Monday, September 19, 2011

Hands on drawing

Ok. I bought the books about how to start drawing. Anyone know a good one about how to stop?
Yesterdays discoveries:
1. Graphite tint pencils are lovely to draw with.
2. There are only so many positions into which you can put and hold your own left hand withiut getting cramp.

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Three roses in a vase

Thank you to all who left quick responses on my last post. It was indeed three roses in three vases. This is the story. I have decided to learn to draw. This is a big thing as there was a lot of resistance there to overcome. I have been readng the first few pages of Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain and I have been loving the videos of Danny Gregory and Tommy Kane tonight. It made me want to try. Not aiming for the Royal Academy, just something I might enjoy doing in a travel journal.
So I got out some watercolour postcards I bought becuase I decided it was not possible to be intimidated by a postcard in the same way as a new sketchbook and had a go at the roses in our lounge. Four and a half minutes later, this. (Bear in mind its an ipad photo on my carpet so not the best reproduction of colours!)

I show it to Dennis. " You have a go."
"No, I can't."
"Neither could I until five minutes ago. I bet you can."
"I can't."
I went on enough that he, under much protest took card and pen drew a few minutes and thrust it back at me.
" See. I can't."
" Whats wrong with it?"
"You can't tell what it is even"

Hence the question as to whether you could tell what it was.
I told him that you could. He shrugs. " Well, you could guess at a vase."
" ROSES man! They can tell what kind of flower it is."
A slow boyish grin spread over his face.
" Oh. Well I might try something a bit more complicated."

So thank you.

I had another go trying to be more gestural like his style

Then I got brave and tried the Kremlin. I accidentally lopped off a section of tower but hey, how many frills does one tower need? And its not my fault they seem to have a subsidence issue in Red Square these days.

I am not saying that there is not a lot of room for improvement, but I think I might have started something hard to stop!

Oh, and in answer to Brenda's comment that they looked like three roses in a vase but knowing me there would be somting deeper. Nope. Just three roses. Bought at a petrol station because they were pretty.
Of course each rose represents the life of an African woman subjected to FGM, rape and forced marriage
No, only kidding.
Although now I think about it..... :)

A little experiment

Could you please help me help out a friend here. I will explain what this is all about in my next post but could you please leave a comment and tell me what this is a drawing of? it is not a trick. My friend says it is not recognisable. I say it is. So I need to find out who is right!!

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Temporarily single

I am a rugby widow. The World Cup has started and Denns is now living on New Zealand time.
Which means that he had to get up at three am his time to go and watch live rugby at his local club.
This lasts until October 23rd and so we have had to plan our October holiday in Bath to start in a motorway motel en route so that the middle of the night ( My time) matches can be watched and he can still get to Bath in time to watch the middle of the night ( his time) match between Bath and Leicester.

Do I mind.? Nuh huh.

Widows get to look at other men. What's to mind?