Slideshow
2007-03-28 00:54:00
Thanks to Teri for giving me the idea for creating a slideshow. How cool is this!
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EDM #112 Something fresh
2007-03-27 22:58:00
Here's my entry to the EDM challenge this week. This was fresh
ly picked from my garden this afternoon! It's watercolour (sap green, burnt sienna, ultramarine blue).Technorati Tags:watercolour, ivy, every day mattersGenerated By Technorati Tag Generator
Winter tree
2007-03-29 00:59:00
Continuing my series of tree studies in graphite, here is a drawing of a tree in middle distance, and so showing less detail of texture than the previous two studies. What do you think? I'm not convinced by some of the branches.Technorati Tags:drawing, graphite, treesGenerated By Technorati Tag Generator
Holiday
2007-03-30 11:09:00
I'm going to be away for the next week, skiing at Zermatt in Switzerland, so there won't be any new posts for a while. But I'm packing my pencils and paints, so assuming I don't break too many limbs, I hope to have a few pieces to show when I get back!
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Fishing
2007-04-17 08:41:00
While in Scotland, my nephew was keen to try his hand at trout and salmon fishing, so we went along to the River Deveron for a morning. It's not as well known as some other Scottish fishing rivers, like the Tweed and the Dee, but it is in a lovely location. However, fishing isn't really for me; the guide told us that 99% of fly fishing trips end up with no fish, especially in the spring. So, I figured you have about the same chance of catching a fish if you are sketching on the bank as those that are actually fishing! Here is a quick sketch of my daughter. Oh, and no fish were harmed in the making of this sketch!Technorati Tags:pen and ink, fly fishing, river deveronGenerated By Technorati Tag Generator
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Country cottage, WIP
2007-04-16 23:49:00
I'm working on a pen and ink drawing of a country cottage
. I've done one or two detailed pen and ink drawings before, but this is the largest I've attempted so far. It's taking a long time, probably five hours so far, but I'm not really keeping track because I'm enjoying doing it. I thought I would share the progress so far.Technorati Tags:pen and inkGenerated By Technorati Tag Generator
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Another Matterhorn
2007-04-16 17:42:00
Here's another sketch of the Matterhorn, this time in pen and ink.Technorati Tags:pen and ink, matterhorn, zermatt, switzerlandGenerated By Technorati Tag Generator
Matterhorn
2007-04-16 16:36:00
I'm back from my trips to Switzerland and Scotland. I've a few sketches to share, though not as many as I'd hoped. This is partly because my poor wife tore a knee ligament on her first day skiing, and so was unable to take to the slopes herself. As a result, I had to spend most of the week making sure nothing similar happened to my daughter and two nephews! As I don't ski myself, that was a bit of a challenge!! The other reason is that various people begged me to give them the best sketches that I did manage to do, so I only have a few left. Does this happen to other people? It's hard to say no, especially to the kids, even though a selfish part of me didn't really want to part with them. (Of course, I couldn't really expect to keep the sketch of Pads the PDSA beanie baby puppy with a bandaged paw...). Anyway, here is a sketch I managed to do on the first day in Switzerland, from a place called Riffelberg, not far up the mountain from Zermatt.Technorati Tags:watercolou
Garden sketches
2007-04-18 21:37:00
Tonight I put the dinner on and thought it was such a lovely evening that I would go out and do a bit of sketching in the garden while it was cooking. Unfortunately, I got engrossed in it and...well, let's just say that the local Chinese takeaway got some extra business tonight!I've admired several other artists' use of Inktense pencils lately, so I thought I'd give them a go. I don't really have much success with coloured pencils, but these colours seemed so vibrant that I couldn't resist. These aren't entirely successful (the best one is the graphite!), but I think it will be worth persevering.Tech Tags: inktense forgetmenots tulips apple+blossom garden sketches
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Country cottage, WIP part 2
2007-04-18 00:16:00
Here's an update on the country cottage
picture. I didn't manage to get very much done tonight; mainly the roof and the wall on the right. The detail on the front of the house is the scary part that I'm putting off doing!Technorati Tags:pen and ink, Generated By Technorati Tag Generator
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Pandora
2007-04-21 23:26:00
I've been a bit too busy to do too much painting or drawing for the past day or two, but I did manage to do this quick ink sketch of our cat, Pandora
. She's a British Blue, very placid...indeed, you could say fat and lazy! She also has the slightly annoying habit of walking over my computer keyboard while I'm working! This was done with a Rotring Art Pen, washed over with a Pentel water brush.Tech Tags: pen+ink cat
Irises
2007-04-23 22:45:00
Irises are my favourite flowers, but I find them very difficult to draw or paint. But I figure there is only one way to get better! So here are a couple of studies, one in pencil and one in watercolour. Anyway, I needed a change from the country cottage drawing before I go back to finish it off.
