You've been framed!

Is it really Saturday?   That week went by quick.  I intended to have a lie in this morning,  yes, Harvey changed all that!   He wanted feeding,  then he insisted on going out...   and now he's annoying me again to go out.   He's tried once,  managed to get his nose out of the door and a tiny dog passed by,  Harvey was back up the stairs in a flash.  

So I made the most of the early start,  had a bath, washed my hair,  and went out just for a few bits and bobs,  plus I fancied getting a mount and frame for the trees picture.   I also framed the Humming bird glass painting,  it's been lying around for months,  it will soon be on a wall.     I also opened up the surprise case of wine that arrived yesterday,   it is from my naughty but wonderful friend.  

And here are the trees again, but now framed.  I'd love a really nice frame, but this plain one will have to do for the moment.    There were lots of mounts to choose from,  I'd forgotten to measure the picture,   though it is A4,  so a bit of guess work went on.   But I am pleased with it,  not sure where to hang it,  it maybe in the hall,   there is less direct light there,   it will go nicely with my mandala picture.  

While I was at Hobbycraft I also picked up a 7B pencil, they are right, it is black, very black.  I had half a mind to get some coloured paper,  but didn't really want a lot of colours, just grey,  all the pads were multicoloured.   Guess if I try the art shop I'll get what I want.    

I couldn't resist doing this drawing of an orangutan,  it was the cheeky look on his/her face.   All without a grid!    I've not used a grid for the last few drawings,   I do give myself guide lines.  As with this picture his eyes weren't level,  so wanted to make sure I got the angle right.  It needs to be much darker on the left,  and his hair needs to be more pronounced.   I love organgutans, they are so expressive with their faces.   I was spoilt for choice when I was looking for a picture to draw.   I used the 7B pencil as well,  it is so soft,   there was also an 8B, which no doubt is darker. 

I got myself in a bit of a muddle today,  ended up at the supermarket, to get the stuff I'd forgotten to get, and almost forgot to get them again!   Doh...   then I found myself looking at the ready meals wondering what to have for my dinner, then I remembered I'd taken out the chilli con carne,  next I had to go back to the medicines to pick up what I needed to get, ibuprofen - my mind was all over the place.  Even with a list I forget stuff, three times this week I've needed to buy brown sauce, and each time I've forgotten.  

Harvey has given up wanting to go out,  he was going to try again and a dog started barking!  He is such a wimp,   he's now asleep on my bed.   He's not been well today,  think it was payback for stealing the leftovers from my plate.  I knew something was amiss when he didn't want his treat,  usually nothing stops him,  but today he wasn't bothered.   He's had his food,   but it's taken him several feeding sessions to finish one sachet.   I'm not sure meat agrees with him,  he doesn't have any meat cat food,  just the fishy ones,  but if I am cutting meat or making a ham sandwich he always wants some.   I don't give him raw meat anymore,  my old cat loved raw chicken,  and it never affected her, but Harvey seems to have a sensitive tum.  

Well enough waffling,  I have a real challenge tomorrow,  could be hair pulling time!   Thanks for stopping by.

Fifty shades of HB

Here is Harvey,  a busy day as usual, so much to fit in, so little time between long naps to do it!   This was taken after his hour of madness,   I was outside checking the car, oil, water,  etc, so he took advantage of the door being open.   I was quite happy for him to run himself ragged,  of course after all that running around he fell fast asleep.   Then the cheeky tyke 'stole' the leftovers from my plate!   I'd made myself a roast,  haven't been bothered about food lately, but today had a hankering for somehting nice.  So I roasted a lamb steak,  did some roasties, veg...  it was delicious,   but I couldn't manage it all,  so Harvey decided to act as a hoover and vacuum the plate after I'd put it in the kitchen.  Plate was licked clean,  little wonder he was purring. 

I've been working on this for the last two afternoons.  It is of a Goshawk,  which I'd never heard of until I read H is For Hawk, by Helen Macdonald  in which she writes about her grief after her father died.  It is a beautifully written book,   and I can highly recommend it.   She learns how to fly a Goshawk called Mabel,  her connection with nature helps her through her grief.   They are magnificent birds,  I picked up a bird book yesterday from a cheap book shop,  the sole purpose is to use it to draw birds.   I found I was fighting with myself again,  wanting to draw what I thought I was seeing,  luckily I managed to capture what I actually saw.    I'm falling in love with drawing,  and using the pencils is so relaxing. 

Yep, those trees again!   I can't seem to leave this alone,  keep going back and doing a little more shading,  doing more to the foreground,  I put in some birds. 

