tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88324050745730664152024-03-14T09:22:25.930+00:00Jen Kirby's Artwork in ProgressUpdates on the portraits I am working on, with other studio newsUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger106125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8832405074573066415.post-74251763538450043072019-08-10T14:26:00.001+01:002019-08-10T14:26:06.700+01:00A Short Break <div style="text-align: center;"><img id="id_2ebd_744d_33ed_733d" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/MJLIjVmA-rvntF5ICSndMhF7d5hO4Y__GMCTSZqI-02gkANKsN4Cpd8ydxo" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 440px; height: auto;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><font face="Helvetica" size="4"><b>A Short Break</b></font></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">It is over a week since I did any work on Bentley, the portrait in Turner acryl gouache. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">The reason is that I have a new border collie puppy. I was expecting to take a week off to establish house training. She is very good in that respect. But my week is getting longer. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">The problem is she torments my poor Jasper. He doesn’t mind when she pulls his tail. I do. I have to keep cleaning long clumps of hair out of her mouth. But Jasper objects to the way she bites his legs. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">He is so kind. I always knew what a lovely nature he has but his degree of tolerance astonishes me. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">So I am spending a lot of time rescuing Jasper. Luckily I bought a nice soft “cage” for my old cat to hide in when he wanted peace. So the puppy gets fastened in the cage when she gets overtired and hyper and starts leaping at Jasper. And I can only do jobs (like writing my blog) when she is asleep. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">She has woken up again now, so I will add a cute photo of her and go and put her out in the garden. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">By the way, the garden is no longer green. The first game she discovered was digging, then the rain started. I will leave the rest to your imagination. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img id="id_c12b_ce2_8b79_840d" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/vz3IA6RpKWsEj-XiFiWAuKKNJc2x2A_qM9r9mLPL6nU7rMdN6t0ZI1b5pWk" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 371px; height: auto;"><br><br><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><br><br><br><br></div> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8832405074573066415.post-82492704778851844212019-07-26T14:26:00.001+01:002019-07-26T15:21:33.176+01:00Jasper<div style="text-align: center;"><img id="id_3fb0_69a9_d452_3606" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/ZXjRPHvwwA9dQMVgT9vQAcxnvvL-OEgG4UBgq2_rPk2_YJFocA3JY-Hy9DU" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 370px; height: auto;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><font face="Helvetica" size="4"><b>Jasper</b></font></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><font face="Helvetica" size="4"><b><br></b></font></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">I have been reading a new article about dogs dying young of cardiomyopathy when they are fed on grain-free dog food so I want to add my tuppence worth. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">First let me tell you about the portrait of Jasper above. It was done in 2011 the summer before Bryn came to live with us. It is drawn in Derwent drawing pencils in black, white and touches of other colours on grey Canson Mi-Teintes paper. I gave the portrait to Jasper’s biggest fan, my friend Annette. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">To get back to the issue of grain-free dog food: Jasper has a severe problem with both rice and corn. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">Rice gives him such bad diarrhoea that he quickly becomes severely dehydrated. Corn gives him the added symptom of blood in his diarrhoea. And no. He has no problem with gluten. He can eat wheat or rye without any trouble as long as there’s no rice or corn mixed in. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">The trouble with ordinary dog food with grain is that they don’t specify which grains are in the ingredients so Jasper has to have grain-free food to keep him safe. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">However I choose a food with a high animal protein content. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">Many grain-free foods are high in legume types of protein including beans, peas and chickpeas. I learned at school that peas don’t have all the amino acids essential for animal life in the protein. Grains have missing amino acids too but they are different ones. I remember my teacher telling me that if I eat my beans on toast I would get all the amino acids I need. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">So clearly a dog food with peas but no grain is going to leave the dog with malnutrition. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">I have to watch out though. I had been buying one brand for a while and they brought out a more expensive recipe and I bought a couple of bags. (I had 2 dogs and there was a reduction in price for buying 2 at once.) I didn’t think to check the ingredients until both Jasper and Bryn seemed less well than they were. It had a lot of pea in it. I quickly ordered the cheaper stuff and, once the dogs were well again, I admit that I added small quantities of the expensive stuff to the regular food so it wouldn’t go to waste. