New paintings and regular art updates.
I drew this at sketchfu about eight years ago. It is simply drawn with vasious circular brushes. Different sizes, a palette of colours, different opacity and transparency and an eraser.
I was looking at a post on Facebook by portrait artists. They thought digital art was just taking a picture in Photoshop and using filters to make it look like a drawing. I don’t think they understood the hours it takes to do something like this. It’s not brilliant, but it was difficult.
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Today’s Urban sketchers drawing was to draw what’s in a bag. I have drawn a plastic bag containing different items obscured by the plastic.
Ink pen size 0.5,iI think I possibly should have used a bigger nib? But it did mean I’ve goy some nice fine lines. I think we are about half way through this set of challenges. The are happening three times a week. It’s keeping my mind occupied. I have other things I need to get done that I’m putting off!
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Texture and pattern. Today’s Urban sketchers challenge was drawing a souvenir so I drew a Thai woman and baby doll that my friend gave me. As I’m doing textures and symbols on my illustration course I decided to try out different marks to show the knitting on the cushion underneath the doll.
I have been doing a lot of pen and ink drawings lately, not using pencil or charcoal much. Maybe I should try some other techniques?
The Sunday Times newspaper has run an article which compares essential and non essential workers.
Their survey had a list of images, essential has doctors I think at the top, and artists at the top of non essential jobs. So it says artists are the least essential workers?
I feel this argument should be challenged.
So no one ever designs things using their artistic skills, or paints scenery, or designs art for their walls, or cars, or wallpaper, or covers for books, or diagrams for science books, or medical textbooks. Or designs for online gaming art, or creating beautiful jewellery, or clothes or shoes. Or patterns on China and pottery. No art is used in news papers to show images of essential or non essential workers, how could anyone be employed to illustrate anything? No one ever read a cartoon or a children’s book! Obviously……! No one ever drew rainbows for the NHS. Children don’t need art to learn how to understand biology or architecture or any other complex concept. Richard Feynmann and Steven Hawking never used pictures to explain their theories of quantum mechanics. What about technical drawing? But… statues are now grey boxes, Leonardo is a turtle…. And he was never drawn!
It was another drawing challenge with Stoke Urban Sketchers, but I think it means more than that…. I am privileged to live in a country where we have sufficient rain, most of the time, to fill our needs. Last year we decided to have an outside tap fitted. It means that if there is drought we can use watering cans and a hose to water the garden. Ideally we need to fit a waterbutt to become more self sufficient. Drawing a tap is significant, a basic I sometimes take for granted.
The need for fresh water is a desperate problem across a lot of the world. There are charities you can donate to including Wateraid which is trying to bring fresh water to some of the poorest countries in the world.
So I’m just suggesting making a small donation. Each tiny drop of water from many people can turn into a torrent if enough of us give. If you can wash your hands it aids the health of people, the ability to grow crops and reduces famine and disease.
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I just had to find circles to draw for today’s Stoke on Trent urban sketchers challenge. I hope ellipses count as tipped up circles. In that case there are rings, a mug, a dream catcher and a mobile in this sketch… If not I guess the dream catcher and mobile in the window count. Black ink on cartridge paper. Next drawing due Sunday I think….
This was my drawing of the Dorothy Clive Garden on 6.5.18. It’s recently reopened but with a booking system so you have to book morning or afternoon slots to visit. There is a self service system at the cafe. I hope we can go one day next week if the weather improves, after a month or more of sunshine we have been having rain for the last few days. Good for all gardens including the Dorothy Clive.
It will be lovely to see different landscapes, beautiful flowers, and peaceful water features.
When you draw a place you are interpreting the world in a different way to simple photographs. That’s why I enjoy it. Trying to tame nature and describe it.
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As I was busy yesterday I missed doing a drawing of something local that was the prompt from stoke urban sketchers. I wanted to do a picture of somewhere a bit further away as my local pottery is not the most exciting image and I’ve already drawn it.
This is Penkhull Church at the top of our hill. It was built in the Victorian era and it is a lovely piece of architecture and centre of the community. It needs some restoration, which has partly been done but as with everything old work needs to continue on it.
If you ever feel like donating I’m sure there is some sort of fund that donations can go to. I don’t know exactly where.
Lots of activities are held there, from services, music festivals and the yearly mystery plays. The local theatre group has held musical evenings there too.
Anyway I might do the next challenge tomorrow. I’m not sure what it will be. Looking forward to it.
Where I live,
Who I am,
What I do,
How I think,
Where I work,
My companion,
What I trained as,
My books,
My life,
My I.
My me!
I’ve started a course in illustration and I can see that I’m too literal. I did an illuminated letter I. I will share a photo of it later. But I think I was too literal, especially when I compared it with other people’s art. Perhaps I need to do more preparation and think around the subject instead of going straight to the point.
In the drawing I’ve included I’m there, but hidden. Maybe I could have used that idea. Or as someone else did I could nave played with words and created an eye. At least I can understand what they are saying. I have the opportunity to expand my thought.
Mallaband-Brown