New paintings and regular art updates.
Most of the leaves have fallen. Now we are at the start of winter there is a bit more to see. The Holly Bush is getting in the way though. The bright sunshine and blue sky have gone. Today there is persistent rain gushing down from the sky with threats of snow. As far as I’m concerned I would sleep through winter and wake up in the spring if it stays as bad as this!
Watching Sky Portrait artist of the year. I couldn’t find pictures of all the sitters so decided to draw Catherine Grainger from a photo on the Web, ten minute sketch.
I want to watch the programme so leaving it at this. I might do another one later.
I always like to make paper cut snowflakes at Christmas. I did a few a couple of years ago. I always fold my paper into six so that you get a six sided shape. To do this I fold the paper in half, then fold about a third over at an angle, so you have the same amount on either side, then fold the last third over the other two. You end up with a pointed end, and the other end has different shaped areas. Then you need to cut off the excess so that you have a hexagonal shape. Cut patterns through the foldes sides to make a lace like pattern, unfold. (The paper might stick together and rip) Be careful. Flatten the paper out and put up on windows or hang of shelves to decorate. Fun for children but make sure scissors are safe and have rounded ends.
A slightly confusing sign if you don’t know where the museum is. Turns out both footpaths lead to the same place, just by different routes. I don’t suppose it matters, but I think they should at least put an arrow on it for one way or the other. This is at the Etruria Industrial Museum, at Etruria, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire.
Just to be awkward.. an Orca I drew at the sketchfu website. Simple tools so its a bit blurry. I’m not sure, but I think Orcas (killer whales) may eat Dolphins?
I know they are very intelligent. Often swim in pods (groups) and use various techniques to catch fish. one of their skills is to collaborate in a group to blow thousands of bubbles, their actions create a “bubble net” that enclose a school of fish and then they grab the fish that have been surrounded.
I also know thwy are Mammals and evolved on land before returning to the water, hence they have blow holes to breathe through the tops of their heads. Their front fins are formed adapted like paddles, but the bone structure is similar to that of a hand. I think I remember that they even have vestigial leg bones attached to their pelvises?
Orcas, Dolphins, and other whales are all part of a family of mammals called Cetaceans. They are some of the most intelligent animals on the planet, and humans have almost driven some of them to extinction or actually hunted some of them to extinction. I still think Whaling should be banned.
Don’t quite know why a screen full of faces intruiges me? I think it’s the combination of colours. And by using texture filters I can disguise the participants. It’s mainly abstract now although you can tell there are people there just about. Photodirector effects is what I used.
On a cold sunny morning I like looking through the side windows of the house. This one is surrounded by orchids. Three plants live there, all different sizes. One recently stopped flowering after sending out a second flower spike. One keeps growing but hasn’t flowered again and the last was one we got in the summer and the flowers on it are fading. I think they all need repotting. They sit in clear pots as the roots like to get light to them, I have some orchid medium but last time I potted them on I think I used too much of it and crammed the roots of one of them in too tightly….
Theres a glass frog and another glass piece hanging from the curtain rail. Then the window glass is dusty and covered in cobwebs outside. It’s hard to clean as there is a large shrub in the way outside. Also there is a nesting box which families of Blue Tits use over the spring and summer. So it gets left, and the dappled light from the trees outside give it an atmospheric, olde worlde look. Which is why I like to take photos of it.
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On the settee… Indoor and outdoor cats are tolerating each other. These are the two boys, the girl cat sleeps upstairs. There is a bit of trouble over sleeping spots. They seem to like a spot and take it, then the other one comes along and snuggles there instead.
One thing I am trying is stroking their cheeks. Apparently the spray you can buy with pheromones to calm cats down is based on the scent they give off from the scent glands in their cheeks. So I guessed if you stroke one cats cheek, then stroke the other one it might help. It’s certainly helped them get used to each other..
Hmm. Almost bedtime, will I have to get u to let outdoor boy out later? We will see….
I fancy some cherries , it being completely the wrong time of year for them, this is a digital drawing done at sketchfu years ago. The site is closed now but it had simple tools you could use without adding layers (something I need to learn). This was a challenge to draw from a photo…
I keep finding old drawings and pictures so I just post the ones I like.
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After struggling for a couple of weeks to get this toy speedboat working the boat was transformed into a combination DIY SOS and Waterworld/MadMax theme. (He’s used up most of my cotton to hold the sails up). He thinks he might put it on the lake in the park or on the canal. I’ve suggested it needs a string adding to the front so if it gets caught in weed he can get it out….. I like the way he’s added sails that rake backwards, but I wouldn’t want to sail in it, especially in a choppy sea!
Mallaband-Brown