Rain clouds

Big puffy cloud seen in Newcastle under Lyme this afternoon. We did get a heavy rain shower afterwards and apparently there was a big thunderstorm a few miles away. The UK sits just in the right place to get weather from the North, South, East and West. With that and the jet stream moving about above us means that we can get ‘a year’s weather in a day’ as the old saying goes. In some places, such as the lake district, where they get a LOT of rain, they even make a joke of it and sell postcards with cartoons about rain and wet sheep on them!

Symmetry

The things I can see when I add symmetry. A large green nose? Frowning eyes? A butterfly, a cats face? Two faces in profile looking downwards. There’s probably more that you can see too. Human eyes are always looking for patterns, shapes, looking out for monsters or problems. I guess it depends where you place the connection between the two sides. You can get more or less pattern by changing the centre line. I think there is also a 3d feeling because of where the hedge in the center is positioned.

Peeling paint

What do you see? I see an archipelago of small islands in a deep blue sea. I think there are rocky shores and shallow waters around the islands.

Or it simply could be blue paint peeling off an old metal door. You can see the metal surface is made up of crystals, or perhaps its a decorative feature on the metal doors surface.

Or it could be strange clouds on a distant blue planet. Looking down from above or up at an azure sky.

Imagination is fun.

Cloud scape

This swirl of cloud was visible from our back door tonight at 9pm British Summer time. We have had strong winds and hefty showers all day. Some plants have been a bit battered, especially the trees that are now in full leaf. The white line across the bottom is a condensation trail from a plane. I don’t know what the type of cloud is, I think it might be a type of Cumulus? I love the way the setting sun was catching the side of the cloud and a few seconds before proper sun rays were shining upwards from behind the roof of our neighbours house.

Spirals clouds or scales?

Your choice. Multiplied image initially drawn in black ink pen, then I added black grey and pale brown shading to give the effect of layers of paper. Finally I twisted each section in my layout app to create a symmetrical pattern. Having done work on my MA based on dragons and Asian art can’t help feeling that a dragon may emerge. I would have to add a layer on to create this. Something to experiment with.

Virga

Image from Wikipedia, Virga clouds

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virga

I was discussing weather with a friend and recalled seeing clouds that seemed to drop rain but it evaporates before it reaches the ground. I love clouds and I know I knew the name for then at one time but had forgotten it so I looked it up on Wikipedia (see link).

What I saw was what appeared to be snow falling from shower clouds, but it never landed on the ground. It was one winter day a few years ago when I was out visiting friends. I guess it’s very bad for gardeners or farmers who need water for their plants.

Awake

Woke up to a blue sky with patchy clouds. Do you look for things in the clouds? I thought I could see Yoda in this photo from a few days ago (bottom half of the photo). Strange how the mind works. I guess it’s because you have to be awake and aware as a human being. Maybe you need to see possible threats so pattern recognition is a good thing. I’ve often written about my ability to see patterns. Pareidolia is what it’s called. But yes it’s good to be awake and seeing blue skys. But we do need rain.

Earth and Moon

Another drawing, Earth and Moon, drawn at Sketchfu. My interests in science and astronomy are shown here. Also trying to render the appearance of cloudscape from space. The website was simple, four or five sized circular brushes, opacity and transparency, a basic pallette and a colour picker and eraser. Not much more. But lots of people, artists, writers, enjoyed the site. It just got too big, wasn’t monetised, and the owners decided to move on to something else. I miss it. X

Draco in a Storm

Mid way through this painting, the background blue is actually (and strangely) a mixture of deep green and dark violet. Who knew that would happen? I will calm the pink down and add more gold to make it more regal. I painted Draco in a storm, its tail and wings are being blown by the storm winds. I hope to add more detail as I work on it.