Mask for today?

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Digital drawing I did at the now defunct sketchfu web site, several years ago now. I called it owl mask, which is what it is. The site got too popular and the owners couldn’t afford to keep it going. I have lots of art from there and other websites. Luckily I saved a lot before it closed.

These days there seems to be less freedom, more colouring in images that someone else has drawn, for instance. Less chances to do different styles and ideas.

I think it’s also because of the ubiquitous play stores. It seems hard to find pure drawing websites that aren’t about gaming. Why aren’t more ideas are allowed. It’s hard to know what is going on.

Keep drawing, stay safe.

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Playing games

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Oh, the things you find under the cupboard, covered in years of dust. I put it away ages ago because one of my old cats used to squirm under there and get stuck.

My chess set is glass. I hope to play a few games whilst things are locked down here. I’m not good at it, I can’t tell you how far ahead check mate is, and I’m never sure how or when to ‘Castle’.

I drew this because today’s sketching challenge from USK Stoke was playing games and I don’t know where my scrabble set has gone….. Day 24 of thirty. Drawn in pencil crayons and permanent markers.

I enjoyed using these colours, they may not be an exact match for the reality, but red and green are complementary colours, as are orange and blue. I thought they gave it some pizazz…!

 

Making a lamp

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I did the jar late last night, 3am. Couldn’t easily paint inside so got some silver foil and cut our shapes. Fastened it on with loads of sellotape. Then I painted over it with abstract patterns. I painted the top too and then used a bit of matt varnish on it to hold it together a bit more. Finally I twisted some wire to hold a tea light, so I didn’t have to try and light it in the bottom of the jar.

I can use it in our summerhouse. The silver foil was a bit chunky because I was worried it would rip when I unfolded the cut out. The pattern I’m calling ‘graffiti’ , cos it looks a bit like the spray painting you get along the canal on the way to Etruria.

This was an idea for a weekly project we are doing in our Etruria Artists group.

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Abstract art

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A feathery or furry picture in blues. I would like to set up a service where I can print things off for people, but I’ve always been a bit nervous of etsy and shopify. I almost dipped my toe in last weekend, but the cost of it, in these difficult times, put me off.

It’s difficult to find a balance between art and selling. I really think I need a manager. At the moment I do things myself. That’s the reality, I have to try and get things right……

I did have contact with a company a few years ago who offered to take my designs and pay me 25%. But when I looked into their practices I found out they were slow paying artists and the things they made were sometimes of a oor quality. That was another thing that put me off.

Clouds

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If you are bored, look up. You may be surprised at what you see. Clouds can be unicorns or dragons, fish or faces.

When I was young I would lie on my back and look up at the sky. Watching the clouds rush with rapidity or drift with stately slowness. Like the galleons I drew in my school exercise books. Then it was pirates racing to catch treasure ships.

Thunder clouds were mountains, or giant anvils, sometimes clouds looked like waves on the sea, or hills and beaches.

I gradually learnt a few of the names of clouds, cirrus, cumulo nimbus, stratus.  Each had a wonderful ring to them. Magical beauty flying high over head.

Later I learned a bit about chaos theory, and fractals. How if you magnify a bit of a cloud, the close up looks like the larger image. I heard songs like Cloudbusting by Kate Bush, and about clouds being seeded to make rain fall.

You see they are interesting creatures, even if they are not mythical beasts.

So, if you are interested, look up the cloud appreciation society. They have a page on Facebook. Their founder set up a group which people can join. They have a cloud of the month, and sometimes send out a newsletter.

With climate change, and the increase in severity of the weather, its interesting to find out how water vapour can be so beautiful and yet so wild.

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Alphabet

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Late night doodling over a couple of nights. Staying up late, listening to the news and drawing at the same time. Used contrasting colours to try and bring out the letters, plus outlining things in black. It’s a pleasure to draw things.

I think this looks like an old fashioned sampler and could imagine it in embroidery on canvas or linen. One way of relaxing in these stressful times. Why not create your own?

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Pigeon drawing

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I think this was from 2016, its a drawing usin th ArtRage oils app. I’m trying to find out about an illustration course I can do on line. It is probably too late for me to do it, I don’t know if there is any funding available, but I need to use my brain! Once this corona virus has gone I want to free my mind. I love drawing and experimenting, so why not?

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Suggestions for Art group

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I’m in a group called Etruria Artists that was meeting on a Thursday, but we can’t at the moment. I’m hoping we can do something to keep it going.. Maybe we could draw or paint something, weekly or daily. Spend a couple of hours on a Thursday? I was thinking the art could be bright and colourful. Each of the members would suggest something and then make a list. Post on Facebook so the other artists can see it
My first suggestion is fish….which is why there is a picture of one here.
Could be illustration, fantasy, pattern….. X

Sketch idea

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I did the first drawing on Monday, a simple cat sketch, I  coloured it with felt tip pens, but the ink bled through the paper, so I got a reversed image on the back of the page.

I decided to experiment and added some bright colours with pencil crayons . Then I got a black ink pen and outlined the gradations of colours in the drawing. Made it interesting…. Its something I’ve done before in paintings, I enjoyed doing it. X