A Little Bit Of Kimono

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Here are a couple more heads I scribbled last night at the WAM (Words Art Music) monthly event at the excellent Workers Gallery in Ynyshir. I did my usual thing of being an art voyeur, scribbling people’s likenesses when they were absorbed in what was going on.

sketchbook

I am very fond of this tiny sketchbook, you can get an idea of its size from the pepper next to it. It’s by Paper Blanks, hardback with a fabric cover which is based on a Japanese Ukiyo-e kimono pattern and the whole thing is so beautifully made, with acid-free paper and a precisely folded paper pocket on the inside back cover. Ukiyo-e is a genre of woodblock prints dating back to the 1600s (the Edo period) and the word means “pictures of the floating world“.

WAM

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It’s late and Husb and I are just back from a great evening at the lovely Workers Gallery in Ynyshir in the Rhondda Valley. We went to the monthly WAM (Words, Art, Music) event which is held on the first Thursdays. Of course I had a scribble, catching the faces of people in the audience who were absorbed in the performances. I used a biro (ballpoint) pen into my small (A6) flowery hardback Paper Blanks sketchbook.

 

 

A Quick Digital Kitty

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I’m still stuck in that state of post holiday lethargy and to be honest didn’t fancy doing any drawing today but it’s important for my artistic practice that I do, so I took the easy way out and grabbed my Samsung Galaxy Note 8 tablet and did a quick digital sketch of Sparta Puss who is sparked out at my side. She’s even more lethargic than I am.

I use an app called Markers which is free to download and I drew it using a stylus – you get a different effect if you use your finger. I started by blocking out the background in black, then overlaid with white and tones of orange.

 

 

Folding And Creasing

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I spent a pleasant afternoon folding and creasing coloured papers, doing simple origami shapes. I work part time for a national charity that helps homeless people and we made a start today on an art project that’s going to grow over the next few weeks.  Watch this space 😀

Blwyddyn Newydd Dda: Happy New Year

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Here’s Worm’s Head on the Gower Peninsula, named from the Viking Wurme which means Dragon. So it’s Dragon’s Head which in Welsh is Penddraig. Anyway, I drew this yesterday during a very bracing walk on the cliffs at Rhossili, one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. I used black, sanguine and white conté crayon into an A4 brown paper sketchbook and worked very quickly because it was so windy and cold.

It’s the end of the old year and we’re nearly into 2018 so Blwyddyn Newydd Dda i chi, a Happy New Year to you xxxx 😀

Sofa To Sea…..

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Husb and I forced ourselves out of our comfort zone aka the settee and took off to the magnificent Rhossili Bay on the Gower Peninsula for a brisk walk. It was bracing as we headed past the National Trust centre towards Worm’s Head which had been cut off by the ferocious sea this afternoon. I found a spot that wasn’t quite as windswept as everywhere else and did some drawing en plein air, using black, white and sanguine conté crayons into an A4 hard-backed, spiral-bound brown paper sketchbook. I did a quick impressionistic sketch, partly because it was not easy drawing in high winds, and also because I don’t like working naturalistically with land- and seascapes.

Lowest Of The Low

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There’s a little Unitarian Church at the bottom of Swansea’s High Street and every year since, well, at least since I was a kid, which is a long time, there has been a glass case with a nativity scene in it and a charity collection box every Christmas. This year, the church has been collecting to support homeless people but someone broke into the collection box and stole the donations. The lowest of the low! What an awful thing to do. They have set up a crowdfunding page to try and raise some money to cover the loss. If you can spare a little and want to donate, please follow the link here.

I stood outside the nativity scene on the street a couple of days ago and had a bit of a scribble on my Samsung Galaxy Note 8 tablet with a Markers app. Here’s Joseph. I find it odd drawing someone else’s art as I want to put my own stamp on it and it looks quite different to the original.

Blowing The Cobwebs Away

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The weather was glorious today, chilly but very sunny, so Husb and I went for a walk on the beach to start to work off the excesses of the last few days and blow the cobwebs away. Of course I had a scribble into my tiny little cloth covered Paper Blanks sketchbook and a biro (ballpoint) pen. It was a very quick sketch but that’s okay, the important thing for me is to draw every day even if it’s only for a minute or two. It’s like a singer practising their scales.

 

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A walk on Swansea Beach

The Sky Caught Up With Us

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This time of year there are many family traditions being played out across the Christmas holidays and one in my own family is to visit memorials of those we have lost. Every year we go to the crematorium to lay flowers and clean memorial stones. I reflected on the ancient use of stone for graves and memorials which is still part of our culture. It makes sense really, stone lasts for aeons. The sky was strange today, brooding and heavy around the white crematorium chimneys. The sky caught up with us and it snowed heavily a few minutes after I did this very quick sketch. I used white, sanguine and black conté crayon into an A4 brown paper spiral bound sketchbook.

Merry Spartapuss

Sparta snowflake

 

Greetings hairless apes. Sparta Puss here.  I managed to get my paws on the pooter when the bald monkeys were not looking. The male monkey drew me with his little tiny pooter box and the she-Simian added some snowflakes. It’s that time of year again when the monkeys send greetings to each other and what could be better than an annoyed kitty?  The apes brought me some special snacks and treats and I’m going off to eat them. So Merry Spartapuss one and all.