Five portraits, one five minutes and the other four are ten minute ones. Black calligraphy pen on cartridge paper. The lighting isn’t good so the paper looks a bit grey. People provided objects to add to the portraits. I really enjoy these sessions.
Tag: Fun
Mark making.
Not a good photo, but this was me drawing different marks as part of a mark making workshop.
It was supposed to be in pencil but all I had was a blue pencil crayon. I also tried rubbing over the top of an embossed tin. You had to come up with as many different marks as you coukd in a five minute period. It gets your mind working… Good for creativity.
Portraits with splodges
Ten minute portrait studies with black paint splodges from bubble wrap. I used watercolour and black ink pens for the portraits. We did some minoprint a few weeks back but I found gluing down bits of paper then drawing over the top difficult so tried this instead. It also makes you consider where to paint the face!
We were using found items to add interest. My favourite is the pot of brushes obscuring the face of one of the sitters.
Mask
Theatrical mask made by a friend for 2019’s Penkhull Mystery play. Strange that sux months later we had to wear real masks! I painted this up with my hubbies features. He had to sit still at a potters wheel and pretend to be a mannequin until the cast were transported back in time. Then he took it off and became Thomas Doodey, Master Potter.
To be honest I really miss the fun we had on that day. Crowds of people watching the action. Molly dancers, a hurdy hurdy man, Punch and Judy, and a maypole. Lots of stalls.
This year we are going to do a virtual Mystery play. I’m hoping to do a copy of the Mona Lisa I an hour and a half. Numerous other ideas are being considered.
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Cactus
Today’s #bandofsketchers prompt was organic shapes. I had drew a pot with a tile pattern using cut outs from post it notes and shaded with graphite. Then I coloured in green post it notes with dark green felt pen and cut out shapes. I then cut out pink Christmas cactus flower shapes and added felt pen to those too.
The loudest miaow!
I was sitting in the living room tonight and instead of tapping at the cat flap like he normally does, our adopted cat gave an enormous miaow/yowl. I could hear him above the TV!
He then came in, had some food and drink, sat by my feet for a few minutes, purring very loudly then: Miarowwww… He’s up and wants letting out again. That cat has got powers of persuasion! No doubt he will be back in an hour or so.
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Bear and Bee
Just playing with post it notes and cut out paper. I wanted to make something fun and silly. I don’t think the bear is aggressive and the bee is buzzing and not bothered. The bee hasn’t been swatted. The bear has teeth but is just looking on, probably admiring it’s honey collecting skills. The bear might go and steal its honey though!
Spooky mask
Pre covid, my friend at the Wassail for a local apple tree.
Wassail? An ancient celebration to encourage apple trees to be fruitful again this year. In Penkhull, Stoke-on-Trent it is celebrated by our local Morris Dancing team.
Morris Dancing? In ancient times Local groups of men (now anyone can join) used to get together and dress up, wearing boots or heavy clogs on their feet. Dancing to ancient tunes. Sometimes there is a person dressed as a hobby horse (with a large skirt and a carved horse head worn as a mask?) I don’t know enough about Morris history. I’m sure there is a lot of information out there.
So why this photo? It’s blurry, but it was taken at a Wassail. The Morris men were dancing, and the apple tree was beaten with sticks to get it to grow. And amidst it was my friend in his plague doctors mask, Cape and tricorn hat. And today I found it again and thought… Why not?
Mice
Two little drawings of mice for my friend Zoe Ainsworth-Grigg. She commissioned me to do a couple of illustrations of mice for a poem. In the poem the baby mice sing. I’m not writing it out as she holds the copyright to it. She just wanted simple line drawings and she was very happy with this.
Mallaband-Brown 