Went to the cinema this evening to see The Artist but because of the daft queueing system, by the time we got to the front, the film had already started so we decided to see The Woman In Black. Now, I’m not a big fan of horror films, but it’s Harry Potter right? Couldn’t be THAT scary with little Daniel Radcliffe right? And it’s a Hammer film and they were always camp and cheesy right? NOT IT’S NOT!!!! IT’S A REALLY SCARY MOVIE!!!!! I’m never going to turn a light off again!
Before the film started [and I turned into a nervous wreck] I sketched some mens’ heads. The little lad at the top had one of those ‘hairdos’ that young lads seem to be inexplicably fond of these days [I’m now officially a mad old cat lady] and the other guys had varying degrees of male pattern baldness, which I rather like. Better than the daft haircut on the wee lad anyway.
So I’m going to have a nice cup of tea now and try to calm down.
We went out for a lovely meal this evening, because it’s Valentine’s Day and because we don’t need much of an excuse to go to PAs in Mumbles, one of our favourite restaurants. Usually when we eat out, we’re surrounded by families, single sex groups, friends on a night out but tonight it was only couples, which was a bit weird but also a bit lovely because the people in there ranged from twenty-somethings to eighty-somethings, all focussed on each other, holding hands, smiling. Dead soppy but nice at the same time.
We had a gorgeous meal and I thought I’d do some scribbling between courses as I don’t have a problem chatting and drawing, so I started sketching a youngish couple across the restaurant. Then the main course came and by the time I’d finished it, an elderly couple had arrived and sat in front of the original couple. I’d already sketched in the table and things on it, so what to do? Stop and start again? Well no. This is real life and things don’t always run smoothly, so I drew the new couple in over the existing drawing. It makes the elderly man look transparent. But it’s what happened, so here it is.
There was music playing in the background. It’s never loud in there, just nicely ambient but I noticed this track tonight because I think someone on the staff was having a laugh, given the occasion; Roy Orbison’s ‘It’s Over’ 🙂
An old friend came to stay over the weekend and we had a really nice time, lolling around watching films and the telly, eating comfort food to cope with the cold damp weather and relaxing in that comfortable zone that comes with many years of friendship. And today, another old friend came over for a visit and we went to lunch. She arrived at 12.30. We were still talking at 5pm! Didn’t get much work done down at the studio, but you know, it doesn’t matter because there are some things that are more important. It’s so easy to get immersed in work and before you know it, months, even years, fly by and you realise that the only contact you’ve had with friends is through Facebook and Twitter, not the real world. So it’s important to make some time in our hectic lives for those people who really matter, and to enjoy real life contact, long involved conversations over lunch or tea. Of course, new friendships form from social networking, but old ones need to be nurtured.
This evening I decided to settle down in the kitchen and draw a still life. I rarely do these, much preferring to draw people or cats, so make the most of it lol :). My weekend friend stopped by Fortnum and Mason’s in London on the way to Wales and brought us this most excellent Stilton cheese in a lovely jar. Beautifully creamy, salty, tangy and well mouldy, I’ve scoffed half the Stilton already. It’s too strong to eat a lot at once, so I’ve been nibbling little bits throughout a couple of days, seeing what goes with it best. Fresh, juicy slices of Conference pears are very good, but this evening I discovered a perfect match with a gorgeous locally-produced, home pressed, organic apple juice made from Grenadier cookers, a present from friends who have a smallholding a few miles from the city. I’d found it too sharp when I first tried it but it is a wonderful accompaniment to this top-quality Stilton. So they both had to go into the still-life setup, along with our teapot and its ‘sheep’ tea-cosy, important accompaniments to friendship and relaxation.
Here’s The Husb indulging one of his favourite pastimes today, lying on the settee watching an international Rugby match on the TV. Of course Wales was playing. And Wales won. So he’s a very, very happy Husb. Final score Wales 27, Scotland 13. Well played, excellent game, minimal shouting and swearing from the region of the settee.
I stood at the end of the settee to do the drawing, with my Pilot drawing pen, currently my favourite; I’m having a bit of a break from Faber Castell Pitts. It’s in my little cat-themed sketchbook. The foreshortening is good fun, but I don’t think he’s too pleased at the view of his male pattern baldness lol.
This is my friend who has come to visit from England for the weekend; we’ve been friends now for over 30 years. We used to riot round the place, painting the town red, hanging out in clubs and pubs so disreputable that they wouldn’t be allowed to exist these days 😉 . Now we entertain ourselves by visiting the allotment, strolling by the sea and shopping on Etsy. Old age doesn’t come alone. It’s weird that in all these years, this is the first time I’ve drawn her. It isn’t a good likeness because it’s the first time I’ve really studied her for a drawing; it’s a very quick sketch; I have a rotten cold; and I got completely preoccupied with her designer cardigan, which is LUSH! Now I’ve broken my duck and done the first drawing, I must persuade her to sit for me again so I can get a better likeness – she has an amazing face. She’s doing a bit of browsing on Etsy, looking at some lovely etchings by a young printmaker, Ellie Snowdon, who has done a beautiful series based on some of Aesop’s Fables. I sketched with a Pilot V5 Hi-Techpoint pen size 0.5 into my favourite little ‘paper blanks fantastic felines’ sketchbook, around size A6.
