Spirograph

Does anyone remember this. It came with pins to hold the circles down that you drew around. You had to use thick card board to pin into otherwise as you used the small circles the paper would slip. Over the years I did hundreds of these patterns, I could almost draw them without the plastic circles and getting pens to fit in the little holes. I liked some patterns more than others. Maybe it explains my obsession with them now?

Long poppy painting idea

You can’t see this very well but I’ve pencilled in some poppies on this long thin canvas.

It’s going to be a poppy painting, with poppies scrolling down a long thin canvas. I want to evoke art nouveau, those tiles that were placed on either side of fireplaces. I will have a look at the style of the kind of artwork. When I’ve filled in some of the colours I will show another version. My idea is to make something subtle and beautiful.

Got to paint more

I’ve been asked to paint some of my small paintings, bees, birds, cats, maybe dogs, flowers. But I might add a few small mechanical paintings too.

How can I know my audience? Mainly by what has sold before, but also what is liked on social media. I cannot paint exactly what someone wants without getting a description of a commission from them, but I can try to get an inkling of what is interesting. For instance I have been painting more abstract images, but I feel they are more fine art subjects. If someone buys a tiny painting is that more of a craft piece. I need to know because if I carry on I need to earn a crust or two, even if it’s only a crumb sized one! We will see.

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Bright

Colourful patterns swirling round and merging. It could be alien or insect. Maybe a design for fabric or a stained glass window. I like complexity, I don’t know if something like this would be a good idea for printing onto a note card?

I have talked about doing this before but have never been organised enough to do it. I have lots of ideas but I think I need some expert advice. Which are the best sites to get things printed at? I need quality prints, but not too expensive. I found a shop that might do it but I haven’t got the money to do it yet…

Patterning again

Black and white drawing I decided to colour in. It reminds me of the paisley pattern that used to be on the underside of my Eiderdown as a child (like a duvet but thinner and filled with eider duck down). The covering was either silk or nylon? Some sort of shiny material. The Eiderdown was quilted if I remember, to stop the filling moving around and going lumpy. It had the Paisley pattern underneath and a dark green top if I remember. I think that’s what got me into patterns in the first place. There were so many more a few decades ago. Not minimalist like now.

Horses from splodges

Horses are wonderful animals. They have such amazing characters. When I tried to find something in the matching splodges to the previous post I almost immediately found the large horse head. Then the other two emerged from the patterns. I just needed to add some white, green and yellow to differentiate between them.

Digitally altered

I am not listing what I did to this, I just like the end result! Computer programs and apps can do lots to your work to change and distort, add or reduce colour, duplicate or delete. Its fun and it’s great to experiment, at least that’s what I think. Splodges turn into complex patterns. Acrylic paint, felt pens and megabits!