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">Bryn was a cross breed Irish wolfhound. Irish wolfhounds tend to have a genetic heart problem and die suddenly with no symptoms when they are about 6 years old. I think it is a form of cardiomyopathy. Well Bryn was 15 years old when she died, so clearly a grain-free dog food with high animal protein content didn’t do her any harm at all. Jasper is 11 now and you wouldn’t believe it to look at him. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">He is a bit depressed since Bryn died and is clearly looking for a new girlfriend. I am getting him a little girl puppy. I am depending on him to teach her how to make friends with everyone she meets like he does. He taught Bryn.</span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><br><br></div> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8832405074573066415.post-15527167979212742552019-07-13T15:14:00.001+01:002019-07-13T15:14:12.846+01:00Bentley is Progressing<div style="text-align: center;"><img id="id_fc13_532c_3aa9_f5fb" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/hscC5eLR8SqcwE_6PxOOwIIwf_m9kaOCnl1oTxRY8jWT4a8Rkt8XLJpTzLs" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 422px; height: auto;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><font face="Helvetica" size="4"><b>Bentley is Progressing</b></font></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><font face="Helvetica" size="4"><b><br></b></font></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">I am still busy trying to organise my kitchen. It is important because I am getting a new puppy soon and I want everything to be hygienic for her. But I have been able to do some useful work on Bentley’s portrait. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">I have gone over the hairs where the dark and white meet on his head, and gone over the bits of his nose that were too dark. I used white and beige for that. It needs more touches of white when the paint has dried. Turner’s Acryl Gouache dries after 24 hours but the paint can be softened and lifted which is so useful at times for blending. I want clean flicks of white for the hairs so I will give it 48 hours. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">But tomorrow I will be able to work on his muzzle which had a wash of pale pink this morning. Also I will work on his nose which I dotted with beige this morning to bring out the texture. </span></font></div><br><br></div> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8832405074573066415.post-62843169675984140142019-07-06T22:26:00.001+01:002019-07-06T22:26:18.204+01:00More Work in Progress<div style="text-align: center;"><img id="id_8301_ed6a_8f5f_e8b7" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/bjsXSzMetyJtg0zs0iCq_pQlYSXJ3Do86YO3NBNic_j7rGlqVmlwX5DxEXE" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 482px; height: auto;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><font face="Helvetica" size="4"><b>More Work in Progress </b></font></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><font face="Helvetica" size="4"><b><br></b></font></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">Building the kitchen cupboards tired me more than I expected. I am still having afternoon naps so I haven’t been able to work on Bentley as much as I thought I would. But I am getting on well with the work I have done. His nose now has texture, dark hairs are positioned in his fur and I have started on his muzzle. I don’t use black. I used sepia overlaid with dark grey. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">I need to touch in lots of white hairs. He doesn’t really have those dark lines over his nose. They mark the shadows of the cute little puppy folds of skin. Once I have dragged some white, light grey and light beige fur over them they will look like folds and not stripes. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">First I am going to lay some pink skin on his muzzle. Then I will get out the white paint and work over all the fur on his nose to get the shading right. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><br><br></div> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8832405074573066415.post-66480018893818558732019-06-28T19:45:00.001+01:002019-06-28T19:45:09.544+01:00Tidying my Workspace <div style="text-align: center;"><img id="id_22bf_a0d9_d985_5902" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/3kGmMS-KhPfteCkgnXF5a2cZI8_Iqm7FYehaQnZCnstX27pGBtQHsqpLySo" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 478px; height: auto;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><font face="Helvetica" size="4"><b>Tidying my Workspace</b></font></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><font face="Helvetica" size="4"><b><br></b></font></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">Last week, including last weekend, I was improving my kitchen storage. I bought the Welsh dresser and the drawer unit from IKEA, and, yes, I put them together myself apart from the top of the Welsh dresser which I had to remove to make the top half of the dresser light enough to lever in place. Then I couldn’t lift it back into place because I have a problem with raising my arms above my head, so I had to ask a friend to do it for me. But I did the rest.</span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">I had to move a lot of furniture around to make space for the new cupboards, so I had to find good places to put it. One trolley ended up in the catio. I don’t know what will happen to it in the end but for now it is something for the cats to play on.</span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">I thought that life would be back to normal once I had had a rest, but it took much more resting than I expected. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">Today I have been cleaning the front room including my workspace. I have put the drawers with the pastels back behind the easel to make more space though the boxes of pastel pencils are still there. They don’t cut out so much daylight of course. And the light is the best thing about my workspace because it is a northlight. Talking of the light, I have clamped my light to the shelf behind my easel. I will move it back if it doesn’t work but clamped to the window sill it tended to foul the blind when I wanted to close it at night. