Guitars on Fire!

Not literally of course!
I went to see Rodrigo and Gabriela last night. If they are ever in your town, go to see them. Go.

An Arty Weekend

* * * * * y a w n * * * * * * * I'm tired today but managed to get to life drawing this morning. I hope I haven't made my model look too tired by projecting my self on the drawing like I did last week! I concentrated on the head again towards the end of the session and I think the bottom one is quite a good likeness. You'd never think it to look at the main drawing though would you? He has quite a nice shaped mouth and I originally missed out the lips which made him look a bit sulky!

No rest for the wicked as they say. I'm going to a private view tonight, then tomorrow looking around a local art trail which I'm looking forward to. We get to nose around other artists' houses which is of course a bonus. A weekend of art!
Oh it's a hard life! ;)

Hope you have a lovely weekend too.xx

Getting in the Mood

I've been doing some festive themed paintings and finished this one yesterday. I thought it was about time I changed the look of this blog to match the time of year, so by the time you read this it might already be bedecked with the colours of the season! I feel the need for a new header and I think this painting shall fit the bill.

Illustration Friday: Music

I thought I'd challenge myself with this week's Illustration Friday by painting an ACEO. I was worried about the tiny scale of them but it was fine and I really enjoyed doing it!

Happy Colourful Abstracts

I clicked on my blog this morning and saw the picture of the life model (below). His expression was a bit too miserable for my liking, so to cheer this blog up this morning I'm going to show you my friend's new web-site. Her name is Sue Lawton and she's a very talented abstract painter. We did our foundation course together a few years ago. She went on to be a teacher and I carried on with my own abstract painting but these days Sue has returned to painting (hooray!) and I'm now doing illustration! Click on her name to see more of her lovely work :)

Older Lady

I had the most amazing night last night. We went to see a band called Gong. I must admit I wasn't particularly looking forward to it because I'd heard their music before and it didn't do anything for me at all. Steve Hillage played a support set before the main band came on which was equally fantastic. He then went on to play in the main set too. I surprised myself more than anyone at how much I enjoyed it! They had an animated light show on a huge screen behind them and what with the ethereal music it transports to another dimension! One of the main singers is Gilli Smyth who looked older than the others. I later found out she's 76! What an inspiration to us females who might think life must slow down to a halt after 50. (me)
I'm still in my 40's haha (just) and seeing someone like her looking amazing and doing something she clearly loves was a breath of fresh air.

I expect you were wondering how the picture above relates to this. Well this morning was life drawing and feeling the worse for wear after last night's very late ending I think I projected my feelings into the model!

Christmas Princess

There I've said it!

The word I wanted to save for December but it's out there now, so here is my CRISTMASSY painting!

I think I've still got the 'Unbalanced' theme in my mind from Illustration Friday. I know I've already done the frog one below, but I think I'll try to see if I can submit this one too. Can you submit two? We'll see....

I might even decide to use it for my blog profile picture. I'm not a princess but I think it might be me.

Illustration Friday: Unbalanced

Unbalanced frogs, or rather frogs that thought they were balanced. And here are some sketchbook frogs.

November and not even cold today!

First of all I'll show you a little painting I did in my sketchbook yesterday. There's a bit of a chrismassy theme going on with it and I used salt sprinkled onto the tree for the texture. I like the composition of an exagerated hill and had fun with the colours and patterns.

It was lovely and sunny this afternoon so we decided to go for a walk.

This building is a familiar landmark to locals by the side of the m32 but even though I've lived in this city almost all my life, I've never actually been to this place before. It used to be known as an asylum so didn't really appeal as a place to go for a sunday afternoon stroll! Of course that was a long time ago and since then has also been used as Pur Down Hospital and the Burden Neurological Institute.

Dower House in was originally built in 1553 by Sir Richard Berkeley. It closed as a hospital in 1985 and is now living accomodation with amazing views.

I haven't altered the photo, it really did look like that! The sun was shining directly at it and made the yellow look really bright against that lovely mauve sky.

Friday

It's friday today and that means life drawing at the Folkhouse. I missed the last couple of weeks so I was really glad to be there.

Here are the efforts: This one was tricky, particularly the head! The next one was a longer pose with a much better view of her face, so when it was towards the end, I spent a few minutes concentrating on just her head.

As it was a rainy day the room was fairly dark, so I couldn't fiddle too much with the details. I used to have a lot of opportunity for drawing heads when my children were younger and they used to sit and watch the TV but these days it's a rare treat!