Yesterday I went into The Atkinson in Southport, there was an exhibition featuring LS Lowry and Theodore Major,  I'd never heard of the latter,  his work was both dramatic, dark and disturbing.  It was quite a contrast between Lowry's work and that of Major.    But I came away feeling very inspired.   I went into Waterstones,  it was freezing inside the shop!   Worse they had no lift, and the art books were upstairs.  I just about made it,   sadly they didn't have much, which surprised me,  but then I spotted one,  flicked through it and realised it had tons of information in it,  so I bought it.  It's a proper art work book, with a lot of exercises in it.  So I start it on Monday, it is spread over six weeks.    But have to mention the journey downstairs,  it was agony,  with the freezing weather, plus the cold in the shop I could barely move,   my wonky leg is giving me a lot pain,  and my left knee seems to have come out in sympathy.    I was glad that I'd parked the car on Lord Street,  and not in the park and ride.    Mind you seeing the car in the sunshine made me realise how dirty she was, so she had a bath at the car hand wash at Tesco,  she looks all sparkly now.   My car washing days are over,   there is no way I could lug buckets of water downstairs,  let alone the washing part. 

As from tomorrow it is supposed to get warmer,  I've just looked outside and my car has a nice layer of frost all over it.    All for now,  thanks for stopping by.

Hard to get going...

Sea shells...  the lower one nearly drove me nuts,  but I learned a lesson - draw what you see, not what you think you see.  I thought I was doing that, but I wasn't,  so my next challenge is to do a still life project.    I also looked around for some drawing/sketching classes,  there are a lot but some are way out of my price league. 

It was a bleary eyed start this morning, I really, really did NOT want to part company with my nice warm bed.   I woke up at about 6,  well I woke up the first time at 2.30,   but after my second wake up,  plus tea and toast,  I drifted off again thinking I'd wake up around 8 a.m.,   instead it was 9.30 a.m.,  which is very decadent for me.  Harvey has at least now realised that I am not a morning person,  and that I need two cups of tea before I can communicate with anyone, human or animal.    So now he waits,  he has a play but no longer disturbs me,  then he will come back and snuggle up with me till I wake up.    He was being a fuss pot about his food,  so I warmed it up,  no, not as in put it in a pan, or the oven,  just took the chill off it and lo and behold he tucked in straightaway.   I did it with one flavour that he isn't keen on with the same result.  

And my Birch trees,  finished.  I worked hard on the bit under the trees, it sort of took on a life of its own.   I didn't want to mess with it too much,   I'd like to add some clouds, but I probably should have done them first.   I can do another tree picture,  feel a bit more confident now.   I had some truly lovely comments on FB,  which is always nice.   So now have to decide what to do next,  aside from the still life, which I need to plan first. 

After my bleary eyed start,  I sank into a lovely bath, my back is appreciating my twice weekly soaks, as are my knees.  The only thing that is a pain is the crappy shower thing I use to wash my hair, it is worse than useless, nor was it cheap.   I then took Mo out for a run,  Mo is my car,  she was in need of a good run.  So we tootled off up the A565, stopping off at the supermarket to buy wine,   oh and a cream cake!     Why, you are thinking, does this woman go so often to the supermarket?   Cos I can't carry much,   hence I shop little and often,  besides it also gets me out.  Tomorrow I'm off to the gallery in Southport,  just fancied a little trip out,  weather is set fair,  still cold but that wind is holding off.   So Mo will have a second long run,  and I have 10p off a litre of petrol thanks to Mr Tesco,  fantastic!   I thought they'd stop the petrol saver thing when the price started coming down,  not that they've put their prices down as much as they should. 

I'm waffling now,  off to do some writing.   Thanks for stopping by.

It's TOO cold!

It's official:   I am seriously fed up of this cold weather!  Think Harvey is as well,  far too cold for him to go out for very long.    But of course some of us have to go out,  especially when Harvey has no food!    So I am blaming him that I ended up at Hobbycraft and bought a new drawing book.     I wanted something that included scenes,  and how to use other mediums,  and this is the perfect book for me.   I didn't fancy drawing faces or animals,  so chose to do this tree stump instead,   which is just shading.   Someone said that I must have lots of patience,  I haven't,  it is something I am learning through drawing.  I usually want to get the picture done, but it doesn't work like that - does it?   So these shading exercises are ideal,  I really did take my time with this, but I also told myself that there was no rush.   It made for a very gentle and peaceful afternoon.

And we have Harry,  who I think is now complete,  though I might go back and do more to his fur.   I wish I had a better photo of my old cat Ms Mufti,  she had such a pretty face.   Harvey is a handsome chap,  and a fussy eater.

This is also teaching me lots about patience,  just trying to get the look of fur takes ages,  but it is worth the effort.   I have a friend who is a brilliant artist,  seeing her work encourages me to stretch myself.    I've also found myself really looking at things,  anything, noting its shape,   where the shadows and reflections are.   It was the same with the tree stump,  bark is all knobbly and uneven,  I wasn't sure how to capture that,   but then just let the pencil do the work,  just light scribbles and then a little more shading here and there.    I always put the sketch down and leave it for a while,  then go back to look at it. 

