Must get my brushes out

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I admit, this week I should have painted. But I’ve found a colouring Web site where you sit and ‘colour by numbers’.

I want to get on with things, but with everything that is going on in the world I think I’ve got a bit down again. I need to paint.

So tomorrow, I’m going to try and get my act together and start painting again.

Thinking about the universe and all that..

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‘space’, digital drawing’

I was sitting thinking about dark matter and dark energy today as you do. I’m not sure exactly what they are, but scientists are trying to find out.

To explain, normal matter only takes up a small percentage of the amount of matter in the universe. The rest could be ‘dark matter’ which cannot be measured by normal scientific measures. Also there is dark energy. A type of energy that is repulsive. The universe is expanding and this dark energy is apparently speeding that process up.

Then I thought about the idea that there may be more than one universe. The multiverse. In some theories each decision we make could create a new universe. But we can only see the one we are in? My mind started to boggle. Maybe the dark matter could be from the universes we can’t see, and the dark energy from the creation of each new universe’s.

This is the trouble with speculation, I don’t know whether any of this makes any sense. But I like thinking, and if it takes my mind off the world at the moment, then maybe it’s a good thing.

How did we get here?

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A few weeks ago no one had heard of Corona Virus. Now the world is panicking. From an illness that started in the East, it has spread across the world. At one stage we were told it was less harmful than seasonal flu. Now people are self isolating. The problem is that there is no immunity in the population to it. It’s new, so humans haven’t had the chance to get used to it. Vaccines will be created, but that takes time. They have to be tested before they can be used safely. Now governments are setting limits to how many people can meet, shutting down sports events, and stocks and shares are dropping in value. Its as if the world has gone mad. We’ve watched too many zombie movies and people are trying to make sense of what’s going on. Hopefully things will improve soon.

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Cat in a box

I have a cat that loves boxes. Currently he’s sleeping in two that I’ve put together and put on top of the oven because it’s warm there. He looks so happy and cute. He can’t resist curling up inside.

Can you see he’s smiling? I think that cars eyes show you emotion. As he is happy his eyes are slightly closed. If I slowly close my eyes when I look at him he does the same thing. Staring at cats is not good, they tend to feel it is aggression. But once you know them they don’t mind as much.

Stare at a cat and it will probably walk away, but if you look somewhere else, away from it, then it might even jump up on your lap. That’s why they pay more attention to eople who don’t like them, they are looking away and the cat sees it as non aggressive, passive, behaviour.

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Panic buying

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You know when the world has gone mad when all the toilet paper has gone off the shelves in the supermarket and you have to DRAW a loo roll.

And yet the question is WHY? The virus that is going round makes you have a temperature and a dry cough, followed by possible pneumonia and heart and liver problems in severe cases. There is no detail of upset stomachs? I was listening to the radio and they were saying it’s just the human psyche, big packets of toilet roll look important, so people buy them. It’s the siege mentality, if you are going to have to ‘self isolate’ it is important to have enough food and supplies in to last for a couple of weeks. But, sometimes we humans go a bit mad. One truck at the Blackwall tunnel (which runs under the Thames) was stopped by the highways department because it was overloaded. When they opened it up it was crammed with toilet paper. The driver got a £300 fine.

 

Photo manipulation

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The finger and the nose never touched. This is two photos, joined together, then I’ve drawn over the background and blurred it. I got my hubby to hold his hand out, a bit like in the painting of Adam and God’s hands in the Sistine Chapel, then I got my cat to sniff my hand, but I specifically wanted a male hand, so I’ve cropped the two together. I’ve blurred the background to look like clouds (and hide the messy background). I’m just wondering now if it’s gone a bit ‘ET phone home’?

The pale blue is where I drew a line. I tried to flood fill the background, but it didn’t work well. Anyway it’s almost 3.30am, so enough experimenting. Goodnight all.

Missing you

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I’ve recently heard the phrase ‘ghosting’ when people no longer communicate with you on the Internet. It is a deliberate act of cutting themselves off from you.

I understand that sometimes people need a break and if there have been problems with a friendship or relationship then ghosting is a non aggressive or non argumentative way of splitting up.

But then there is the situation where people go missing on the Internet. I miss a few people who have done that. Perhaps they have announced they will no longer be using a site, which is bad enough when you have enjoyed their presence over months or years. Or they simply vanish. After years of talk, maybe someone you met on line and became friends with. Suddenly there is a hollow, a hole where they used to be. And because they are on the Internet you have no real idea in the world where they are. A couple of friends decided to leave WordPress. I used to look forward to their posts. Is it selfish to miss them?

A long term friend passed away recently. Luckily a relative posted that this had happened. Her Facebook page is still there and someone sent a message purporting to be from her. That was worrying. I don’t know why anyone would do that.

To some extent I would prefer to be ghosted than to have someone taking over my friends identity.

Writing in the ad breaks

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I want to write tonight but there are a couple of really good films on, so I’m writing during the advertisement breaks. The films are on a channel where the ads get longer and more frequent as the film goes on. It becomes increasingly irritating because just when you get to an interesting bit… It breaks….. Grr.

Actually I’m missing the film now because I’m writing, but that doesn’t matter. I’ve found putting words down in a blog enthralls me. It might not be a great blog, but it helps me sort things out mentally. The cat is sleeping next to me. Twitching as he dreams. It’s nice to just relax….

Outside today

I went out with Urban sketchers today and was at an old farm near Eccleshall to draw. I took a few photos. I need to take good pictures of my drawings.

The day was grey, overcast with great rushes of wind that you could hear soughing through the trees. Starting far way you could hear it rushing and pushing the tree branches. Rooks were flying and calling in the air, scooting about and apparently enjoying it. We even saw a murmuration of Starlings flocking in the distance.

I sat on a white metal garden chair, strong but cold. I ended up folding up my scarf to stop my bum going numb with the cold. Within a few minutes I was shivering and then I got used to it although my hands started to go numb with the chill. Luckily there was hot tea available. It was very kind of the artists that live there to let a crowd of about twenty urban sketchers come round and draw everything from trees to stone dogs.

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