New paintings and regular art updates.
I love my little notebook, getting filled up with sketches and doodles and bits of writing prompts. This bird recently appeared squeaking and squaking (odd word spelling I know) on the page. With this drawing comes memories of drawing odd bits when I was a child. I used to try and draw butterflies and moths and horses too. It is about learning to draw and freeing your imagination. Art is life!
I’m involved in the Penkhull Mystery Plays and we had a read through of the whole play yesterday. I just decided to doodle what I think the main baddie in the play could look like. Her hair is a tangle of flowers and weeds and twigs. Sharp faced, but without the beak of a nose and hooked chin of traditional depictions of witches. She’s more punk than ancient. I could imagine piercings and tattoos too.
I went to our read through of the Mystery Play today, we had tried to edit it down and it now is about an hour long including stage directions. The author, Andy Perry, has created a story about the creation of the city of Stoke-on-Trent and the naming of the six towns. Now we will be organising rehearsals. I hope it is going to be good. X
Drew a story Board for the Penkhull Mysteries today, started by drawing in the back of an envelope then did better A4 sketches.
This took a couple of hours. I was absolutely shattered by the end. I had intended to go shopping afterwards but I came through the front door, sat down and fell asleep!
An idea from 2017 for a design for a cat and moon and stars. It’s not a good photo but I like the idea and I wish I’d got round to sorting the design out and getting it printed off. This is only an initial design. I would have strengthened the black areas and line work. It’s nice to remember this.
Portrait of a woman called Carol in our craft group working on some diamond art picture. I enjoy doing small portraits, quickly done, it fits in with my Parkinsons shakes, if a line goes awry I can hide it in cross hatching. I have a small notebook with very pae blue lines so they are not very noticeable. I never want to stop drawing and painting. It’s my life. X
Sketch of the Leopard Hotel in Burslem that was destroyed by fire in 2022. I just found this on my phone. I’d done several murals in the back room and was devastated when this happened. The pub was empty and it had been broken into. The wiring was tampered with.
There are some ideas to rebuild part of it using the historic frontage to keep it’s architectural authenticity. I hope it happens. #bandofsketchers drawing in felt pens.
Quick portrait I did today at a craft group I go to. I took my sketchbook because I just wanted to practice drawing. I find I get a lot of tension in my arms when I try and draw or paint theses days. It’s because I shake so much with the Parkinsons disease but something takes over when I’m being artistic. But if I hold a sheet of music when I sing I can’t stop shaking. Weird.
Fond memory of a cat doodle I did eight years ago. This was on my Facebook memories today. There are other drawings but I won’t put them on here. I might use them later but I think this is the cutest one. The little bottle oven and tea set are the connection with where I live, the Potteries, Stoke-on-Trent.
I have lots of sketchbooks around the house with doodles in. I should find them all and look through them. What will happen to them when I’ve gone I wonder?
When you were five, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I must have been about five when I realised I wanted to do art. I would make patterns on graph paper, draw and doodle and sketch. I know my mother started to collect some of my drawings. As I got older I put them on my walls. I even strung them across my bedroom held on by pegs because I didn’t have enough wall space.
When I was in my teens one of my paintings was sent to our twin town in Germany to be exhibited. My headmistress was given a drawing I did of my fellow pupils as a leaving present and I knew I wanted to be an artist as I told my careers teacher, not a nurse as she tried to persuade me. On to Art school to do a degree, and even 40 years later an MA in illustration. Now. I’m struggling. But iooking at different methods and skills. I’m not giving up!
Mallaband-Brown