Learning to draw…

Posted on September 20, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Design, Drawing, Fun, Learning, Paints, Paper, Pencils2 Comments

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Someone was asking for ti’s on how to start drawing today so I gave this response.

Choose good quality things to draw with. If you use pencils try softer ‘b’ numbers not hard ‘h’ ones. It’s nice to see the marks you make. Also choosing a combination of thin and thick nibbed black pens means you can have different sizes of marks. Choose a sketchbook that has at least a hard back if you can. Not too big. That way it’s easier to hold and it doesn’t slump mid drawing. Finally you could practice making marks with them. I started drawing copies of things when I was a child. I chose something I liked. It helps your hand eye coordination. You don’t have to do that though. Everyone will do things differently.

I suppose I could have talked more about what to draw, but I think basic equipment is important. If you draw something but it looks weedy and thin it it can put you off. Like when you use cheap paints. You don’t get a good effect, you can’t really see the result and you might have to scrub at the paper to get the marks to show up.

Planet with water vapour.

Posted on September 11, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Astronomy, Atmosphere, Blogging, Learning, Life, Planets, Science, Solar system, Water vapourLeave a comment

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On the news tonight. A planet about twice the size of Earth has been found with water vapour in its atmosphere. Its around 100 light years away. Apparently its within the ‘goldilocks’ area around its star so its temperature is between 0°C and 40°C. It would be amazing if there was life there. The latest science is now looking for chemical traces in planetary atmospheres to look for the possibility of life on other planets.

I think the first extra solar planet was found in 1984? Since then about four thousand have been found. There are Hot Jupiter’s that orbit their stars closer than the orbit of Mercury in our solar system. There are cold Jupiter’s, there are also planets like Earth with surfaces that are covered in lava because they are close to their stars. And then there are terrestrial (rocky) planets that are more like the ones in our system.

One thing is certain, there are more planets out there than we know!

Con trail

Posted on September 10, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Clouds, Con trails, Condensation, Environment, Learning, Moisture, Planes, Sky, Vapour trailsLeave a comment

Condensation trail.

Sometimes people mistakenly call them chem trails and assume that planes are dumping chemicals. What the planes are actually doing is disturbing cold moist air in the atmosphere and the moisture (water vapour) condenses out and leaves a trail in the sky behind the plane. They regularly criss cross the sky above where I live as I live quite close to a couple of airports. Obviously they seem more frequent in the summer. If you want to find out more about clouds there is the cloud appreciation society. They have a page on Facebook.

Learning the trumpet

Posted on August 31, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Breath, Fun, Learning, Music, Noise, Playing, Sound, Trumpet2 Comments

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This is the finger positions fit the New world symphony that Im trying to learn. I can get the lower notes ( I still need to learn which notes are which). One thing with loud music being played outside is that no one can hear the notes I’ve been murdering in here!

I need to get my lips stronger to get a good embouchure. Practice is the only way to do it. At the moment the air escapes from the side of my mouth instead of going down the trumpet. Then there is the moisture from your breath. That’s why you have drainage holes to let it out.

Anyway maybe I will learn it well enough to play to people? We will see.

Northern Soul

Posted on August 24, 2019August 24, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Dance, Dancing, Four four time, Fun, Jigging, Learning, Memories, Music, Northern soulLeave a comment

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To save my blushes I’ve drawn over a photo my friend took of me today.

After we had sung with the combined choir there was a brief break and then a woman got up and did a quick dance lesson to teach us Northern soul dance steps. The music is in four four time, so she taught us four steps, stand on your left leg, tap your right foot behind, to the side of and in front of your left foot, then put your right foot down about shoulder width away from your left foot. Then putting your weight in your right leg repeat the moves using your left foot. After we learned to do that and danced for a while to a northern soul tune she added a jump, then jump and cross your legs spin round, clap, and carry on doing the side to side step.

I was jigging along with the rest of the crowd. I loved Northern Soul when I was a teenager.

The only problem? My knees are aching now.

Upgraded

Posted on July 20, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Buttons, Design, Learning, Photos, Pictures, Upgrade?Leave a comment

I’ve upgraded my site

I can add buttons,

And get priority help,

I can monetise my site.

I can add adverts

But all I want is more memory

More photos, more pictures.

I hope it works and it’s worth it .

I broke the oven?

Posted on July 10, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Baking, Blogging, Bread, Cooking, Double oven, Fun, Humour, Learning, Life, Mistake, Reflections, Timer2 Comments

When I got in from choir last night my hubby was standing in the kitchen looking perplexed. He had some bread dough in a tin because he’d decided to make a loaf. He had attempted to light the oven but it would not light. It’s a double oven with a small oven/grill at the top and a main oven. He was convinced we would have to contact the shop we got it from or get hold of a repair service. I said let me have a look…

What I saw was an egg timer symbol and another one of a casserole dish. I tried pressing the ignition. Nothing happened. I looked again at the clock display. It was several hours out? Something was clearly wrong. I asked him if he had pushed any buttons? Yes to set the timer. I looked again and realised there must be a delayed start on the main oven as it showed a casserole dish shape with a little clock face on it. I dialled that down to zero, and the egg timer down to zero. Then I tried the ignition again… It lit! I checked why the top oven was blowing out hot air… He had the grill on with the door closed and he had thought the heat had been from the main oven, so he didn’t understand why the bread hadn’t started to cook. Finally he put the dough back in the oven. The resulting loaf (which is nice and tasty) is in the photo…

Words

Posted on July 8, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Blogging, Books, Fun, Humour, Learning, Life, Playing, School, WordsLeave a comment

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Do you find yourself thinking of a word that just pops into your mind? I thought of a few today. Gestalt, Normality and Defunct all jumped into my head today.

Another day it could be crumble, grunge or fanciful, which is probably what this is.

I think I need sleep when I can dream of words chasing each other through the sky and over hills. Trundling into the sunset where they burst into brilliant petals.

Words are fun, they need using or abusing, but they definitely can make life interesting, exuberant and startling!

Kaleidoscopic

Posted on July 6, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Blogging, Colour, Fun, Kaleidoscopic, Learning, PatternLeave a comment

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I like this word, kaleidoscopic, I can’t always spell it but it’s something I remember as a child’s toy. A tube you rotate and glass or plastic pieces fall in an enclosed end of the tube so that when you look through the eyepiece they change patterns. The inside of the rest of the tube has mirrors along the length of it so the image is split into sections like a sliced up pie.

It’s difficult to try and explain exactly how it works without taking one apart but you get beautiful patterns similar to the image above (this is just some patterned cloth).

Music and singing

Posted on June 18, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged A capella, Blogging, Choir, Education, Enjoyment, Fun, Learning, Life, Music, School, SongsLeave a comment

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I’ve been to a choir workshop on Sunday where we learnt songs and short pieces over a four hour period, then tonight I was learning songs for the penkhull mystery play which is being accompanied by Clay Chorus, a choir I’m part of. I’m a member of the cast of the play, so I might not actually be singing all the songs but it’s good to learn them.

It is quite tiring doing so much singing. It takes concentration and the ability to listen closely to your fellow choir members and the choir leader. We learn a capella so we often don’t have any accompaniment.

I also went to a concert on Saturday night and later today I will be watching a live broadcast of the Pirates of Penzance at our local cinema.

Music can transport your mind, calm stress, but also excite and enthral. Music can be raucous, noisy, loud, rhythmic and ugly. It can also bring tranquility and peace.

I think music should be taught more, to all ages and abilities. It should not be elitist and should not be for the privileged few. Music broadens the mind and the senses.

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: Learning