Illustration Friday: Blur

The last day or so I've had a bad headache so I haven't been able to tackle this week's Illustration Friday until today. I did this drawing very quickly using black compressed charcoal which is something I haven't used for ages. The idea for the drawing came from a feeling of having a fuzzy head but looking at this now I think I can see my headache might be there too! I hope I've left it on the page.

Geisha Girl

I've just finished reading the book Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden. If you haven't read it already, I'd recommend it. his descriptions of the kimono are wonderful, it made me want to paint one!

Here's a picture I did inspired by the book :)

Illustration Friday: Skinny

After I drew this I realised I must have been influenced by all the Halloween ghoulishness (is that a word?) going on around me today. Why the teapot and cup of tea? Um...not sure yet. I don't know about you but I look back at a drawing a few days later and it suddenly occurs to me what was in my subconcious!

Very revealing, this business of drawing! ;)

Shy and Extrovert Witches

I thought it was about time I did a Halloween themed picture as we've only a few days to go! This is a colour combination I haven't tried before and if you're familiar with my painting, you'll know how difficult it is to restrain myself from using more colours than just the two! Hmmm...or is that 3?

Illustration Friday: Fast

When a snail's in a hurry, there's got to be a better way of getting there fast!

The Mess of Drawing

There was a man next to me in life drawing today who sounded as though he was having a wrestling match with his paper and charcoal. I could hear frantic bouts of scrubbing and heavy sighs, and when he'd finished he had made such a big pile of black charcoal bits under his easel, that he had to clean it up with a dustpan and brush. (Don't forget this is an art room and the odd bit of drawing materials usually get on the floor, but obviously not this much!)

It reminded me of a time when I made large charcoal drawings in the life room and ended up with black all over both sides of both hands and most of my face, along with various hand prints across my clothes. When I first started to draw in an A4 sketchbook it felt so small and difficult. These days, it's my preferred way of drawing, in a sketchbook with a nice pointy pencil. I still make smudges (believe it or not), it's just that I rub them out as I go along!

My First Children's Book!

My friend and I have been collaborating on a book for very young children callled Bear and Popple Play Hide and Seek and it's now available to buy! We had the idea because we both have small grandchildren of similar ages and we wanted to get this finished for them before christmas. Yay! :)

Illustration Friday: Frozen

I really wanted to do this week's Illustration Friday topic and had various ideas but time was against me. You have no idea how a broken washing machine can rule my life! I did do some sketchbook drawings though,and here they are. I hope they'll do!

Entwined

I had this image in my mind for a while and didn't really know how I could make it look as though there were 2 pairs of arms going round the bodies! I hope I've achieved it, even though I've ended up with just the one hand. The other are hidden behind at the back you see, they are - really!

Male Model Today

I went to life drawing this morning and today we had a male model. Personally I prefer to draw females, as I enjoy drawing the shapes of the curves. One of the people in the group said he prefers to draw a male because you can see the skeletal structure more easily. He told of when they had an overweight male model once and how he didn't like it. I wish I could have drawn him!
After saying all that though, I did enjoy this morning especially drawing a 'new' face!

Frogs Showing Off

These frogs like to put on a show and love to be admired while they perform.
Burnt sienna, rose madder and cobalt blue...hmmm I must do that combination again :)

Illustration Friday: 'Flying'

I like drawing pictures of flying and have done a couple recently which I could have submitted to Illustration Friday but what I really like about IF, is the challenge of starting something new each week!

Monday Birds

I had an image of a bird on my mind that looked a bit like this. I like drawing birds.

And The Winner Is...

Thankyou so much for joining in my giveaway draw and for your really lovely messages about my work. I want to give all of you the postcards that you said you liked! I wish I could but then there wouldn't be any point in the draw would there? ;) heehee!
I've put your names in a bag and now I can reveal that the winner of 3 of my postcards plus an extra little gift is...

...ta da!...

Julie-Ann!!!

Julie-Ann had chosen Thinking of Home, The Light and The Decision. Congratualations Julie-Ann! Please send me your address so I can post them to you soon. :)

The Full Moon

I love paintings with moons in them and we've just had the most beautiful full moon. This is a sketchbook page so a very quick (and a bit wonky!) moon, but a moon nevertheless!

Don't forget I'm having a GIVEAWAY this friday, so if you'd like to take part, click here to leave your message on the post. :)

Illustration Friday: 'Germs'

A Special GiveAway Prize!

I've noticed today that I have 100 followers - HOORAY!!

A big thankyou to you if you're one of them and a big thankyou to YOU sat here reading this for coming to visit me! I really appreciate your support and your visits and comments :)x

This can only mean one thing....

