Day 18,urban sketchers challenge

_20200405_154821

This one is ‘hanging on the wall’ as you can see I’ve got a lot of stuff on the mantelpiece and on the wall. I haven’t drawn the dust! I don’t move stuff around much. I think it would all fall off if I did. I’ve also missed out the crack in the chimney breast.

I’m really enjoying this 30day challenge and hope we continue to do more once this month if work is over. It’s interesting having prompts. I might not like some if them, but it gives me ideas for things to sketch. And also the opportunity to translate them into what fits in around my life.

I’ve reconnected with drawing more over the last couple of weeks than I had done for years. My only sadness is that my eyes are not as acute as they were. I have presbyopia, which means the lens in your eyes doesn’t change shape as well, so it’s harder to focus in on close stuff. I have reading glasses, but when I want to look close, then at distance it’s a bit annoying. Anyway I just peer over the top of my glasses. Plus my lines are wobbly.. But you can’t have everything. It’s just a sketch xxx

Fish

DSC_2455

I’m in another Art group called Etruria Artists. We usually meet on a Thursday but because we are in lockdown we are trying to keep going by doing weekly projects. I was interested in drawing a fish or fishes and this drawing was the result. I tried to show the way water moves and ripples. The fish is a bit weird I’m afraid. Let me know if you have any projects on the go…

X

Theatre

_20200329_141222

Tragedy and comedy, a small drawing I did.

One thing I miss at the moment is going out to the theatre. It wasn’t something we did frequently but I did enjoy going three or four times a year.

We have a few local theatres. The Regent theatre, the New Victoria theatre, and the Rep. We went out to see Warhorse last year, that was fantastic. I’ve also seen waiting for Godot years ago, the Scottish play and others by Shakespeare.

Over the years we have seen many more productions, including musical evenings, and also live casts of plays at the local cinema. The thought now of sitting with hundreds of people feels frightening. How the world can change…..

Today’s drawings

Those of you who follow my blog know I’ve been drawing my surroundings from the safety of my own home.

Today’s challenge was gardening. I chose to draw some pots and a flower bed in a sparkly amathyst colour brush pen. It includes cyclamen, tete-a-tete narcissi and foliage from geraniums and poppy plants. The sun was shining again today, but there was a bitterly cold wind, not helped by the neighbours behind us that had cut down two trees that had acted as a windbreak.

The second drawing is a quick sketch of the stray cat, Woody, who is doing fine sleeping in the shed and roaming the garden by day.

Thanks USK Stoke-on-Trent for the challenge x

Letter to the editor

IMG_20200308_182533_595

Things to do when self isolating. And to prevent cabin fever…

Dear Editor

Can I recommend joining an urban sketchers group and following one of the ‘drawing indoors’ challenges that are being set up. The first I knew about it was a Facebook post from Urban Sketchers in London. They had decided to do a thirty day challenge while they spend enforced time at home. After all you only need a pen or pencil and some paper.

My branch of Urban Sketchers in Stoke-on-Trent are thinking of doing the same…

Yours X

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.

X

Westport lake visit

DSC_2420

Late visit to the lake for coffee and oatcakes. Then took half a bag of Swan, duck and goose food for a short stroll round the small lake. We were mobbed by  Canada geese who got a bit aggressive, and one bold Swan who stepped onto the bank in front of me. I threw a handful of food onto the ground and it pecked at it before the other birds got a chance. The pigeons were not as lucky as the food was in large pellets. I tried to break them up a bit but they were to hard to split. I probably should have thrown more in the water but when you are being mobbed it’s hard not to give in and throw it down quickly.

As we walked round the lake I noticed the path was muddy and it looked like it has washed over the pathway at some stage recently. In the field by the children’s playground a large pool of water stood waiting to drain away. Buds were starting to burst on the smaller scrubby trees, bright green against the black and grey twigs. I also spotted something like dandelion (coltsfoot?) yellow ragged flowers, just a cluster of three below a group of trees. Coots and moorhens were also on the lake together with mallard ducks. The sun that had been shining all day had gone behind the clouds and only peeked out as we walked back to the car. Low and bright, dazzling us as we drove away.

Tidying up

DSC_2411

We use a warehouse (old, small, with hardly any facilities) next to the Trent and Mersey canal for our art group. Most weeks we do art, pottery, painting, drawing etc. Thus week we had to clear out the kitcgen/store so that it can be demolished and rebuilt as a kitchen and a disabled toilet next to it. So we had to clear a lot of stuff out, including a lot of clay. This is only half of the stuff. It was quite heavy to move. I was going to take it away in my car but compromised on storing it in the building. It’s pleasing to be able to do something physical for a change.

Jug photo

DSC_2392

I was visiting the Waiting room gallery today to take in my two new paintings. I saw this jug (is it sprig molded?)

It looked classical, it might end up being a pottery painting. The dark green really brings out the colour of the jug, while the shadows help give it a three dimensionality. The shelf it is on is white painted wood which gives it a nice texture. It’s owned by my friend Alison. I think she said it might be a Portmeirion piece although there is no backstamp or other marks on its base.

Taken in natural light from the gallery window on my mobile phone.