Baby 🐲 dragon

Posted on March 11, 2022 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Art, Authors, children's stories, Fossils, Illustration, Learning, Life, Medieval, prehistory, report, Sketching2 Comments

For as many artists that draw and paint dragons, there’s a different style, shape, pattern, technique or colours.

I’m studying an illustration course and my final report is about the mythology and history of dragon illustration. I’m having to find out more about them, from the possible link with fossilised dinosaur skeletons, to medieval bestiaries, to more recent art including children’s and adult fiction that includes either dragon illustrations in the books or on their covers.

Here’s a question. Does anyone know any interesting dragon stories I can investigate? I have Ursula K Le Guin, Terry Pratchett, Anne McCaffery, Cressida Cowell, J. R. R Tolkein, T. H White and other authors. Are you aware of more?

Thanks x

Dragon bright

Posted on March 7, 2022 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Black, Doodle, Dragon, fire breathing, Flood fill, JRR Tolkein, Sketching, smaug, Terry Pratchett, the Hobbit, Thinking, YellowLeave a comment

Dragon doodle, then flood filled with yellow. ‘dragon burning in the night, why do you burn so bright?’

A question. Why are dragons supposed to breath fire. Why does JRR Tolkeins dragon Smaug live in a mountain full of gold that could almost be a volcano, but when fire comes it is from the dragon itself flying over Laketown in the story of the Hobbit.

They breathe fire in other stories too. And authors come up with elaborate ideas of how they make it. For instance the book ‘Guards, Guards’ by Terry Pratchett.

All art of their mystery.

Blue and yellow on my mind

Posted on March 7, 2022 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Art, Complicated, Confused, Drawing, Life, Pattern, Sketching, sunflowers, Tangled, ThinkingLeave a comment

Sunflowers and blue leaves, abstract pattern. Waiting for a resolution, no sign of peace or compromise. Women and children, old men and women try to escape. But their routes are snared with artillery and arms. Meanwhile the world waits for what? Who can guess… Time flies, slowly. Only a few days feels like a month of Sundays. I’m starting to avoid the news. So bleak. So much pain but so much bravery. My country? Keeping refugees out! Talking about security breaches instead of desperate humanity. Bean counters. May they be told to help instead of hindering. Me.. I’m just sad and confused.

Laughter

Posted on March 6, 2022March 6, 2022 Posted in Cat, UncategorizedTagged #bandofsketchers, Art, belt, Black and white cat, black and white pen, Cat, Felt pens, Laughter, Life, Prompt, SketchingLeave a comment

Laughter is watching my cat chasing the belt to my dressing gown. One side has lost its belt loop so it drags along the floor and…Pounce! So funny watching her bounce around! Todays #bandofsketchers prompt. Black fine line pen and felt pens.

Fenton cenotaph

Posted on March 5, 2022 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Art, Cenotaph, Drawing, fallen soldier, Felt pens, Fenton, Sketching, urban sketching Stoke-on-TrentLeave a comment

Fenton Cenotaph. Fallen soldier, from the 1914-1918 first world War. I was out with Stoke Urban sketchers today. We were outside Fenton Town Hall. A very cold wind was blowing so I just did a small sketch. I chose to use pale blue and yellow because of what is happening in Ukraine. The news continues to be terrible. The Russians had offered a ceasefire and escape corridor for civilians to get out of Mariapol but they haven’t stopped shelling the city.

Filtered design

Posted on March 4, 2022 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Art, artillery attack, chain reaction, dress, Molecules, nuclear power plant, Pattern, Sketching, VintageLeave a comment

Just a filtered version of the vintage dress I drew yesterday. Trying to keep my mind off Ukraine 🇺🇦 and what is happening there. Russians fired on a huge nuclear power station and set part of it on fire. It made me think of nuclear chain reactions if it blows up. It could be worse than Chernobyl in 1986. Funny how a pattern can spark ideas. I pray for peace.

Vintage

Posted on March 3, 2022 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged #bandofsketchers, Art, Drawing, dress, fifties, Life, Pattern, sixties, Sketching, VintageLeave a comment

Today’s #bandofsketchers prompt was vintage. OK, so I looked up vintage dress on my phone then made up a pattern. I think I’ll call it ‘molecules’. I was aiming at one of those 50’s/60’s patterns I remember from my childhood. The background was just to try and make it stand out.

Cat Woman

Posted on March 2, 2022 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Art, Artrage oils, Cat, Design, Drawing, Face, finger drawing, Free app, Life, Sketching, WomanLeave a comment

Doodle in ArtRage oils free app. I’m so busy drawing with felt pens that I forgot that I have it on my phone. I’m sort of sticking with blue and yellow as my main colours. Why, because Ukraine is on my mind. I guess this isn’t brilliant but finger painting with smudgy drawing tools can be difficult. I don’t know what made me draw this, but it was fun..

Construction

Posted on March 1, 2022 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged #bandofsketchers, Art, Blue, Construction, Drawing, Life, Perspective, Sketching, Ukraine, vanishing points, Yellow2 Comments

When I was young I used to practice drawing perspective using one or two vanishing points. When our #bandofsketchers prompt came up as construction I thought I would do something along those lines. Then thinking of Ukraine and how it will need rebuilding I decided to colour it blue and yellow.

Sunset last year

Posted on February 28, 2022 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged A year ago, Art, Landscape, Life, paint sky, Sketching, Sunset, Time, Watercolour, Watercolour sketch2 Comments

Sunset, watercolour, February 2021.

I had been for a walk with a good friend and walked a lot further than I thought I could. Oh what a difference a year makes. I couldn’t walk a third of that distance now. Every time I think I’m going to go for a walk something seems to stop me. For instance this weekend was lovely, but I had an upset stomach (too much information?), so I stayed home. I’m getting increasingly frustrated by this. I want to be out there, walking, painting, being back to normal. Instead I’m just burbling away here. Spinning out my old memories into a web of comfort that doesn’t equate to doing things for real.

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: Sketching