The two little great-nephews had a sleepover and today they played Pass The Pigs with Husb – they went completely hysterical. It’s difficult to draw kids at the best of times but when they’re going crazy with excitement, you have to get their essence down in so few seconds! Here they are in their darling little onesies, apparently the ‘must-have’ thing for men this Xmas. No thanks – they’re adorable on 8 year olds, but adult males? I don’t think so :D.
Just a quick scribble from a visit to the hospital; it’s a good place for sketching. I got right into her jacket – well not literally, she might have thumped me! Drawn with my Pentel V5 pen into my A5 purple silk recycled sari sketchbook, which is now nearly finished. A few more days……
Dad-in-law had to go back to hospital today, where we spent some of this afternoon. I sat and sketched a while in the assessment centre’s waiting room, where visitors mixed with patients waiting to be assigned to a ward and their relatives. Opposite me sat a man with his ill wife. He cradled her hand while they sat there, willing her strength, but all the while I could see the fear in his face. I can’t detach from what is in front of me when I draw and sometimes I draw through tears.
It’s hard to know when a piece is finished. I often turn them to the wall and don’t look for a few months. This one hadn’t been looked at for about 3 months and when I turned it round the other day (I’d forgotten about it), I liked it the way it is and won’t be doing anything else to it. Finished!
A2 Fabriano coated with acrylic gesso, coloured with thin layers of acrylic wash in yellow, red and blue then worked up the imag in conte crayon and oil bars.
Husb has a new smartphone. He is now lost to me 😉
Drawn in my A5 purple silk recycled sketchbook with a Pentel V5 pen just a few minutes ago……….
Husb took me out to lunch today. Fish and chips in the Windsor Caff. With salt and lashings of vinegar. Lovely. I had a very few minutes to scribble and I drew the lady opposite us.
I’m a bit uncomfortable about drawing people who are out-of-the ordinary, as I don’t want to risk poking fun at them, or be voyeuristic. But on the other hand, I don’t want to censor myself either. I have to try and be honest in what I see and what I draw, that’s all I can do really. I sympathise with people who are very overweight; I’ve battled to keep my weight under control for decades, it’s hard to watch what you eat every day of your life and do your exercises no matter how much you hate doing them. And now it’s Xmas and there’s a plateful of home made mince pies in the kitchen, taunting me. 😡
I’m a grumpy old git and proud of it. Honestly, I sound just like my Dad did back in the day. Husb and I were battling through the Xmas crowds in the city centre yesterday and got stuck behind these two young lads, wearing these RIDICULOUS trousers without belts or braces so that we get an eyeful of their underpants and bumcracks while the hems of their jeans scrape the floor! How ridiculous! These particular ones had handles riveted to the back, just below the beltloops, so you can hang the little idiots up on a hook when they get under their Mams feet. And they moved so SLOWLY! Because the crotch of their pants was down around their knees. So they had to shuffle! I drew this from memory. The sight is seared into the back of my eyelids!
Anyway, today was far more productive. Because of the torrential rain I decided to stay in the kitchen and make loads of preserves with the fruit in the freezer that we grew in the summer. Four jars of bramble jelly, four of spicy redcurrant jelly, four of berry butter, four of rhubarb chutney and a bottle of spiced blackcurrant cordial. Lovely.
That’s a few Xmas presents sorted 🙂
If you’re in the Swansea area for the next few days, pop in and visit Fiona Kelly, artist-in-residence. She’s holding an open studio.
The door is open (well it might be closed but you can always press the buzzer) to my studio @ SPW 11am -1pm and 2pm – 4pm daily from Friday 14th to Tuesday 18th of December respectively. Come visit me, we might have tea or pull a print, or have a bit of banter. Unlimited possibilities.
“There are Thousands of Taps Dripping”
I’m working from a life drawing that I did quite quickly and I didn’t have time to draw in a hand, so I need to construct one in the mixed-media piece I’m doing. I made a start by doing some technical exercises, working from anatomy books by Burne Hogarth and Sarah Simlett. I find hands very difficult and I don’t want to get the artwork muddy so I want to get the hand right first time. Nothing else for it but a day of practice. Took me hours and I still don’t feel confident enough to get stuck in. I’ll go back to it on Monday and try out a couple more hands. It’s really hard though, it’s much easier to draw from life.
I visited the El Prado art gallery in Madrid a couple of years ago and had a good look at their collection of paintings by Velazquez. I was well pleased that when I saw them close-up, there were all sorts of mistakes that he’d scrubbed out, but you could still see them, especially with horses hoofs. It makes me feel a bit better about all the mistakes I was making today 🙂
I thought I’d put the psychokitty on a greetings card. So all the very best for the holiday season. 🙂
ps the drawing is by husb, using a digital programme on his laptop, don’t know which – probably Adobe Photoshop. And I photoshopped in the background, snowflakes and text. Inspired by the mad-as-a-box-of-frogs Sparta.
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