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">I have added a metre ruler across the worktable to show how small my workspace is. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">I am waiting to get back to the portrait on the easel until I have finished the portrait of Bentley which I am working on upstairs (also with a northlight aspect).</span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">Here is a photo of the two new units in the kitchen. Don’t be surprised at the cat barrel on the kitchen worksurface, or the cat bed on the dining table! I am not a crazy cat lady, but when I take an animal into my home I do my very best for it. And I have to have somewhere to keep them away from my easel. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img id="id_a911_5bc5_6151_d1bd" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/ycKJyp0Wku9i2js__wrLh_LKQpe9ad8mES0WecsuWKtL-lauHolEakuMFIk" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 408px; height: auto;"><br><br><br></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><br><br></div> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8832405074573066415.post-22828392173101149392019-06-14T18:18:00.001+01:002019-06-14T18:20:35.128+01:00Latest Work in Progress <div style="text-align: center;"><img id="id_8eef_185d_3fab_4c20" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/guV0gZNJhlDy5ikOvh__JydcNWINc-XF1Tc_KZBukc8D6AOKo6NwdaHsn4g" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 469px; height: auto;"><br><br><font face="Helvetica" size="4"><b>Latest Work in Progress</b></font></div><div style="text-align: center;"><font face="Helvetica" size="4"><b><br></b></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica" size="4">It is nice to get back to this portrait of Bentley in acryl gouache. The photo is of a small area to show how much more work I have to do to finish. If I show the full image you would think it is nearly finished but the minute I sat down and looked at it I could see that I still have a lot to do. </font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica" size="4">When I am working in acryl gouache I use very small spotter brushes and lay the strokes of paint one at a time in layers. You can see a medium grey at the bottom right waiting for strokes of sepia and dark grey to build up the effect of fur. The difficulty is where there are white hairs lying over dark hair. </font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica" size="4">Acryl gouache is lovely to work with because the paint doesn’t dry hard for a few days so mistakes can be lifted. Also it is opaque which means that I will be able to layer clean white hairs over the dark areas.</font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica" size="4">The nose is a completely different kind of texture. I expect that the spotter brush will live up to its name when I get there!</font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica" size="4">I should mention that the strip of white thick paper is to rest my hand on to protect the paint from grease.</font></div> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8832405074573066415.post-50360498932618351372019-06-07T19:17:00.001+01:002019-06-07T19:17:05.498+01:00Exhibition 2019<div style="text-align: center;"><img id="id_7139_54ac_d167_6898" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/W8Ka5rX9RhPfO3JeE1bVirOkQYgGQjO0NE9THpmfESSj56qLWzqP8rzCOCw" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 490px; height: auto;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><font face="Helvetica" size="4"><b>Exhibition 2019</b></font></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><font face="Helvetica" size="4"><b><br></b></font></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">I have been busy trying to finish as many portraits of Gypsies as I can.</span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">It has been a difficult year but I have managed to have seven oil on canvases in this year’s exhibition. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">I have introduced myself as the artist to everyone who took an interest so I could explain why I had painted these portraits and why I feel that I have a mission to fight against prejudice. You would be surprised at the interesting people I have talked to. One was an American pastor but I didn’t tell him that I was a Buddhist! </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">A lot of people love the portrait of the deerhound and wanted to buy it so I explained that I work on commission. I may have a commission coming. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">One man walked in and said “That’s Walter” (behind the dog) before he saw the label. You can imagine how pleased I was that I had got that good a likeness. He knows Walter’s friend Sue so I was able to arrange that someone can pick up the portrait on Sunday and give it to her. Walter died a few months after I took the reference photos. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">The furthest portrait is a “work in progress” of the deerhound’s owner so it was a nice talking point. I told people that the dog was gazing into the boy’s eyes. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">I have another portrait that I would like to finish enough tonight to add it to the exhibition as another work in progress. If I can get the second boy’s face painted and leave their clothes as the underpainting, it will look fine. