Had some more leftover paint again today so I played with it and had a squiggle session on some leftovers Bockingford paper. I’m beginning to enjoy the feel of the paint on the paper and the way it layers up and changes. Oh, and I used a pallette knife as well – advanced stuff 😀
Had a bit more of a play today, using up leftover Liquitex acrylic paint on some leftover Bockingford paper. It’s not meant to look like anything, I’m trying to enjoy the paint for its own sake, which isn’t easy for me to do, I don’t lean naturally towards abstract painting.
I take art very seriously, possibly too seriously and it’s very hard for me to relax and enjoy what I’m doing. I’ve long admired Swansea-born artist Niblo (Christian) Lloyd, for his ability to take paper and paint and get on with it, enjoying the experience of doing it. I’m also very frugal and I don’t like wasting anything so after the weekly painting class I’ve been doing on Facebook (more below) I have a fair bit of good, expensive acrylic paint left over. So I’ve been taking a leaf out of Niblo’s book and just getting on with painting for the sake of it. These are very small and might end up in collages.
I’ve been painting along with the Cheese and Wine Painting Club every Friday at midday, taught by painter Ed Sumner. It’s been my lockdown challenge to improve my painting skills and between Ed and Niblo, I think I’m getting somewhere.
Husb and I have been walking regularly through the pandemic and we’re keeping up with it even though the lockdown has been eased. One of our routes takes us through Cwmdonkin Park, made famous by the poet Dylan Thomas, and there are many large specimen trees. This one is huge and spreads out from a wide trunk. I used willow charcoal into my Khadi sketchbook.
Did a hard session at the allotment this evening – it was too hot in the daytime – mostly weeding. The alternating torrential rain and hot sunshine is turning it into a jungle of weeds. After, I sat on a bench in the park and scribbled with some willow charcoal into my Khadi sketchbook.
Husb and I took a stroll along our local beach this evening, the weather was gorgeous, warm and sunny. I sat and drew the old Slip Bridge with charcoal into my Khadi sketchbook. The light was extreme and threw the bridge into sharp black and white so I squinted my eyes and tried to draw the light and shade, what I was actually seeing rather than trying to draw a bridge. The result is simplistic but dramatic with strange shapes where the symmetrical arches should be.
I finished faking Friday’s faux Hockney, that’s about 4 hours in all. I’m not a painter, I much prefer drawing and printmaking. If I’m honest, to me, painting is like colouring in. I know painters will be outraged, but once I’ve done the drawing, that’s the creative bit over for me. But, doing these weekly paintings has been good practice and kept me occupied through the pandemic.
I also made a couple of rhubarb crumbles. I’m taking the big crumble to family for their tea and the smaller one is for Husb. He takes no prisoners when it comes to crumble.
The rhubarb in the garden is HUGE! It’s like a rhubarb jungle out there.
Why not join in with Ed Sumner’s Cheese and Wine Painting Club on Friday lunchtimes. It’s free or a donation if you can afford it. Next week is Turner’s The Fighting Temeraire.
I carried on with the painting I started yesterday, a fake of David Hockney’s “Going Up Garroway Hill” that was the subject of Ed Sumner’s Friday lunchtime Cheese and Wine Painting Club on Facebook. It’s been good discipline for me to do this weekly challenge throughout the pandemic. It’s been really great the amount of things that have sprung up across the world during lockdown. Painting isn’t something I normally do much of so it’s been useful to learn and improve my techniques and also studying famous painters and analysing how they do their work. There’s probably another hour or two before it’s finished – although I could keep on refining it all week, but I won’t.
And today I baked a classic Madeira cake. I read many years ago that the mark of a good Madeira is a crack across the top. It has that, so I’m pleased. I’m baking for a family funeral on Monday, so won’t get a chance to taste it until then.
It’s faking Friday again and the subject of this week’s painting session with the Cheese and Wine Painting Club over on Facebook was David Hockney’s “Going Up Garrowby Hill”. I’m about halfway through, I’ve got an hour or two left to work on it, there’s a lot of patterning. I’m using Liquitex heavy body acrylics.
And then I did some baking …. these Chelsea Buns are halfway there, just need baking off now.
Next week at The Cheese and Wine Painting Club, we’re doing Turner’s “The Fighting Temeraire”. It’s free or a donation if you can afford to. It’s family friendly and suitable for beginners.
I was queueing outside the pharmacy in the Uplands are of the city and spotted this chap across the road leaning up against the lampost, gazing at his mobile phone. He was queueing outside the other pharmacy.
Then I made a poached pear and chocolate cake to take to my niece. I hope she remembers things like this when she’s choosing my nursing home.
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