
Using sketchbook app to draw tree branches. It’s interesting how you can import images and add to them, this is all a bit scruffy but I had fun doing it X.
New paintings and regular art updates.

Using sketchbook app to draw tree branches. It’s interesting how you can import images and add to them, this is all a bit scruffy but I had fun doing it X.

Two versions, one digital drawings. When you have done something don’t be afraid to play with filters. It may or may not pay off, but you don’t know if you don’t try.
I need to get my paints out and do some real painting instead of doodling here. It’s OK, but a screen isn’t ideal for artwork. It gives me pleasure to do things, keeps my hand in, but it’s not much more than finger painting? Although looking at David Hockneys digital work it can be so much more. Just keep learning and practicing…

It dawned on me this morning, the walls around me have grown… I’ve felt hemmed in by the pandemic, and tied down by ropes attached to concrete blocks. Not physically but mentally, emotionally, sadly.
Why? It stems from fear of what might happen. There is a word ‘catastrophise’ that I’ve heard recently. Maybe that’s what I’m doing. Plus hubbys situation bothers me, I feel very protective. Then again, as I age, bits of me don’t work properly. I tried to do something about it, but the authorities don’t seem to understand. It’s made me despondent to some extent. My prevarication is getting to me.
Sorry to lay all of this at your doors, I think by speaking out it allows me to order my thoughts. Those walls need to come down, and I need to let some light in, I need to be less of a scardey cat… But it’s not easy..

“We should be sitting on this!”
“But I need a table to pot on”
“Yes, but you have one”
“But it’s got my trains on”
“Well can you move them?”
“No, I’m making a layout, I got some ‘n’ gauge stock” “I want to build it up”.
Sigh, “OK but the plants can go in the garden, the bench needs varnish or something to protect it”.
I didn’t mention to hubby that the last bench was treated in the same way, the wood rotted and the bench collapsed. I bought new wooden slats, but ‘someone’ (hubby), nailed them on to something else….

What’s one small improvement you can make in your life?
I need to start going to bed earlier. I’m always up late and it’s not good, then I get insomnia and I get up late. It’s a real dilemma to face. Not working also means I don’t have a routine to follow, and recent events have made me worse. I need to get out in the sunshine and boost my vitamin D but it’s easier to sit and feel anxious.
How do I do one thing to get me going again? Perhaps I should set my alarm every morning? Yes I could sleep through it, but at least it might give me the incentive to do things. Normally by the time I get up its after noon….
Why? Social media to some extent, and a constant need to watch the news. I’m caught in that dopamine trap of wanting to keep checking my phone, and yet I want to break away from it. I don’t read click bait but I do look at sites about politics a lot. I’m well informed. But why? it just ups the anxiety levels..
STOP!

I was just watching a programme called ‘Glow up’ about make up artists competing to win a make up artist of the year award. They are all young, enthusiastic people and the work they did was amazing. The first challenge was to create fresh makeup for an advertising campaign. The results were varied between very subtle and very bold. The second challenge was to create a make up which represented the place the contestants came from. One competitor came up with a bee for Manchester on her models nose, and eagles wings using feathers on the models eyebrows.
I’ve never seen this programme before on BBC 1, but I’m glad I did. I have done a small amount of face-palming in the past but this was on an entirely different scale. Really amazing and artistic! My sketch here is nothing in comparison. X

Acrylic on canvas painting, work in progress. Of trees and rocks or stones. But I don’t remember what I was doing with it. I found it in the summerhouse while I was helping clear it up. I must have started it sometime last year. Perhaps in the winter. I’ll have to make a story up? Maybe it was too cold in there and the water froze, or the weather changed and continuous rain put me off. I’m going to get my brushes out and try and finish it off….

Today’s #bandofsketchers prompt was guess.. Guess what bird this is? A teet owl….? Just a silly digital cartoon drawing using Artrage and trying to use all the different tools on the app.

Beware! Early morning hazard on the stairs. As the days and nights get warmer I think he sleeps on the stairs because there is a cool draught of air descending down them. It does make navigating them difficult for us. Thankfully I have two handrails and I walk carefully anyway. Rushing down (or up) could lead to a serious fall. I am also happy that he has a prominent white mark across his back which makes him more visible against our charcoal grey carpet (which the cats are pulling loose). Early morning perambulation is done at our own risk! Meanwhile he’s snoring quietly, curled up, a step full of fur asleep on the stairs.

There it sits, down by the lake. How old is it? Are there boats still moored inside? A life belt is still attached to the back wall as the wood gently greens and rots… .
I’ve never been down the steep steps to the shore, it’s green and slippery and there is no handrail. If I was young I would explore. The reeds and rushes are starting to grow up, and no doubt moorhens or coots will be nesting there soon. Chicks still waiting to be laid in their eggs. There are Canada geese about. Life is renewing.
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