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><br><br></div> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8832405074573066415.post-86617657970145552612019-05-18T11:23:00.001+01:002019-05-18T11:23:25.685+01:00Doing a Portrait Over<div style="text-align: center;"><img id="id_860e_cea9_1443_7b87" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/owvCZ1slKwqh8AZvnaQxzxSTMZw0b7WixQqQ02EWeDyDWX6Ln_mlLn6SvPk" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 439px; height: auto;"><br><br><font face="Helvetica" size="4"><b>Doing a Portrait Over</b></font></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica" size="4"><b><br></b></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica">This is cropped from a double portrait. I thought that I had finished it last year and I was about to send it to the (other) sitter. But I didn’t like the gentleman’s expression. It didn’t capture his lively sense of humour and wisdom. So I worked over it with a new expression that does. </font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica">He isn’t quite finished. I need to finish his clothes. </font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica">Meanwhile his portrait is so much better than it was, that I have to rework his fellow sitter because she looked ghost like by comparison!</font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica">Must get back to the easel!</font></div><br></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8832405074573066415.post-52718333253539588302019-05-03T20:51:00.001+01:002019-05-03T20:52:57.390+01:00Walter’s Scarf.<div style="text-align: center;"><img id="id_314b_f041_c4f8_aad0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/InsQFO-sjzkGgJql1YSajH4EWi2ojkwkX-kJdSFF44JbG9FXhYDhXkwv3IA" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 450px; height: auto;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br></div><div style="text-align: center;"><font face="Helvetica" size="4"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><b>Walter’s Scarf</b></span></font></div><div style="text-align: center;"><font face="Helvetica" size="4"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><b><br></b></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">Last year, I thought that I had finished the portrait of Walter, but then I was told that he always wore his scarf. The reference photo had a scarf but it was all twisted round one side, so I had just painted over it. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">I need a new reference photo to be able to paint the folds of a scarf correctly so I asked a male friend who is the same age as Walter to model for me. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">The next thing that I had to do was scrape off the old paint. I couldn’t scrape it right back to the canvas but I got it back enough to see the texture of the canvas. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">Now I have done the first phase of the correction by applying some oil paint for an undercoat. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">When I look closely at a painting that I thought was “finished” some time ago I immediately find things that need to be improved. So I spent some time today adding some shadow to his hat after I had photographed his undercoated scarf and sweater. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">And as for his neck; I am sure that I can make that better especially as it got scraped along with the scarf so repair is definitely called for. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br><br></div> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8832405074573066415.post-4922225991057972062019-04-23T11:12:00.001+01:002019-04-23T11:12:06.213+01:00Immunisation <div style="text-align: center;"><img id="id_4544_a77a_4683_7633" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/ApIJhMWT4lZ9aHvaISIu7LMG61UQ9iZg2hHTE8-MJ3_M1D_s5Z7LLxT2O-M" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 421px; height: auto;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><font face="Helvetica" size="4"><b>Immunisation </b></font></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><font face="Helvetica" size="4"><b><br></b></font></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">I wanted to write this post after I read an article about the importance of immunisation. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.statnews.com/2019/04/19/mother-polio-importance-immunization/?utm_campaign=rss">https://www.statnews.com/2019/04/19/mother-polio-importance-immunization/?utm_campaign=rss</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica">I suppose it rang a bell because I had polio when I was a baby. It left me with a paralysed right leg and general weakness down my right side (which nobody realised until I got post-polio syndrome and lost the use of my right hand). </font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica">I was puzzled about finding a photograph to symbolise my problems then I thought of my saddle stool. You see, with my right leg being paralysed and skinny, my left leg compensated and is very muscular. This includes my buttocks which means that sitting on an ordinary chair is very stressful and even painful because of having to balance. The saddle stool is the only really comfortable seat in the house. </font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica">So it lives in front of my easel so that I can sit and paint comfortably. </font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><br></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><br></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica">To get back to immunisation, I have often heard children ask their mothers “why does that lady walk funny?” and their mothers commonly hush them and rush them away as if walking funny was shameful. Whenever I had a chance to interrupt the hushing, I would explain to the child that it was because I caught a nasty disease that they wouldn’t catch because scientists had discovered a way of immunising against it, and they