New paintings and regular art updates.
After I drew the laburnum arch I looked through the photos I took at the weekend and realised I could have drawn this instead. I don’t remember seeing it before, but it is quite striking. One thing about the UK is the greenery. Once spring and summer arrives the greens burst out. Yes we do get drought conditions, but we are very lucky compared with many places.
Digital manipulation of the drawing. I do not know how to stop. Trying twisting and mirroring to create new ideas. Having fun. This could be a design for a stained glass window .
Just playing with pattern and colour. I will probably do more to this digitally. It is a drawing made with felt pens. Each shape is linked, where possible with a line. The centre is more complex, then the outer lines act as barriers or walls. When I’m doing this I set myself simple rules to follow so the image doesn’t end up too chaotic.
Draw triangles and colour them in. I started with a star shape then worked my way out. Who needs adult colouring books when you can make your own pattern. I also tried to vary the colours so that there is more light and shade in it. The paler blue section seems to recede. I just used a set of ordinary felt pens and a fine line pen to draw the triangles. Doing something like this is like a meditation. You can sit and let the world go by as you draw and sketch. You can use any shapes you want and make the pattern as complex as you like. X
Squint and see faces, patterns, monsters. Tipped over doubled image. The colours help make it vibrant and interesting. Plant life can be amazing.
I sat and drew one of the magnolias while we were there at Bishton Hall. It was just a black and white sketch so I coloured it in when I got home. The curved edges are because I can’t get my sketchbook page to lie flat. I don’t think I’ve got the colours right, but I have only got a limited range of colours in the set of felt pens I’m using.
Doorway at the Thai temple. So beautifully decorated. Golds and greens, amazing patterns. The celebration was outside so we didn’t go in, but I would have liked to. The skill and artistry is outstanding. I imagine the sort of skills you would need to carve church screens, or old furniture. Those skills are being replaced by computers or 3d printing. But hand carving and painting adds something special. Not clean and accurate, but human and possibly slightly flawed. It is fine art. X
A few weeks ago we visited Rode Hall and the church across the road from it. I was running out of battery power so only took this photo. I just decided to look at it again because I like the colours in the glass. Blues, reds and whites highlight the figures and the textiles and architecture. The detail of the pattern at the top and base of the window panes help link each panel together. Just cutting the glass pieces out must have been so difficult and time consuming. Using lead to hold the glass in place. How do artists manage to do this? I’m full of admiration.
Not this years ones, they haven’t opened up yet. But they are starting to grow up. I just can’t wait. I’m used to waiting for spring but sometimes it seems to take an awful long time to get here. A couple of weeks ago the temperatures were in the high teens Celsius, last week they dropped to freezing or below, and there was a snow in a few places across the UK. We didn’t get more than a bit of hail and snow here. Meanwhile the daffodils and snowdrops are up. We haven’t had much rain though, so the buds on the trees are not fully open yet…
Today’s #bandofsketchers prompt was Spring. I decided it was too cold to stand outside and draw daffodils so I decided to draw one from memory. Also couldn’t get my sketchbook page flat so it’s a bit curved… I have some with very strong orange trumpets and bright yellow petals so I think these colours are close.
Mallaband-Brown