An artist friend recently opened an Etsy shop and posted a link on Facebook. Her work is lovely, but one FB ‘friend’ posted that it was way too expensive. I was very irritated by this as I thought it very reasonably priced – each piece is original and beautifully made. I was reading some stuff recently in a-n magazine, the professional journal for British artists, about how art is undervalued and under-appreciated in Britain – people often seem to have no idea of the amount of training, practice and work that goes into creating a piece of art. I think we artists are partly to blame. We are rarely seen doing our art in public [it’s one of the reasons I sketch when I’m out and about] and people generally only see our finished pieces, not the masses of preliminary drawings, moquettes, notes, research and so on that go into making the finished artwork. Perhaps we should routinely put our preliminary work into exhibitions, so that the public can see how a final piece is arrived at.
I’ve been working on some block prints based on photographs I took from my second floor window of unsuspecting pedestrians below, exploring the concept of the artist as voyeur. I do some digital manipulation in Photoshop but I also draw from them, to get a feel for the shapes, the figures and the personalities before I begin to cut the blocks. Here are some of the preliminary sketches I did today, in biro into an A4 brown paper sketchpad that i bought on a visit to New York City.
Managed to catch Husb’s cold so I wasn’t feeling too good at the studio this morning; by midday I had an urge for hot chocolate and a Welsh Cake – unusual because I don’t have a sweet tooth but I’ve noticed that I like chocolate and cakes much more when I’m unwell. I wandered down to a little cafe called Starvin’ Jacks as they make their own Welsh Cakes. Jacks is the nickname for people from Swansea and it’s supposed to have come from a famous dog, Swansea Jack, who rescued many people from drowning around the Swansea coastline back in the 1930’s. There is a memorial to him near the beach opposite the old cricket ground.
I settled into a chair about halfway along the cafe, facing the window, and commenced scribbling. These elderly ladies were lunching happily with friends. The hot chocolate came with lashings of whipped cream and a small chocolate flake and the Welsh Cake was spicy and delicious. Coupled with the Beecham’s Powder I took before going to the cafe, I was fortified for a couple more hours and managed to get quite a bit more drawing done back at the studio, developing preliminary sketches for a large composition. I drew this in my little cat sketchbook that I had for Xmas. It’s currently my favourite sketchbook, having usurped my little A6 recycled leather-bound sketchbook as soon as I unwrapped it. Do other artists have favourite sketchbooks I wonder?
Another drawing from my hospital visit yesterday, accompanying my young relative to the ante-natal clinic. It was a weird place, not somewhere I enjoyed being. I thought it was a bit like a meat market if I’m honest. There wasn’t a problem with the medical staff, who seemed very kind, patient and helpful, but the surroundings and bureaucratic processes made the experience very institutionalised. I’m so glad I’m in rude good health and don’t have much experience of hospitals, clinics and surgeries because with my stroppy and anarchic nature, I’d be an Impatient rather than a Patient. I found it discomfiting and I felt like a fish out of water, but all I had to do was sit down, shut up and sketch which suited me.
This young woman looked exhausted and fed up [in fact all but one of the mothers-to-be looked tired and fed up]. She had her hair pulled up into a very tight ponytail which made her face look rather gaunt, increasing the impression of tiredness. It was freezing outside and she was dressed in many layers and she rested her hand on her baby, like many mothers-to-be. The sketch is done in a Pilot DR drawing pen [size 0.5] into my lovely little cat-themed sketchbook.
Today I accompanied a young relative to an appointment at a hospital in a nearby town. The whole process took around two hours, shifting around the hospital to different departments, but I had my sketchbook and a couple of pens so I made good use of the time and no-one was safe from my scribbling. This elderly couple sat opposite in the blood clinic, which was packed out with people waiting to have their skin pricked and their blood tested. There was a little machine dispensing numbered tickets like the Deli department in Sainsbury’s supermarket. It seemed a bit odd but I guess it ensures fairness. She was a lot older and I guessed he might have been a relative accompanying her – or her him. The skin on her face was stretched very tightly across her skull. They both kept their rather natty hats on while they waited, despite the hospital being over-heated and he had loads of layers on under his puffa jacket, while she wore a rather nice Duffle coat. I’ve always like Duffle coats, although I haven’t had one since my student Duffle finally fell apart when I was in my ’30’s. It lasted well. In fact, I might get myself a new one; there are some sprauncy ones around this winter – maybe wait for the sales?
I spent some hours today with my delightful 12-year old great niece, Miss Buns, who hung out in my studio after school. I thought it might be a good idea to draw her so she settled into a big armchair and I started scribbling. Unfortunately, a 12-year old’s idea of ‘keeping still’ is very different to mine and she fidgeted, wriggled and giggled her way through a half hour or so and each time she moved or pulled a face, I had to start a new sketch. Then she got bored so I suggested that she draw me and we swapped places. I snuggled down into the chair with my little sketchbook and drew her drawing me. It was much better because she was concentrating and was quite still.
I find children and young people difficult to draw because their faces and features are very soft and don’t really suit my pen drawing, but frankly I’m too lazy to do delicate tonal values with pencils and they’re generally unwilling to stay still for any decent length of time, which leaves photos, which I’m also not keen on. I preferred one of the quicker sketches I did of her while she was fidgeting, but she squealed in horror when I showed her the one I wanted to blog and made me promise to put this one up, because it’s the one she likes. She did quite a reasonable drawing of me too.
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