should be happy to go and have injections to keep from catching nasty illnesses. </font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><br></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica">I am so happy about the campaign to eradicate polio all over the world. There’s still polio in places where there is war going on and people are risking their lives to take the polio vaccine to these places. </font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><br></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica">When I was growing up there was no immunisation against illnesses like measles, rubella, mumps or chicken pox, so I had to suffer through them and I was lucky not to have bad side effects from them. </font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica">I remember the day when my whole class at school came down with rubella and we were comparing our rashes. That must be so infectious for us all to get it the same day. I hope that none of us got anywhere near a pregnant woman. </font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica">When I was growing up, there was immunisation against diphtheria which is another frequently fatal disease that immunisation has pretty well eradicated. My mother caught that and was hospitalised when she was a teenager. She made sure that I had the injections against that, I promise you!</font></div><br><br></div> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8832405074573066415.post-67378789686462032662019-04-12T16:53:00.001+01:002019-04-12T16:53:49.849+01:00Gardening Break<div style="text-align: center;"><img id="id_cadd_aa1c_7a54_a5b6" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/QYo-ELAqwkcn0Ilnz2ibjmAQakB-fihixkaE8JLWZVvryAOjsbp6pEC1CMo" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 336px; height: auto;"><br><br><font face="Helvetica" size="4"><b>Gardening Break</b></font></div><div style="text-align: center;"><font face="Helvetica" size="4"><b><br></b></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica">I have been using up my energy gardening recently. It is that time of year. </font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica">The photo above is of a fruit tree. It is a cross between an apricot and a Mirabelle plum. There’s a few flowers on it but I doubt that there will be any fruit this year but it is exciting. </font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica">The Miracot isn’t the only tree that I have in my garden. I have a hazel tree with a forsythia growing up through it which is so tall that it is trying to be a tree too! </font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica">One year, I saved some horsechestnut conkers and one grew. I have that one in a pot to bonsai it. There is no way that I have room in my garden for a horsechestnut tree. </font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica">I love trees but my garden is very small so I have been looking for small trees to fit in it. And fruit trees add extra value of course. They have flowers and attractive fruit and I can eat it! </font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica">A very small tree is an apple tree, an Appletini, which I have planted in the catio. The space where the catio was built, had raspberries shooting up everywhere. I have been able to move some of the runners and you can see one just beginning to shoot up under the Miracot tree in the photo above.</font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica">Another good reason for having trees in my garden, is that trees sequester carbon and help wildlife. I don’t use pesticides. </font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica">Talking of wildlife, I rescued a collapsed bumblebee by giving her a spoonful of honey. She put her tongue straight into it and later on she had gone. I left the spoon in case she came back. </font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica">I have another area at the top end of my garden and I am wondering if I can fit another tree in there. I really want it to be a moss and fern garden so I am sure there’s a suitable tree if I can find one that doesn’t grow too big. </font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica">I have planted alpine strawberries in the catio and I mean to add herbs (including catnip of course).</font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica">The photo of the catio below shows blackcurrant bushes. I probably won’t get many blackcurrants this year. The bushes were cut back in February to make space for the catio. </font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica">I tried to photograph the forsythia but I didn’t get the focus right. </font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><br></font></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img id="id_b7ad_832f_9560_8b87" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/z7r2MsLXYjJp8zAd4Qc3ff89PCw9WZzTGRbZByprNBRS7JL5uf-6GiwPHU8" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 414px; height: auto;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img id="id_b780_ce70_593a_b097" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/VnX6qMEyXMDLZbmtaQ8q-xNQcavdeD1mG0QZQ3mw9vX-VC-f8h9jTtyMy48" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 406px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span><br><font face="Helvetica"><br></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><br></font></div> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8832405074573066415.post-4608259657381819812019-03-30T09:55:00.001+00:002019-03-30T09:55:13.248+00:00Technique v Paint Brand <div style="text-align: center;"><img id="id_93a0_496f_1a7b_d855" src="https://alexdenk.eu/blogtouch?id=1Sjjj7FyYYfPJyQNYohSc60ho9RYfm2Ym" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 415px; height: auto;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><font face="Helvetica" size="4"><b>Technique v Paint Brand</b></font></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><font face="Helvetica" size="4"><b><br></b></font></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">I have been having trouble with the portrait I have been painting because it is of an man with pronounced smile lines and dimples and the portrait is small on the canvas so there is no room for error. