Edinburgh Castle by zoom.

Posted on May 2, 2020 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Art, Drawing, Edinburgh Castle, Quick sketch, Sketching, Staffordshire, Urban Sketchers, Urban sketchers Stoke on trent, Virtual visitLeave a comment

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Urban sketchers Stoke-on-Trent are holding weekly virtual visits to places we cannot go to at the moment. This week it was Edinburgh Castle.

About fifteen of us joined a zoom meeting to draw scenes from the castle and its grounds. We use Google to find the images to draw.

In my case I was late joining, and there was only a short time for me to draw before our throw down, that’s where we all get together to show our art, and to take pictures for a joint photograph of the results.

I’m not sure where we are going next week. But I’m enjoying these virtual visits.

Man-cave

Posted on April 23, 2020 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged #uskstoke, Challenge, Day 5, Drawing, Fun, Humour, Life, Lockdown, Man cave, Mess, Pasting tables, Shed, Sketching, Toy trains, Train, Urban SketchersLeave a comment

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Urban sketchers Stoke-on-Trent day 5, draw inside your shed or garage.

Where do I start. In my case our shed has had all the tools expelled to the outer darkness of our little shed. Instead some rickety pasting tables have been put up. The tops are covered with boxes, lengths of train track, bits of trains, engines, train trucks, stuff…. Plus he’s got different controllers to send power through the tracks. The pasting tables are so warped it’s like the trains are running through hills!

Then he’s got his bike bits, wheels, and a box that the stray cat sleeps in, which is surrounded with bags of straw… I’m allowed in as long as I don’t mess with anything… In the meantime he wants to upgrade things when the lockdown is over. We are going to buy some better tables. Exciting eh?

New challenge with Stoke USK

Posted on April 19, 2020April 19, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged #uskstoke, Art, Cat, Drawing, Local to me, Neighbours, New challenge, Sketch, Sketching, Urban SketchersLeave a comment

_20200419_190902 We all agreed after completing the thirty day challenge that London Urban Sketchers had put together that we would like to continue. We have a new list of about 37 challenges, which may well see us out of the lockdown.

Today’s challenge was ‘local to you’.

I was going to draw all the lovely terraces up the hill behind us. But I failed to realise how much next doors bushes have grown. So this is the cat and the 70’s houses behind us. Then someone walked into the bedroom opposite. It was like a scene from the film ‘rear window’ so I retreated!

I have the list somewhere. I’m setting the daily challenges. A few people have joined in so far.

Buxton Opera House

Posted on April 11, 2020April 11, 2020 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged #uskstoke, Art, Buxton, Buxton Opera house, Drawing, Grey ink, Permanent marker pen, Sketch book, Sketching, Urban Sketchers, Video conference, Video meeting, Zoom2 Comments

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Today I got together, virtually, with a bunch of friends from Urban sketchers Stoke-on-Trent.

We had agreed to meet up and draw a local landmark. So we went ‘out’ on Google Street View, and using Zoom, we each drew the view of a photo of the opera House.

The perspective was interesting, a bit fish eye lens ish, and there was a red bus in the foreground which I think has been truncated because of the method Google uses to take images.

The drawings today are not part if the thirty day #uskstoke challenge, but instead is one for our fortnightly expeditions. However I think we are doing this weekly.

My drawing is in my A4, Windsor and Newton sketchpad. I drew it in the landscape position and it’d dark grey felt pen (nibb ® permanent markers). I used the point to draw the lines, then tipped it so that I coukd use its edge to do some softer shading.

I’ve also used Zoom for the first time. I gradually learnt how to use it, with lots of help from the people in the group and a helper that Zoom technicians had given us for the meeting.

It was good to hear people’s voices, and see them when I’d sussed out the video bit.

Comfy challenge

Posted on April 9, 2020April 9, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged #uskstoke, Art, Blogging, Cartridge paper, Drawing, Fun, Ink pens, Life, Metallic paint, Painting, Urban SketchersLeave a comment

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A sketch of my very old, but very comfy, pink slippers. Used metallic acrylic paint over the sketch, then added more details in pen over the top.