This was today's sketch.  I love trees, but so far I've not done them justice.    I know it is has been because I've rushed it,  it was sort of scary to do a sketch with pencils,   but I really enjoyed it.   It ain't finished, this is turning out to be a labour of love,   so much more shading to do, and build up the hedgrow, and the grass in front of the trees.   Now you can see why I had to buy this book.    It is just packed with useful info,  so it will be keeping me busy for the next few weeks.  It may even help me get over my reluctance to use pastels,  love how they look but oh boy do I end up in a mess.  It will have to be pastel pencils though.   

It's not been a bad day,  flat is tidy, for a change.  I decluttered the under the sink cupboard,  found some starch dated 1997!    Plus mum's nail polish remover,  and I found my tin of wax...   was wondering what had happened to that. 

The absolute 'must' is sorting out the stash.    There is just too much of it for a start.   Then there is the airing cupboard...   I groan every time I go in there.   We, me and my sister did tidy it up after mum died,  but there is stuff in there that can now go.   My problem is that I can't bend down or kneel down,  which makes life a tad awkward. 

Tomorrow is a blank sheet,  well aside from my morning bath - yep shower is still defunct.    I've got grab rails, but really need a new bath,   the old one had handles on, and a non slip bit, so may ask my housing association if they can give me something more appropriate. 

All for now,  just like it to be a tad warmer tomorrow,  though it is nice that the horrible wind has died down.  

Shivering on a Saturday.

This is Harry,  it's not a sketch of a real cat,  just one I dreamed up.    Cat's noses are really unusual,  sort of heart shaped, but not...     He's not finished,  he would have been had Harvey not disturbed me!   Yes, he awoke from his snooze,   he was cold,  so he got on my lap for a while.   Hard to sketch with a cat sat on your lap.   Last night he hogged the hottie,  sat right on top of it! 

I rather like sketching fur,  it is so therapuetic, relaxing.  He's got to be a lot darker and with a few more markings yet.   I need to print out one of Harvey's photos, then I can draw him.   I also need to start thinking about getting some frames for some of the pictures.  

And this little cutie,  he was from my How to Draw faces book,   but I thought he looked like my youngest nephew when he was a baby, so I altered the sketch a little. 

I felt better today,  so the sketching was a little easier.  I must stop putting pressure on myself,  I don't do it deliberately or all the time, but from time to time I find myself wanting the sketch to be perfect, which is impossible.  

The day didn't start well,   I woke up as usual around 3 a.m.,  had a cuppa and went back to sleep till 5.30,  then I allowed myself to get into a tizz over which supermarket to go to, and if I should pop up to Hobbycraft.  Dumb of me, as that ensures the anxiety will kick in, and it did,  so some podge (porridge), more tea, plus two painkillers and I calmed down.    Next mistake was to watch some of the women's Aussie open tennis final, to see Sharapova getting thumped by Williams.    Sharapova needs to come up with a new game plan,  she is too predictable.  But nor did I like the gamesmanship from Williams.   Tomorrow it is Andy, so I'll be glued to the box for a few hours.

Short post tonight....   stay warm wherever you are. 

Here come's winter - again!

 Yes a card!  First for months.  My January swap,  featuring a woodware stamp, glossy black card, perfect pearls and two feathers - freebie from a magazine.   Took an hour to locate all the materials,  and half an hour to put it together.   I have another version as I tried a different sentiment. 

I realised that I really need to sort out the stash,  get it in some sort of order.  The paper and card is all together in one place, but everything else is scattered all over the place.  I seem to be in a decluttering mood,   spent yesterday and today sorting out the mail,  or rather filing what needs to be filed and shredding the rest.   All bills paid, up to date with everything,   but it will soon start again.

And this is my floppy eared bunny drawing.  Yesterday was a complete drawing nightmare, nothing I tried worked.  I'd bought a new book,   drawing animals and could I get anything right, could I heck.   My mood hasn't been good, so think that had something to do with it,  and my back and knee are very painful,  no idea why the wonky knee is playing up.  Today I had to go get more painkilllers,  and oh boy that wind!   It was like an icy knife,  and so strong, I was struggling against it.   I made up my mind to get all I needed as I am not venturing out tomorrow,  it will be just as bad.   Besides I have my new curtains,  my butterfly nets arrived, lovely postie left them with a nieghbour, bless him.   And they are perfect,  the right size at last.   My new cafe curtain is up on the kitchen window,  it looks really nice.