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">I am painting the portrait in water mixable oil paint on canvas with a very small brush. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">When I first tried water mixable oil paint I bought some Duo Aqua Oil by Holbein and I liked them very much but I wasn’t painting anything small and detailed. I had also bought a few tubes of Cobra paint by Royal Talens just to compare the colours. It is amazing how different burnt sienna can be from different manufacturers. I didn’t like the Cobra paint so much but ...</span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">When I paint large areas with Duo Aqua paint, it is fine, but when I am trying to get a fine smile line in just the right place it catches on the tops of the weave of the canvas and I can’t get it in between the threads without using too much paint. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">After struggling for a few days, I thought about trying the Cobra paints that I had bought. Amazingly the brush marks went just where I wanted them. So I looked at the colours that I had and made a list of the ones I needed and sent an order for them. Yesterday I cleaned my palette and laid out the new Cobra ones. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">The colours in the photo from left to right are titanium white, light oxide red, burnt sienna, raw umber and burnt umber. These are the colours that I use to paint flesh. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">I love Terra Rosa colour that Duo Aqua makes which is the only thing that I miss. Light oxide red is a close match so I will learn to live without it when necessary. I can still use the Duo Aqua paint for less detailed portraits. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><br><br><br><br></div> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8832405074573066415.post-80445832532193530012019-03-15T17:56:00.001+00:002019-03-15T17:56:38.118+00:00Yawning Cub WiP<div style="text-align: center;"><img id="id_ecce_1b35_f481_490e" src="https://drive.google.com/uc?id=1_3j3A9Pb8MPK9NFwAFXjVi1iSQRZCOch" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 352px; height: auto;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><font face="Helvetica" size="4"><b>Yawning Cub, Work in Progress</b></font></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><font face="Helvetica" size="4"><b><br></b></font></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">My latest pencil drawing is a cub yawning as s/he comes out of the den in the morning light. I am using a 2H lead in a mechanical pencil on graphic film. Maybe that is why the 2H comes out so black compared to drawing on paper. I like the smoothness of graphic film and the fact that it doesn’t buckle if it gets damp. As graphic film is translucent, I often colour the drawing on the reverse. If I do it on the reverse of the Yawning Cub, it might solve the problem of colouring the roof of the den. But at the moment I am challenging myself to do it in graphite pencil. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">I have had another challenge this week. I was blending pastel skies and distant hills. I was working on canvas primed with clear Colourfix. (Colourfix is brilliant for mixed media and I am using it to underpaint and sketch portraits in oils.) Colourfix is gritty which is why it holds the pastels. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">Many artists work with pastel on a sandy textured surface but in the past I always worked on Canson Mi-Teintes paper. But the paper absorbs water and buckles which is the main reason that I started working on graphic film. I wonder if I can prime graphic film with Colourfix? I will try it some time. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">Anyway to get back to the gritty surface on the canvas, I was blending the pastel with my finger and it got very red and sore. The next day I used another finger to blend pastel on the next 2 portraits and that finger got very sore. The next day I sacrificed a third finger on a big painting of a boy on his horse. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">After that I decided to preserve my forefinger and look for a solution so I searched for Colour Shapers online. I believe that they are made of silicone. I ordered 2 in finger sizes and another silicone blender which looks good for large areas. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">Time will tell. Today I drew, and did some oil painting. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">I also took Jasper for a walk. We have been kept in by the bad weather and he was beginning to go stir-crazy. Dogs are so valuable to get artists away from the easel and into the fresh air. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">Here are the silicone blenders. The black one is harder than the light grey. I don’t know which is best. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img id="id_3bc5_a392_41e0_a77e" src="https://drive.google.com/uc?id=1N5TZyOSOQwvgo61nEZhmH_HCcHQyVdVi" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 356px; height: auto;"><br><br><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><br><br><br><br></div> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8832405074573066415.post-69568633601617833532019-03-08T18:15:00.001+00:002019-03-08T18:15:25.729+00:00Portrait of a Caracal, Finished <div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: center;"><img id="id_f783_8a5c_46da_5e26" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-59dyO3X-dCU/XIKxN3Tj6BI/AAAAAAAAB2M/igwqFfRFkvc2ENULBjeCi89ERcUpG04-wCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 464px; height: auto;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><font face="Helvetica" size="4"><b>Portrait of a Caracal, Finished </b></font></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><font face="Helvetica" size="4"><b><br></b></font></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">I finished the portrait drawing of the caracal and I have started a new drawing of a cub yawning. