New paintings and regular art updates.
Three years ago I painted my hubby ‘my green man’. It came up on my Facebook memories today. He is a green man, gardening does him good, helps him to try and relax. He is a bunging in gardener, there’s no rhyme or reasoning to his planting, and he just plants things where he likes, but he must have green fingers. That’s why I painted him as a green man. Acrylic on canvas.
Ten years ago I painted this beautiful flower. I think it’s a type of poppy called Shirley, I grew some from seeds. What I like is the pale centre instead of the usual dark, or black pattern in the middle. I deliberately used a pale background to compliment the light reflected on the petals. When poppies unfurl from their buds they look papery but they are quite strong, not delicate, its just a shame they don’t last very long and soon fade.
Today’s #bandofsketchers prompt was Rustic. What to draw for this? I looked up milk churn and tractor tyre on the Internet. I have drawn a churn based on one of the images, but not a direct copy and a part of a tractor wheel from another picture. The vegetation is imagined. Felt pen drawing.
I need to get my paints out again. Doodling abstracts on my phone is OK, but I’ve hit a bit of a block at the moment. I have an easle set up on a chair but it’s covered in post and bits of paperwork. I think it’s because of having shingles. A lot less painful but I’m not getting out much. I haven’t done things I planned to do like going for walks with my hubby. Now the nights are drawing in. Soon the clocks will go back and it will be darker earlier in the day. Sorry for the meh post!
Mixed up. Abstract digital drawing. Drawn on top of another image. I like the fact that digitally you can keep adding and erasing parts of a drawing, covering areas with new effects. Changing the opacity of tools so you can see through to previous layers. You can also change the colours of your image to that you totally alter the mood of your artwork. This abstract could become a whirlwind or a rose? Who knows. I might do more to it.
I’m getting some help with my mental health and one of the things I’ve taken up is to do a gratitude diary. Basically you write down three things you are grateful for every day. I do it before bed, and I remember small things that have made me happy during the day. Not big dramatic things (today was a bit of an exception because two things were slightly more important) on other days I’ve included the cat on my lap, or standing in the garden full of flowers.
So why do it? It appears to rewire your brain, cutting down on negative thoughts and turning them positive. I have been advised to do it for at least 28 days. I’m not suggesting anyone else does it, but it’s helping me.
In Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent is a place called Bethesda Methodist Chapel. It has been being restored over several years now. I have visited to sing there in performances with our choir. The building has gone from a crumbling shell to a much more robust structure. It is currently still being restored. One thing I have noticed are the spectacular stained glass windows. Methodist chapels are usually plain and simple. The wooden pews are unadorned. But the glass windows make me smile. It’s just beautiful art.
I just took my Heron painting to the cafe at Etruria Industrial Museum to swap it for the one of the waterfall that I have sold. I will try and deliver that to my friend soon who bought it from me. I need to do some more work because I have the opportunity of showing some small paintings at a new venue that is opening up in Middleport, Stoke-on-Trent, near the Middleport pottery. I’m trying to grab opportunity where I can.
Today’s #bandofsketchers prompt was column. I’ve layered up sketching, lines and flood fill tools to create some sort of Greek or Roman column. It’s very sketchy and sort of rustic. I might change it and add leaves to it. I haven’t decided yet. Other column ideas were light and newspaper. I wasn’t sure what to do. But it was an interesting experiment.
An ArtRage background with added drawing on top. This is a sketching app that has some basic tools that are different to the ArtRage app. I used lines, a flood fill and a blurring tool to create this. I like combining different apps, you don’t know what you can get till you try.
Have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