A GIVEAWAY!!

I have about 15 postcards of my paintings listed on Etsy and if you'd like to receive not one, but three for free along with another little secret treat, all you have to do is tell me in the comments box of this post, which ones are your favourites and why. Click HERE to see the whole list and you can choose any 3!

On friday 9th October I shall put your names in a bag and it could be your name that shall be drawn. Good luck!

Pretty Colours

I get seduced by colour and what better way to spoil myself than to indulge in a bit of colour play!

People with a weak stomach for out-of-control-watercolour-cauliflowering, please look away now.

Myself, I love the mess and splash!

Illustration Friday: 'Pattern'

I did these today, working on one while another was drying, but now they're finished I couldn't decide which one to put in for Illustration friday so you've got all three!

Illustration Friday: 'Infinity'

Here it is, this week's submission for Illustration Friday!

Artistic License

The great thing about drawing is that you can make anything do whatever you want it to do. I wouldn't really want a cat to be gettting drunk on cider in real life but I felt it was just what the article needed!

Inspiration from Anywhere

Inspiration for a drawing can come from anything that I see. The one above was triggered by seeing someone's hair on the X Factor!I wanted to draw some hats which gave me an excuse to play with colour. I can find lots of excuses for that!
I'm still working on the magazine illustration that I mentioned before here.
It's quite a simple drawing but the watercolour seems to be taking ages to dry today and I don't like using the hairdrier because I get in such a mess with the washes running. I've also got an idea for Illustration Friday which will involve splashy watercolour, so I'm not sure how long this is all going to take but I'll post as soon as it's done!

First Day Back at 'Drop in and Draw'

The local life drawing sessions started back today, hooray! I've been looking forward to this and it was great to be back. It's called 'Drop in and Draw' and that's what it is really, you just turn up with your drawing or painting materials and pay as you go. We started with a 5 minute pose (above).

Then a longer one, I think this one was 15 minutes, I couldn't get her face right so had another go.

Hmmm. I'm out of practice, but really enjoyed it. I hope to be able to go every friday and get back into the swing of it!

Bikes?

I've been illustrating an article for this magazine for the last 3 issues and have just started working on the next one. It's been a steep learning curve for me, having never drawn a motorbike in my life! This next one is to accompany an article about moving house so I don't need to draw yet another bike this time, I'm thinking more along the lines of a cat...and there might be cider involved (drawing it, not drinking it!) I shall say no more for now!

Here's one I did earlier!

Illustration Friday: 'Welcome'

Remember the bunny family from the last post? Well here they are again welcoming you into their home!

The Rabbit Family

Yesterday, feeling very tired I was sat outside in the sun with my sketchbook and this family of rabbits appeared on my page.

Sleep

I was so tired last night and do you know? I couldn't get to sleep and so today I feel even more tired. Why on earth does this happen? It almost feels as though I'll never sleep again no matter how long I stay in bed!

Paintings for Sale

I've just listed some more paintings on Ebay and these will be up for auction ending on sunday 20th September if you'd like to have a peep! Click HERE and HERE and HERE to see! :)

Illustration Friday: 'Strong'

Ooo it's been a while since I've managed to do an Illustration Friday picture isn't it? Well it was difficult getting the old brain into gear again too! I thought of muscles, things holding other things up, then after sketching a stork carrying a baby, (see below) I came up with the trapeze idea!

Here's the sketch I did beforehand:

Quite often the subconcious is at work isn't it? A friend's daughter is expecting her baby any day and it must have on my mind more than I thought! Oh yes, and frogs.

Don't Argue With A Weather Stick

I suppose I'm going to have to admit that summer is closing and autumn is almost here. My Virginia Creeper is looking different today, more red than green I think...The sweet peas are still growing, maybe I planted them later than usual?But you can't argue with my weather stick! See how it's not sticking up for fine weather any more? Click here to see how it looked in the early summer, a very different story!Lots of trimming and weeding to do...and talking of things to do, I'm off now to tackle this week's Illustration Friday. See ya later! :)

Growing as an Illustrator and Frogs

I love to read about illustration and come across very useful tips from time to time. This particular list (below) I copied from the book by Michael Fleishman and pasted in in my sketchbook as a good reminder to myself to keep things moving. I'm very adept at procrastinating! Words by Michael Fleishman...frogs by me! :)

Family

Now my family's gone back to school today I thought I'd give Ebay another go and list some of my illustrations! These three are all of a similar theme and I think loosely based on memories of when my children were small. I had no time then, to paint or draw very much but so many years of different experiences are still lodged in my mind and so it's now time to 'draw' them out!

