Pattern

I have been enjoying trying out some of the classes over on Skill Share; enjoy is perhaps not quite the right word as pleasure and frustration are equally mixed as I try to get to grips with computer programmes which I have never used before. Some of the classes are excellent but others are definitely not for the beginner. If you fancy trying out the range of classes there is usually a cheap introductory rate. Here are some of the repeat patterns which I have made:

Also over the last week I have been to my experimental drawing class and tried drawing whilst watching a video of a moving figure. This was enjoyable and introduced me to the dancer Sylvie Guillame

I took photos of my drawings and then played with them in the Icolorama app.

I also watched a TV programme about contemporary images and discovered the amazing large scale drawings of Jenny Saville   in fact I think someone on my Access Course did a presentation on her work but I didn't thoroughly appreciate it at the time.

GiveAway 'winners'.

Here is the list of the four people to receive one of the pieces of stitch
from my birthday giveaway. You need to contact me with your name and
address.

Penny  Australia

FlashinScissors UK

Fibrenell

Özge Başağaç  Turkey


Here are a few pictures of some of the work I did at a couple of the taster days at City Lit recently and one from my local drawing class. I always resolve to draw more but seldom fulfill my resolution.

 We had two models for the whole day which was a treat. The last thing I did was try to correct his eye, as you see it did not work!

More doodling.

I recently re-joined Creative Bug as their monthly fee has been reduced and one can now save one class a month to view indefinitely. I worked along with one of Lisa Congdon’s line drawing workshops.

 Then following on from the idea in the last post I

took photos of my sketchbook pages and manipulated them in various ipad apps.

They print out nicely too:

I also did some zentangle doodling and then took photos of those pages.

If you should want to see them in more detail click on the images.

Tug of War

I have been going to a local drawing class over the last few months and we were asked to bring in images to draw. I decided to use a photo of herdswomen in Tibet playing a game of ‘tug of war’. The image was interesting because of their quite elaborate costumes, including their boots and the general energy they were putting into the activity. The photo is credited to Rhurbu Tashi/Xinhua and I think it was originally published in ‘China Today’.

This is my drawing;

The point of this is that there is a lot of fun to be had with manipulating drawings using ipad apps and computer programmes. 

If you keep going the original idea can be stretched a long way. I mainly used IColorama , Snapseed and Leonardo.

I also taught myself how to scan it and then colour the drawing in on the computer.

Drawing Workshop

On Friday I went to a drawing workshop, Drawing Large, at New Greenham Arts which is not far from where I live. The tutor was Sally Haynes and I like her experimental approach. There were only four of us there, and that was just as well as we really spread ourselves around the studio.

We started by doing some drawings of twigs and leaves using contour and blind drawing. We also did a drawing on a piece of overhead projector film. The drawings were torn up and collaged onto a large sheet of paper, together with some large drawings of the same objects made using the OHP to project them onto the studio wall. So lots of layers of drawings and the use of tracing paper.

 In the afternoon we made some rubbings in the studio, as it was too wet and windy to go outside, and repeated the process. Other exercises were suggested but as usual there is never enough time to try everything. I enjoy working large and this is not really possible for me at home so that it was good to have the opportunity to do so. One of the participants in particular produced some amazing work. I like it when I see some good work as it shows you what is possible. We also had the opportunity to view the exhibition for the Open Studio event which is at Greenham at the moment.

The above is A1 size and the the other piece is much bigger. The 'card' it is on is so strong that it was stapled to the studio wall and at the moment it refuses to lay flat in my little room.

One of my pieces was far from finished and the other rather messy, but I was encouraged to take photos of interesting parts and to develop these further. A busy day with plenty of stimulating ideas.

The Skeleton

Here is a picture of the completed recycled bowl. I show it for you to see the beads rolled from colour supplement paper and coated with acrylic wax and also to boast that I sold it and it is now on its way to Australia as a Christmas present!


On Friday we had a day of drawing the skeleton. It was quite exhausting, with lots of intense concentration. I don’t take to the idea of measuring and proportions easily.
For some reason my best effort was the one done with both left and right hands at the same time using different media, i.e. graphite and pen. I think this was easier because I knew that it was difficult; I didn’t have to judge myself against those who are more experienced at drawing.