail. Iove this piece of cat sculpture at Salts Mill in Saltaire, Yorkshire. I think the technique is scraffito? Where you have a thin layer of slip pover a different colour. When it’s dry you can carve through it to reveal the underlying colour. A purrfect decoration for this wild tabby!
Back to yoga class
After several weeks away from the yoga class I went back tonight. I do chair yoga as I cannot get up from the floor, but our teacher allows me to adapt positions so I can get the same effect. I also join in the breathing and relaxation parts of the session. The only thing I cannot do are inverted postures, where your head is on the ground and your legs and arms are raised so the blood goes to your head.
I have been doing yoga on and off for a few years, I don’t feel like I’m an expert, I’m not capable of doing some of the moves, but I try my best, which I think is a good part of yoga’s ethos. I am never going to be to do all the balances and postures, but it does help me relax.
Mallaband-Brown 