Country cottage, WIP part III
2007-04-22 22:30:00
Spent another few hours on this today. Apart from the lawn in front of the house, I think this is getting close to being done. It's a while since I attempted anything like this, and I'm beginning to remember why! It takes a very long time! On the other hand, there is something very satisfying about doing a very detailed piece of work in pen and ink. I'm using Rotring Rapidograph pens on 140lb NOT watercolour paper, by the way. My favourite is the .25, though I sometimes use the .1 and the .35. I've got a .5 as well, but when you've been using those very fine nibs, the .5 feels like a stick of charcoal! They are normally extremely reliable, though there are three big spots where ink blotted out of one of them. It was my fault, I hadn't put a new cartridge in properly. I think these blots stick out like a sore thumb (three thumbs, in fact). I also think the roof is a mess, and the front door is too wide. Apart from that, I'm quite pleased with it!
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, cottage
EDM # 56 -- Self-portrait
2007-04-27 23:34:00
I've always enjoyed doing blind contour drawings. There is something liberating about not having to worry about what the end product is going to look like. Also the works that really inspired me to try my own hand at drawing were line drawings. I've always loved line drawings; there is something especially magical about producing pictures out of simple lines. Of course, there is nothing at all magical about my blind contour drawings, but they are fun. This is a self-portrait. You'll have to decide for yourself if I really look like this! technorati tags: blind+contour, self-portrait, pen+ink, drawing, EDM
EDM #53 -- Mouth
2007-04-26 20:41:00
I haven't done much portrait drawing or painting, but doing studies of bits of faces seems like good practice. When I do try to draw or paint faces, I generally find the mouth the hardest part, so I decided to do some studies of a mouth. It also happens to be the subject of Everyday Matters challenge number 53, so that's another one crossed off the list! technorati tags: graphite, drawing, portraits, mouths, EDM, 53
EDM #116 -- Something Green
2007-04-25 22:33:00
This is a sketch of something green -- Green
College, Oxford. This is the Radcliffe Observatory, an 18th century building in the grounds of the college.It was a very quick sketch that I did while I was waiting for a bus; that's why it's a bit wonky! Anyway, that's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it! technorati tags: Pen+ink, Green+College, EDM, 116
Country cottage, finished
2007-05-01 22:50:00
I think I'm going to call this finished. I'm reasonably happy with it. It is by far the most challenging pen and ink drawing that I've attempted. Compared it to the drawing I did of Flatford Mill 18 months ago, for example. Always nice to feel that one is making progress! technorati tags: cottage
, pen+ink
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Drapery study, WIP
2007-04-30 23:29:00
At tonight's art class, the teacher set up a drapery study for us to do. The extra challenge was that the drapery was translucent! I do enjoy this sort of challenge, once in a while, anyway! It will take quite a long time to complete -- this is two hours work so far -- and I may not have the patience or time, but perhaps posting it here as a WIP will give me an incentive! technorati tags: drawing, graphite, study, drapery
Every Day in May: First strawberries
2007-05-03 23:02:00
First
strawberries Originally uploaded by mothsailor. I'm not sure if this will turn out to be feasible, but I'm having a go at participating in the Every Day
in May challenge. The idea (as you might guess) is to produce some sort of work every day in May! This was the piece that I painted yesterday, inspired by my first English strawberries of the year, and also by the May project at a new forum for watercolour artists called the Watercolour Haven. technorati tags: Every+Day+in+May, watercolour, strawberries
EDM # 117 -- Something round
2007-05-03 22:09:00
The weather this spring has been so warm that we've already been eating outside in the garden a lot, and I've already dug the Chinese lanterns out. Seemed like a suitable subject for the EDM challenge: draw something round
. One of these is done in common or garden graphite (.5mm mechanical pencil with 2B lead) and the other in Inktense pencils. technorati tags: drawing, graphite, inktense, EDM, lanterns
Busy weekends
2007-05-06 18:28:00
I always expect to be able to enjoy some quality time with my paints at the weekend, but it rarely seems to work out that way. This weekend is turning out to be no exception, though with tomorrow being a holiday, perhaps there is still hope! However, I did manage to get out in the garden to do a bit of sketching. Pen, ink and Inktense pencils (which I'm getting to like more and more, by the way). technorati tags: drawing, sketches, pen+and+ink, inktense, garden
