Just watched a lecture by one of our fellow students. It was fascinating to watch. About watercolour and ink and how to use it. She showed us how to use salt and also cling film to add texture, masking fluid to preserve white areas and glue mixed with paint and ink to created textured backgrounds. I will certainly have a go at using some of them.
She also showed us her sketchbooks, she mainly does abstract work, but also does realistic work, (she showed us a lovely painting of a friends dog). It’s great that students are adding to the teaching experience at college….
I was looking for a digital drawing to show a friend on zoom because I was trying to explain you can draw with a stylus on a drawing tablet, and without having to add layers. I drew this on sketchfu about ten year ago. This is a print off on paper. I have not got many printed versions of my digital drawings….
Oops the outdoor boy is sitting in my indoor boys favourite spot on hubby’s chair. He is getting his paws under the table. Indoor boy is sitting by the halogen heater trying to ignore the situation, but I know his nose is out of joint… (it’s been three days since he sat on me, he’s more distant, especially when outdoor boy wants to have some love.) Now I need to make sure they are all happy. The outdoor cat will probably stay a while, get warm, then go back outside. They are all well fed and indoor girl is on her bed upstairs…. Cats, it’s like watching a soap opera… ‘get orf my chair kitty’ ‘why are you lettingbhim sit there, hooman?’
This was a tiny painting I did three years ago soon after I got my studio at Spode. I paint small pictures so that if people don’t have wall space for anything large they could still have something, and not expensive. This was about 1″ by 2″, it was sold at a craft fair (remember the heady days when people could go out and cram into a place full of lovely crafts and art?). Maybe, one day, I can do a few more.
If you are learning to draw have you tried drawing vanishing points yet? If you draw a horizontal line along the middle of a piece of A4 paper you can work out how to do three dimensional objects. Draw a dot somewhere along that line. Use a ruler and draw lines radiating from it. Then draw vertical lines up or down to them. Instant buildings in perspective. You can even use more than one vanishing point. For curved objects like a can or a glass it gives you a clue on how to draw curves and what direction they will be in. Generally upwards if you are looking from below the rim of a can and downwards if from above. It all depends on your eye level. The horizontal line in this exercise represents that. But it’s your choice. The line can be higher or lower (think of the view for a child, closer to the ground, or someone at the top of a bus!)
I used to also have fun drawing boxes with this, or alien buildings, or anything, I tried it with a horse once! You can use soft pencil to draw in the lines so you can erase them later, or use to mark out an object before you start a painting. It helps you sort out all types of things, including portraits or figures. Just play about with it. I only suggested A4 as that gives you plenty of room…. You can use any size or type of paper.
If you start with a photo of an object and multiply it you can get some interesting effects and patterns. I started with a photo of our halogen heater, changed it to black and white in a filter and then duplicated it over and over again with my photo booth layout app. I have put them next to each other so you can see the original black and white photo and the duplicated ones. I think the second photo reminds me of a wool blanket I had on my bed as a child.
The first picture was drawn in ArtRage oils. The second was edited in Photodirector. Take your pick of which you prefer. I’ve changed the texture and colours in the second one. I’ve also added an overlay of grunge and some extra texture using a couple of the filters. I think although they are both digital, the first looks more painterly, the second more stylised, like a print. I could imagine both of them being used as editorial images as illustrations for a written presentation about horses? All the time I’m trying to improve my drawing and art skills….
This is a bit of an orphaned post. I tried to edit a draft post but I’m still not completely up to speed with WordPress blocks so I added a photo and categories and tags but couldn’t work out where to add text… Its taken at least ten minutes to get here… The zoom photo has been filtered to hide the identities of the participants, I’m also not saying what it was about. I just liked the colours and patterns on this screen grab.
Mallaband-Brown 