They're all painted with good quality materials and are ready to frame, so if you'd like more details, please CLICK HERE! Thank you for looking! :)

Cupcake Creature

I'm feeling under the weather and I've no appetite today (which let me tell you is very unusual for me!),...so why I drew a creature that turned into a cupcake I've no idea!

but it's a start isn't it?!

September Rain

September today and I'm actually at my desk doing stuff!

I've been very lucky this summer, spending a lot of time at the sea-side, enjoying time with family, friends, going to see live music and of course my daughter's wedding day.

It's raining outside as I write this so it feels like a time of change, a step away from sunny days with lots of people around. I am looking forward to having my quiet days back but a teeny bit scared that it's going to be so quiet.

The Wedding of the Year!

These were some sketches I did before making a wedding card for my daughter's wedding on saturday.Here I am ironing her dress at the last moment while she was still in it!My granddaughter was the youngest bridesmaid and here she is at the front door waiting to go.
The newly married couple outside the cathedral.

They'd been planning and organising for over a year and at last the day came when all their efforts were worth all the stress and anxiety. The day went perfectly!

I can't believe it's all over!

Illustration Friday: 'Wrapped'

Hello! I've not been here for a while have I? Here's this week's Illustration Friday drawing for 'wrapped' and below I'll show you what I've been up to...
We spent a week at my favourite place in the world...St Ives! Here I am with two of my daughters near Mermaid Cove in Zennor. It truly is a stunning place and covered in beautiful heather (even though you can't see it from this picture!)

I didn't find time to draw as much as I usually do when I'm home, so felt a bit rusty when I did eventually get the sketchbook out!

This last one is a bit random but I thought I'd show it anyway!

Illustration Friday: 'Modify'

This week's Illlustration friday is 'Modify'

And here's a recent page of my sketchbook.

Illustration Friday: 'Idle'

This week's Illustration Friday word is 'Idle'

This is the sketch I made originally. Now I see them both together, I think I prefer the stars to be on the legs, but hey, it's done now!

Real Life

Real life from memory.

Real life in front of me.

(Well kind of, the rabbit's not real but it was in front of me!)

Illustration Friday: 'Tango'

Pears and a Rabbit Lady

I thought it was about time I copied something from the real world. This watercolour took a while, waiting for the layers to dry. This one on the other hand was very quick! Carenza joined me at the kitchen table to paint her own version of the pears. I'd show it here but I'm not sure where she's put it at the moment.Another quickie,

and I couldn't resist a little doodle in my journal too!

Spiders, Pixies and of Course Hens.

Spiders and leaves,

singing pixies and flowers,

a tall owl and girl,um......and some hens...It was my eldest daughter's hen weekend and I joined them for the saturday evening meal. It had a french theme, hence the stripey tops worn by a few. They were wearing berets too but I think by then they'd come off! They made Naomi wear a white top hat and feather boa and the room was amazing with candles and feathers galore. The partying went on until today (which is monday!) They had a fantastic time and it was difficult to keep it a secret from her until the day!

A Day of Life

Today I had the luxury of spending a whole day doing life drawing. I took some watercolour pencils in but my unfortunately my sketchbook wasn't man enough for the job and started to disintegrate under the strain of having a delicate 'wash'. It said on the cover (WHS for the record) it was suitable for line and wash but maybe it meant suitable if you don't mind the page disappearing! The model was amazing and works in the circus so did some fantastic poses but they were also quite explicit so I can't show them here because my blog might get censored. Believe me, they were very explicit.

Illustration Friday: 'Shaky'

A change of subject but still on the scary theme for this week's Illustration Friday ...this time creepy crawlies. Gives me the heebie jeebies!

Sunny and Scared

I doodled these pages while sat in the hot sun.

The ones below were done indoors. The whole atmosphere of them is different to the pages above isn't it? It might not be the light, it could possibly be because I'm thinking of this week's word 'shaky'!

I'm not scared of bats but I am scared of owls with very long legs, ...and I'm scared of spilling salt!

Hot Diddley Dot

Thank you so much lovely people for helping me out with my scanning problem. Here's a pot of tea to share with me as my way of saying thanks ;)

It's soooooooo hot and I'm too hot to do anything much even though things call to me to be done constantly. Our weather stick is looking happy though! It's an amazing thing, when the weather will be fine, it looks like this but when rain or cooler weather is on the way, it points downwards. The same principle as a fir cone I suppose except a bit more dramatic!