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Cherry Tree, finished
2007-05-08 21:30:00
I think this is done, though I'm tempted to put some more darks on the tree. What do you think? This is done on a quarter imperial sheet of 140lb NOT Bockingford paper, using W&N French Ultramarine Blue, Permanent Rose, Burnt Sienna and Raw Sienna. And as luck would have it there is also an EDM challenge to fit this one too: number 15 -- draw a tree! technorati tags: watercolour, cherry+tree, EDM
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Cherry Tree, WIP
2007-05-08 01:21:00
I decided to do a painting of a cherry tree in blossom, but didn't get time to finish it today, so I thought I'd post it as a work in progress. I'm afraid that the middle part of the background has gone a bit muddy, but I'm going to add some detail in to it, so I hope it will still be OK. Time will tell! technorati tags: watercolour, cherry+tree
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EDM #37 -- Some keys
2007-05-08 01:15:00
Here's a line drawing of my keys, which is EDM challenge # 37. This is a sort of modified blind contour. Each key is drawn blind, but I looked at the paper to place the pen for the start of the next one. technorati tags: pen+and+ink, EDM, keys
Grady WIP, part 3
2007-05-11 22:33:00
This is getting close to being finished, if only because I've got to send it off tomorrow. I think the darkening of the inside of the mouth has really helped (thanks for that advice!), though it might need to be taken a bit further in the middle. The nose is better, but perhaps still not quite right. The nostrils could do with being a bit darker, maybe. Anyway, the next post will be the final version. technorati tags: drawing, graphite, English+setter
Grady WIP, part 2
2007-05-10 23:05:00
This isn't going as well as I'd hoped, probably because I'm trying to work too quickly. That nose is driving me mad...I just can't get it to look right! Only tomorrow left to work on it!! I've adjusted the right eye, which wasn't round enough, and have started to suggest the hair around the right ear. Suggestion is all there is going to be, I think, given the time available. Still, I'm reasonably happy with the overall impression of the dog's personality. technorati tags: drawing, graphite, English+setter
Grady, WIP
2007-05-09 23:15:00
After the bright colours of the last post, it's back to graphite today. I'm doing a drawing of an English Setter called Grady for a friend's birthday. I would have been tempted to try to paint him, but the birthday is on Saturday so I can't afford to make mistakes! In fact, it might well not be finished in time, but it should at least look reasonably good by then. Plus, I'm working small--it's about 18cm x 12cm. Plus, this will be my entry to the current EDM challenge (118), which is to draw hair. Dog hair counts, right? technorati tags: drawing, graphite, English+setter, EDM, hair
Look out for Madeleine
2007-05-15 00:27:00
Bloggers everywhere are doing their bit for the search for the missing child, Madeleine
McCann. The story of her abduction is reported by the BBC here. Here is a photograph of her. If anyone has any information about her whereabouts, they should get in touch with the international Crime stoppers on +44 1883 731 336.
I've been tagged
2007-05-14 00:03:00
I've just been tagged by Robyn of Have Dogs, Will Travel. Thanks, Robyn, it was fun! I expect you're familiar with this; you have to tell seven secrets that most people don't know about you and then tag another seven bloggers. The former is fairly easy; finding seven people who haven't already been tagged is more of a challenge! Here are my seven secrets:I've suffered from depression on and off for years. Drawing is one of the things that helps to keep it more or less at bay most of the time. Meditation is another; I think drawing and meditation are quite similar in many ways. Both are about being completely absorbed in the present.I'm 50 this year. EEK! I've already had my mid-life crisis, and I've got the leather jacket to prove it. And the electric guitar. But I stopped short of getting the motorbike! I secretly like getting done up in full academic dress once in a while. When my wife is away, I sometimes stay up until 1.00am, watching old movies, eating crisps an
EDM #76 -- Draw some flowers
2007-05-13 20:08:00
I've not had time to do much drawing or painting today, just a quick sketch of some stocks that I bought a couple of weeks ago and are still going strong. This will be my entry for challenge 76. They have a lovely smell, but I haven't yet come up with a way of capturing that in a drawing! This is ink and Derwent Inktense pencils.I've just been tagged by Robyn, of Have Dogs, Will Travel, so I'll have to start thinking of seven secrets! It's not going to be easy. And, of course, I'll have to find seven new people to tag, so watch out! technorati tags: pen+and+ink, Inktense, Stocks, drawing, sketches, EDM, every+day+in+may
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