Since the drawing wasn't going well yesterday I did some colouring instead,  still getting used to my spectrum noir pencils.  But they do blend beautifully,  as do the skin tones,  used a mix of the derwent skin tones and spectrum noirs on this.  For Flopsy the bunny,  I stuck to H, F and 3B pencils.  It was very relaxing putting in all his fur,  well it would have been had Harvey left me alone.  Yesterday he was in sleep mode,  today he has been a pain,  he can't go out, rather he won't go out as it is too cold, wet and windy, so he's nagging me every five minutes to take him to the front door and see if the weather has improved!   I chucked him out before, literally,  left him there for five minutes,  it has had the desired effect as he's eaten his food and gone to sleep. 

Final sketch,   which wasn't working at first,  but I peservered with it.   Just couldn't get his eyes right,   semi profiles can be tricky but I used to be good at them.    So you can see why I was so chuffed when the bunny turned out okay.  Think I was just trying too hard yesterday,   my arm felt tight,  which is no good for drawing.

 Best finish off this post!   I was interrupted by a skype call from a friend last nigh, then further interrrupted by Harvey insisting to see if the weather really was as bad as it sounded - it was!   The look on his face last night when I opened the door was a picture,  he was horrified and shot back up the stairs.  

Today, Thursday has been truly horrible.  Started with rain, then sleet, that turned to hail and finally - snow!   Yuck,  plus the icy wind,  quite happy to stay inside, as was Harvey.  So I made myself useful and put up the new net curtains,   they look lovely, so pleased with them.  Then I settled down to watch Murray's  semi final in the Australian Open, he is in ominous form,  looks so confident and comfortable,  a great match to watch.   So I'll be tuned in again on Sunday!  

Sadly no new sketches to post, but have worked on a couple today,  one is coming along nicely, the other, a sketch of an elephant is proving more tricky but I'm sticking at it.   I was talking about a tight arm,   which isn't what you need when you are trying to sketch,  that is due to my silly anxiety stuff.  I feel it at night when I'm trying to get to sleep,  I have to consciously relax my body,  well I try to, I don't always succeed.   It's worse when I can't decide what to do the next day,  my thoughts start racing, and I realise that I'm trying to fit in too much, and fearing I'll be judged on it.    I've got used to waking up in the middle of the night, I try not to let it bother me,  cos if you do then you know that sleep will elude you.    Mind you having a furry dynamo called Harvey doesn't help,  if he can't get out then he uses up his energy in the flat by going nuts, last night he chased all over the flat, up and down the stairs,  around all the rooms and then finally landed on my bed, he flopped down and went to sleep!  

Not sure what tomorrow has in store, all depends on the weather,  have got a pile of ironing glaring at me...    want to go to the art class, but we'll see.   Many thanks for stopping by, stay safe and warm...

Tales from the freezer... brrrrrrrrrrrrr

Cor it ain't half freezing out there, even too cold for Harvey! I've resorted to having a hottie in bed, hot water bottle that is, and Harvey found the warm spot,  so he snuggled down and purred away.   At least today that horrible wind had gone,  but the cold puts you off getting out of bed, but today a lot had to be done,  so I had to get moving early.  And all jobs were done by lunch time,  even got some shopping. 

I am continuing my series of heroes and heroine drawings, the latest is Nelson Mandela, shall have to take a fresh picture as I've tweaked his wonky teeth!  I don't like drawing teeth, or glasses,  hence I set out to do both in two pictures, well three as I've just started a 3rd,  but I'm getting better at the glasses bit.

This is the fisherman,  from my how to draw book,  it was an interesting exercise,   not only glasses but facial hair, and a hat   The glasses weren't too bad,   the guidelines helped a lot.  I had also started a drawing of the Dali Lama, then made the mistake of using the skin tones ...  not a good idea!   I should have used the watercolour pencils and the mixed media pad so I could have done some blending. 

I want to try the exercise which shows you how to enlarge a picture.  Found a lovely pic of my mum in her WAAF uniform,  but it is small, so that could be my challenget this week.

  

Final pic is a melted candle,  though it it could also be a tree stump I guess.   This was an exercise in shading, which I think I've overdone,  I really needed some H pencils,  an oversight on my part which has now been rectified.  

No sketching tomorrow,  a friend is coming for lunch,  it will be nice to have a catch up.  I've just about located my stash, or the bits I need for a card I have to make,  sadly need some shiny black card!   So I may be a bit late doing this challenge...   I'm just out of practice.  Though I guess if I sorted out the stash properly...   yes and pigs fly!   I did do some sorting out this morning, worked my way through the pile of post - it has been opened but not yet filed,  so that is the next job.  


I also need some new net curtains,  current lot have had it.   I've seen some pretty nets in Dunelm, seems odd buying stuff for the flat,  once mum and I would have had to agree,  though we pretty much shared the same taste.   But in her latter years she was loathe to replace things,  we really needed new pans,  I said I'd buy them but she kept on insisting that the ones we had were okay.   Even getting her to spend money on herself was a battle.

Thats all for now,  next posting will be towards the end of the week.  Thanks for stopping by!