No sign of it changing yet.

It was too hot to sit outside for very long yesterday, PLUS I wanted to sketch really quickly to avoid fussing over it. I just sat down and sketched whatever was in front of me.

This is what was in front of me.

Pretend and Real

This little film's only just over a minute long but it's what Paula Rego says about 'pretending and real' that strikes a chord with me!


Oh my goodness me it's so hot again today isn't it?

Illustration Friday: 'Worn'

It almost fits on my scanner, the edges have been lost a little bit. I must remember to draw it smaller - does anyone else have this problem? Is there a way to scan it in 2 halves and join them together somehow? Any help appreciated! :o)

My Colourful Blanket

(Click to see bigger)
I've decided I've finished crocheting this blanket. One reason is I ran out of wool and the other reason is that it kept my knees lovely and warm while I was making it. This was great at the time but I really don't need warm knees right now in this heat! You can also see my sketchbook with some sketches I made for ideas about the word 'worn' for this week's Illustration Friday. I'm currently at the painting stage, so hopefully will be ready to post later!

Tagged by Karen!

I've been Tagged by the lovely Karen from Moonlight and Hares! This isn't a photo of Karen, or me, or my cat (I don't have one). It's actually Mavis, my eldest daughter's cat. I love this relaxed pose, it says it all about how cats know all about the good life!

On with the questions:

What is your current obsession?
The meat industry. My vegetarian daughter recently sent me a shocking video about animal cruelty so I'm seriously thinking about becoming vegetarian again.

What skill would you have liked to develop if you had more time?
Growing my own food in the garden. When the children were smaller I did a little bit and hope one day I'll find the time again.

What are you wearing today?
Green tee-shirt and comfy jeans, green sparkly flip-flops, turquoise dangly earrings.

What’s for dinner ?
Pizza because my youngest daughter's bringing friends home to get ready for the school disco later and it's easy to prepare!

What would you eat for your last meal ?

Fish and chips. Well I wouldn't want to cook anything would I?

What’s the last thing you bought ?

A jacket for the summer (online.)

What are you listening to right now ?
Flamenco music (solea)

What is your favorite ice-cream flavour ?
I'm not a fan of ice-cream but if I had to choose I think it would be rum and raisin.

What do you think of the person who tagged you ?
Karen is talented, creative and an inspiration to me.

If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where would you like it to be ?

I'm still in love with Paris after visiting there last summer.
.
If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go ?

To visit the studio of Leonora Carrington.

Which language do you want to learn ?
French

What’s your favorite quote (for now) ?
'I can resist anything except temptation' Oscar Wilde.

What is your favorite colour ?
Purple

What is one of your favorite daily/weekly rituals ?
Reading Blogs

If you had $100 now, what would you spend it on ?
Beautifully illustrated children's books

Favourite designer ?

Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Kaffe Fassett

Do you admire any one’s style ?
One person springs to mind, Violette Clark. She lives a colourful life in her dress, her home and her personality.

Describe your personal style ?
Colourful and sparkly.

What are you going to do after this ?
Eat lunch, leftover soup I made yesterday!

What are your favourite films ?
I love so many, everything from Stardust to Withnail and I,

What’s your favourite fruit ?
I love all fruit but if I had to choose, bananas and raspberries, oh and cherries.

What inspires you ?
Every aspect of nature, colour and creative people.

What is on the walls in your bedroom ?
As it's an attic room the walls are quite small, but I have a smallish hexagonal mirror and some artwork by my youngest daughter.

Your favorite book ?
The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. I go back to it time and again when I need an artistic boost.

Do you collect something ?
Pebbles, shells, beautiful cards and postcards, children's books by favourite illustrators.

What is one of your pet peeves ?

racism

If you could be an animal , what would you be?
A cat. They know how to live in comfort!


The rules :
1. Respond and rework ; answer the questions on your blog, replace one question that you dislike with a question of your invention or add one more question of your own.
2. Tag eight other people.

I'm not going to name 8 people but if you're reading this and would like to be tagged, then CONSIDER YOURSELF TAGGED! Heehee! :D

So Many To Choose From

Most of my favourite Michael Jackson songs are the ballady sort but it's such a sad day that I've chosen this one to cheer me up! :o)

A Sad Day

5 minute pose

45 minute pose

I woke up this morning to the shocking news about Michael Jackson, so I missed the morning session of life drawing because I wanted to watch the TV news. Luckily they do an afternoon session too, so I still had a chance to do these.