New paintings and regular art updates.
Oh I do like playing with paint. For example this is a little canvas I’m working on, it’s a WIP, (work in progress). I was thinking of adding some patterns and decorations to it. Maybe in the sky. Some stars, a comet, maybe a pattern in the glass. I haven’t decided yet. It’s another acrylic on canvas. I was trying to make more of a stylised character out of it.
Better get on and do some more work on things.
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I painted a dog today. 
The colours are a bit out in this picture. It’s nose isn’t that red. I might change it to tone it down a bit. It looks like it’s owned by a clown! I wanted to paint a dog because I’m always drawing and paintings cats, so it makes a change. I’m not sure if I should look at a picture of a red setter. This is from an old black and white photo that I found in a book. So the colours are made up… I haven’t used it here because it might be copyright.
Another acrylic on canvas, for the craft stall on Saturday.
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I’ve just downloaded a trial of Corel Painter Essentials 7
In English I mean I have downloaded a drawing package onto my computer. I hope it will be easy to use, I have got to explore it. What I ended up with after five minutes of playing is like a cave painting! so I guess that’s appropriate as I’m learning.
There are lots of things you can set on it, various AI things (artificial intelligence) like an AI Van Gogh. But I haven’t sussed out how to use them, I clicked on the buttons but wouldn’t say that I could see any difference to the mark making.
Later I’m going to read “Where the Wild Things are” by Maurice Sendak (if that’s how its spelled). Its a book I read in my childhood and I am interested in using it as part of a case study for my course, what fun!
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Two images taken with the phone on my camera tonight. I took both on the manual setting on the camera as the auto choice was over exposing it. I altered the exposure so that the sky appears darker and the moon is more defined. I didn’t know how to do it. I just clicked on the tools and messed about with it. (This was the last time I took a photo of the moon and I haven’t altered the settings since).
I also had to zoom in x 5 to get a big enough image to see the moon. Then I cropped it to enlarge it. In all of that I was expecting some camera shake but its not too bad. I leant my elbow on a large glass jar on the kitchen cupboard to try and make my image steadier and I also held my breath.
Texture and pattern. Today’s Urban sketchers challenge was drawing a souvenir so I drew a Thai woman and baby doll that my friend gave me. As I’m doing textures and symbols on my illustration course I decided to try out different marks to show the knitting on the cushion underneath the doll.
I have been doing a lot of pen and ink drawings lately, not using pencil or charcoal much. Maybe I should try some other techniques?
Found in an old sketchbook. Mark making with pencil and paintbrush. I like the fact it looks like there is a heart ♥ at the centre of the image.
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Drawn in artrage oils and edited in photodirector changing the colours and style.
This is what I mean about playing with are, yes this is a scrappy sketch, but it’s my scrappy sketch, amended and changed how I want. I would love to illustrate a book using a style like this. I could imagine creating pictures about a crazy cat in a children’s book.
I was once offered the opportunity to illustrate a book but the publishers woukd only allow the author to use an in house illustrator. I was very disappointed as I think I could have created a different atmosphere by working with her. Oh well….
One of the animals I regret never having seen are Whales. I know they are endangered but I hope as life resumes that they will be left alone. I have the same feeling about Tigers and Elephants. But there are many creatures that most people have never seen that also are endangered. It doesn’t matter whether its the smallest or largest animal, each have their place in the Web of nature.
As lockdown is reduced, humans are going out and dumping fast food rubbish from their cars. Do they even care? It makes me really angry that eople have no consideration for the environment.
Anyway, rant over. Stay safe.
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Today’s challenge was to draw something colourful. My eyes fell on an owl sculpture by a blacksmith who works at a Forge at Etruria, Stoke-on-Trent. She’s called Charis Jones and her company is called Sculpted Steel.
Behind the owl is a plate that my hubby painted at the Gladstone pottery museum in Longton.
I started by drawing the outlines in black ink. I then filled in the colours with permanent ink markers and a few coloured pencils.
The colours are not all accurate, but as the brief was colourful I added some to the books and cds in the background while trying not to overdo it.
I’ve included a reference photo to give you an idea of what I was working from.
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I wanted to send a friend a card… 
I found a tin with a slight dent in the rim so I could push a candle holder into it. Then I added a tiny birthday cake candle and lit it and took the photo.
Added the text later in a sketch app.
I sent this to my friend with her name edited onto it. What is it they say ‘necessity is the mother of invention ‘?
Mallaband-Brown