New paintings and regular art updates.
This large papier mache hat was made for out pantomime a few years ago, it was about a meter wide. Painted to look like an old Spode pottery design. With roman or grecian patterns round the cup. I wish we could be certain that the pantomime we are rehearsing at the moment. This is a photo I found on my phone because I’m trying to clear off some of them to make more space, but I’m keeping this one.
I do like playing with images, as you can see! (literally and metaphorically). By playing with them I learn new techniques, skills, and expand my ideas. Just getting the reflection on this to seem to float above the ‘iris’, by having the background slightly darker it makes the reflection stand forward. It should probably be shaded to get an apparent curvature onto the front of the eye. I used simple tools in my sketcher app on my phone to achieve this.
Playing with pattern again. Red and green complementary colours using glitter glue. I used photodirector again to add texture and also to warp it slightly. Then I used layout to multiply the images. I think it looks a bit like sea urchins?
Red glitter glue poured in a spiral then dragged out with a small piece of wood. I finally put the image through photodirector to change the texture. Yes I know it looks like a splodge of ketchup… I really want to take a photo of the glittery surface, but my phone doesn’t want to capture it!
A pattern I drew (top) and the same digitally textured with photodirector (bottom). I’m not sure what pattern I would call it, but it looks a bit like boats with sails and a setting sun. I could try and colour the lower curves blue, the ‘sails’ red and the sun (blob) yellow, or try different colourways. Maybe swap the red and yellow over? Whatever the colour I just like the play with pattern.
Sleepless nights
Bring on dragons
In my dreams
Mutating into
Zebra themes!
This one is small
Six inches tall
His stripes help keep
Him safe when he’s asleep!
I think he’s cute
A magical hoot!
I’m still drawing dragons
Their appearance intrigues me. How do they not burn up from inside? They must have strong guts or lungs. If they belch do they singe their eyebrows? Silly things like how many legs do they have, two like a bird, or four like a lizard? If they have wings too does that make them an insect? So many questions, how long is their tail and is it prehensile? How big are their wings and how do they keep aloft if they don’t have hollow bones like a bird….
Anyway they are mythical and magical so I don’t suppose any of these questions matter.
Drawing of a Yeti. I thought I could write a children’s book about one, but I don’t really know what it would be about, I just liked the idea. Then I saw Terry Pratchett had written a story about a baby yeti. It’s due out on Christmas day on the BBC. I’m looking forward to it… Whatever my Yeti story is I hope its funny enough.
I carried on drawing circles because I wanted to cover the page. Then I tried mirroring the image into four sections and suddenly I could see a couple of butterflies. (I think). It could also see the hollows of bones. I think these are called lacuna or lacunae?
I also think of the speech from Macbeth which goes ‘hubble bubble toil and trouble….’. Or honeycomb toffee that crunches when you eat it. Patterns are fun!
I’m still working towards my final major project at college. The project is a picture book with patterned pages on one side of the two page spreads and possibly strongly contrasting images like this one on the other side. Im thinking of trying out linocutting as a method of producing them ( could get very messy) or perhaps a photoshop technique I’ve never used before? All part of ideas generation…Probably both to show that I’m trying to widen my skills. I also need to resolve where the text will sit…. I might even get it published. I think time is not dra-gon-ing on! Its going too quick!
Mallaband-Brown