This was today’s challenge with #uskstoke today. It’s not my best sketch or painting, it’s a bit dark, and you can’t really see the metallic paint. But it was fun to do, and after all, why not?

Today I’m taking stock

Posted on April 2, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged #uskstoke, Art, Art supplies, Canvas, Drawing, Easles, Paints, Sketch, Sketching, Stock taking, Talking stock, Urban Sketchers4 Comments

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Mid way through our thirty day challenge in Urban Sketchers Stoke-on-Trent. The subject was ‘taking stock’.

In front of me on the floor is a lovely carrier my friend sent me for Christmas. Its covered in decoupage pictures of me and my friend from years ago, and little cartoons drawn on top of the photos. The box contains all by little bottles of metallic acrylic paints, gold, silver, copper and bronze, but also metallic red, blue, green and brown. There is something nice about adding a bit of sparkle. In it too are packets of brushes, cheap but strong. Finally I have four or five tiny canvases on easle. They were going to be the centerpiece of my craft stall this spring. Instead they lie their forlorn, still wrapped in plastic, waiting for me to find inspiration in these bleak times.

I must paint and keep busy. But all my time is taken up by social media!

Today’s sky

Posted on April 1, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Buildings, Drawing, Grey sky, Sketch, Sky, Staffordshire, Urban Sketchers, Usk Stoke-on-Trent, View2 Comments

The day the urban sketchers challenge was to draw the sky, it was grey and cloudy! Instead of swirling or feathery clouds we got a grey duvet closing in the light. At one second while I was drawing the sun shone through, but while I tried to catch the orange colour on the edges of the clouds the gap had closed and all was grey again! I tried to make the best of the view by drawing the outbuilding next door and a bit of vegetation (privet bush).

So hopefully a bit more sun will shine tomorrow.

Exercise

Posted on March 28, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Blogging, Climbing, Drawing, Exercise, Fun, Humour, Sketching, Staffordshire, Stairs, Urban Sketchers, Usk Stoke-on-TrentLeave a comment

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Today’s challenge, draw an exercise you are doing to stay healthy. I coukd have added my feet at the top, but I was being realistic (in both the descriptive and actual) definitions of the word, I just drew the stairs. I guess this is a physical as well as artistic challenge.

Sitting on my bottom all day is not doing my health any good. Off to walk up and down ten times

Sketching breakfast

Posted on March 25, 2020 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Art, Bacon, Cheese, Drawing, Food, Fun, Kitchen, Life, Oatcakes, Sketching, Urban Sketchers, Usk Stoke-on-Trent2 Comments

If you don’t eat meat, look away now….

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If you can’t see what it is, I drew bacon about to be grilled, so I could make bacon and cheese oatcakes.

Today’s USK S-O-T challenge was to draw ‘cooking’. Various pots and pans and foodstuffs have been drawn. It’s keeping me occupied and mentally active.

USK stands for Urban Sketchers, its a world wide movement of people who draw their environment. The rules are, draw from life, not a photo, include background, not just the subject on its own. There are others but I can’t remember them all…. Anyway, I wonder what tomorrows challenge will be. X

USK S-O-T challenge….day 4

Posted on March 23, 2020March 23, 2020 Posted in Cat, Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Cat, Drawing, Felt pens, Kitchen, Life, Sketching, Staffordshire, Sunny day, Time, Urban Sketchers, Urban sketchers Stoke, USK S-O-TLeave a comment

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Today’s challenge was ‘Entertainment’,

I could have drawn the TV or a computer or phone screen, but I just love the way the cat stares out of the window at the birds, he can’t go out, so he likes watching them. Yesterday a couple of pigeons were perched in the cherry tree. Sometimes when he’s washing he’s really comical because he sits on top of our bird food box, he only just fits. The windowledge is too full of houseplants. He likes eating some of them. This is his spot, he entertains me.

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: Urban Sketchers