New paintings and regular art updates.
I finally got out and did an urban sketch! Hanley Park bandstand yesterday afternoon in the mist. I drew it from the cafe terrace. I coloured it in at home because I’d been out singing carols with the Mystery Singers choir and only took a sketchbook on the off-chance I might draw.
Looking at this and the photos I took I can see I’ve exaggerated the perspective on the bandstand, but I think that helps as I was looking down on it from the cafe terrace.
Strong tree,
tall tree
Sycamore.
Standing proud in the park.
Green tree,
branches waving,
fluttering.
Never still.
Giving shade,
cooling air,
softening the edges.
Buildings round
have pleasant views.
Park trees,
pleasant days
sunshine and showers.
OK so today’s Urban sketchers challenge was to draw snacks. I chose pringles, my favourite apart from salt and vinegar crisps. Its not the most exciting drawing I’m afraid.
This challenge is every other day. Saturdays challenge was to draw red square in Moscow, but I’m afraid I didn’t get round to doing that. I have saved one of the photos so I might have a go later in the week.
Toothache is getting me down at the moment!
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Urban Sketchers Stoke-on-Trent is doing a thirty day challenge. Today is day three and the challenge is ‘household chore’ this is my sweeping brush as my hoover is bust.
Pencil in a Daler Rowney ‘simply’ sketchbook.
In other thoughts I’m trying to think of things to do. So far I’ve got as far as spending half the day looking at social media. I think a lot of people will be suffering from vitamin D deficiency and will look like they have recently been in prison!
Anyway, back to my chores…
I’ve been taking my sketchbook with me recently because of doing the one inch drawing challenge. That’s meant that I have drawn pictures as well as photographing them.
Yesterday I was looking at autumn trees in front of black and white buildings (the architecture looks like its from the 1920’s or 30’s.) Sturdy, tall trees were starting to colour up as autumn starts to bite. The branches were swaying and soughing in the wind. This is a season I can relate too. It’s sometimes quiet and misty, other times dramatic. That’s what I enjoyed about drawing it. Trying to bring a bit of that drama into it. You can’t draw every individual leaf in a ten or fifteen minute sketch, but you can try and add movement.
For information I used an a6 sketchpad and a unipin fine line pen size 0.8.
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It’s quite cool today, so after going out for lunch, then coming back and doing a bit of gardening I’ve come into the relative warm (about 18.5°C) and I’m sitting listening to the Radio.
I’ve decided to try and keep the heating off as much as I can. It’s getting expensive and it’s not that cold yet.
It’s grey and showery outside. We had to cut the hedge back because our neighbours need access on the path round to their back yard and it runs past our garden. The trouble is one set of shears handle is coming loose and is held on with gaffer tape! When you cut branches with them they bend inwards so you can’t always get a good purchase on the twigs.
So anyway, the hat in the drawing was given to me by a friend when it was raining last week. I meant to take it back but forgot. Just dumped it on the pile of books by the front door.
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If you can’t read the writing it says (bit truncated) weeping window, 31. 8.18, middleport pottery.
The drawing is of thousands of ceramic poppies which were displayed on the bottle oven at Middleport pottery, middleport, Stoke-on-Trent in August last year. These poppies had travelled round the country to commemorate the men who had fallen in the first World War.
At one stage the poppies were not going to come to Stoke-on-Trent despite thousands of them being made here. I for one am glad they came.
Today’s view,
long drive.
More later!
I was startled to meet this figurehead at R&B T cafe on the toll road around the Great Orme today. He’s a ships figure head and the cafe owner said he is victorian. Most figureheads are female so he is unusual. He doesn’t have a name so I suggested Posiedon.
I did a drawing of him and the owner liked it so much he asked me for it. He’s going to get it framed. So all I have is a photo of the figurehead and my drawing, and of course a nice memory.
To find the cafe you take the Toll Road from the ski centre side of the Great Orme mountain. The marine drive takes you around the base of the mountain. There are sea views across to Anglesey, and Conwy and Conwy Castle. Today though it was very misty. There was not much of a view just a haze as we looked out from the cafe’s viewing platform. (Which is up some steps at the back of the cafe.)
I’m doing a 1 inch drawing challenge and today’s drawing is of a small tumbler with whisky over ice. It’s not something I do a lot of. But it’s been a long few days with a lot of travel and then singing with a choir this afternoon, I’m shattered ….
Mallaband-Brown