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">The caracal is drawn in graphite pencil in 2H on graphic film. It is designed to frame in a 5 by 7 inch frame. It took nearly 20 hours to finish because once I had the pencil marks I had to soften them with an eraser. I used a Mono zero elastomer eraser and also putty rubber. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">I had a challenge photographing the “work in progress” through the dark days of winter. I have a very nice Daylight lamp to work at my easel so when it was too dark to take a photograph I naturally turned the light on. But the photo came out striped. It reminded me of how, back in the days of rolls of photographic film and cathode ray tube televisions, to take a photo of a TV screen it was necessary to use 1/60 speed or the picture would come out striped. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">I tried Wikipedia, then Google to search for an explanation of the phenomenon but as I didn’t have a clue about the physics of light, I couldn’t find anything. Then I thought of dogs. I remembered reading many years ago, that dogs couldn’t watch TV comfortably because their vision is faster than ours and they see the flicker. So I googled dogs watching TV and got a result. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">It seems that we humans need 16 to 20 images per second to see the picture but dogs need 70 or the image flickers. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">Well I don’t know how many images per second my iPhone’s camera app is “seeing”, but it wasn’t able to take a smooth photo. I went to look for an app that gave me full control of the speed at which I took photos. I found an app called Yamera. It took a smooth photo at a speed of 128 but not the standard 125. I didn’t try slower speeds as they would have been blurred unless I used a tripod. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">I took a couple of photos this afternoon to show but I didn’t use the new app. I compared natural daylight to my lamp. Here are the photos first with light on then with light off. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">Below is the link to the article about human and dog eyesight. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;"><img id="id_c26b_1f0c_99f3_b7c6" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-hguHbHBN-7A/XIKxOXcsBsI/AAAAAAAAB2Q/0bqbvVjiB5QxR1AkLTr0l2snoaL9zo_YQCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 252px; height: auto;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img id="id_316e_84cd_d564_fb6f" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-sbIgOdNOLwY/XIKxPNU4f9I/AAAAAAAAB2U/rLcQeBteAFIlTph5kk0hHHfHVFCM5-8PACHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 249px; height: auto;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.quora.com/Why-do-cats-stare-at-things-on-my-computer-screen-and-dogs-dont-notice-things-on-my-computer-screen">https://www.quora.com/Why-do-cats-stare-at-things-on-my-computer-screen-and-dogs-dont-notice-things-on-my-computer-screen</a><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span><br><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span><br><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><br><br><br><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><br><br><br><br></div><br></div> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8832405074573066415.post-48460710546007911412019-03-01T18:01:00.001+00:002019-03-01T18:01:41.493+00:00Portrait of Caracal: Work in Progress <div style="text-align: center;"><img id="id_f42f_5201_7c11_808b" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-vK7FDGn9fKA/XHlzg2r6CnI/AAAAAAAAB2A/9kt7JkZ-CcIsUU3A1_jBGU0FsP4VpiXMgCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 599px; height: auto;"><br><br><p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"><b><font size="4">Portrait of Caracal: Work in Progress</font><font size="3"> </font></b></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"><b><font size="3"><br></font></b></p><p style="text-align: left; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"><font size="3">The main problem with this drawing is the way that the cats keep sitting on it! </font></p><p style="text-align: left; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;">I hope to finish it this weekend. </p><p style="text-align: left; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"><font size="3"><br></font></p><p style="text-align: left; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"><font size="3">I haven’t done much artwork for the last three weeks. It is three weeks today since one of my dogs died (of old age - she was over 15). First there was the burial, then the washing of bedding and toys. </font></p><p style="text-align: left; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"><font size="3"><br></font></p><p style="text-align: left; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"><font size="3">After that I had someone here building a catio for me. I spent too much time watching and leaving my easel. I tried to draw the caracal in the evenings but, as I wrote above, the cats demanded attention. I think that they missed Bryn so much. She adored the cats and they felt protected by her. </font></p><p style="text-align: left; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"><font size="3"><br></font></p><p style="text-align: left; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"><font size="3">The catio was finished a week ago. That is, the construction was done, but I had the “landscaping” to do. This involved carrying buckets of soil to build up raised beds. It isn’t finished yet. I am going to have it on two levels. I will grow catnip and oatgrass for Fliss. For myself I have a mini apple tree, and I am thinking of growing strawberries. A catio is a bit like a fruit cage and the strawberries won’t be eaten by the blackbird. They may be eaten by the dog though. Dogs like strawberries. </font></p><p style="text-align: left; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"><font size="3"><br></font></p><p style="text-align: left; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"><font size="3">Jasper, my other dog, has been trying to find a new dog friend on our walks. I am hoping to get a puppy for him (once I have caught up with my portraits!) Jasper is such a calm and friendly dog that he would be a very good influence on a puppy. </font></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><b><br></b></span></p><p style="text-align: left; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><b><br></b></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br></span></p><p style="text-align: left; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br></span></p></div> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8832405074573066415.post-58378870727389671682019-01-25T20:57:00.001+00:002019-01-25T20:57:31.508+00:00Portrait of Young Wolf Finished <div style="text-align: center;"><img id="id_85eb_2f57_6395_fb63" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Gs0xVO1hwcA/XEt4ORjTWfI/AAAAAAAAB1Q/9urnlCsgAaYGA1qNJfuYTr_vGRzZg-F3wCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 421px; height: auto;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><font face="Helvetica" size="4"><b>Portrait of Young Wolf Finished</b></font></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><font face="Helvetica" size="4"><b><br></b></font></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">I have finished the portrait of the young wolf. The actual drawing took me 47 hours although, as I took the photo in November 1999 you could say it took me 19 years.</span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">When I met this lovely wolf he was 6 months old and he was being held on a lead. I was so honoured that he liked me. He took hold of my wrist very gently in his mouth. It was the highlight of my life. After he was put back into the enclosure with the other wolves he kept jumping against the wire mesh fencing towards me and I got splattered with mud all over my jacket from the wolf enclosure. The result was that when I got home next day my own dog wouldn’t come near me! It was quite a while before the smell wore off my jacket and Trixie got back to normal. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">Back in those days, I had an SLR camera and I had to wait for the film to be developed before I knew if I had any reasonable photos. I tried to paint a portrait in pastel from the above pose but it coincided with the time I went down with post-polio syndrome and I had to give up artwork altogether for a while. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">I have always wanted to get back to doing a portrait from this photo, but it got put away in such a safe place that I couldn’t find it! When I did find it I looked at it and thought how soft focus it is compared to the sharp, see-every-hair photos that I can take with my latest DSLR. It was hard to see his hind feet because they were the same colour as the autumn leaves that he was standing in. That is why the drawing took so long. I did my best. Such a darling animal merited it. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">Because of the poor quality of the photo, I chose to draw a small portrait in graphite using mechanical pencils with different grades of lead from 2B to 3H. I draw on graphic film because it is “dimensionally stable” or, to put it another way, it stays flat in a humid atmosphere. The Eden Valley, where I live, is frequently humid. In fact I remember one day I was out in the rain and there wasn’t a single cloud in the sky. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">I have two more photos of the wolf that I would like to use as reference for portraits. In one he is lying in the dead leaves so I will have to do that one in colour. Maybe coloured pencils?</span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><br></div> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8832405074573066415.post-67287988453430868342019-01-05T16:54:00.001+00:002019-01-05T16:54:00.455+00:00Work in Progress: Young Wolf 2<div style="text-align: center;"><img id="id_d5ff_e46a_dc46_177c" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-R_FrYdHQoXI/XDDhJvfeVEI/AAAAAAAAB1A/S2OgpsAHOv4akY_QWby0xl6CzVXIYmWjwCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 424px; height: auto;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><font face="Helvetica" size="4"><b>Work in Progress: Young Wolf 2</b></font></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><font face="Helvetica" size="4"><b><br></b></font></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">I took the above photo yesterday and then I started drawing again instead of writing this artblog. So there is quite a lot more of him done since then. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">I have been struggling to get the texture of his fur right. The reference photo was taken back in November 1999 on film, so it doesn’t have the detail that I can take today even with my phone! </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">I have been going over his head again and again, lifting off dots of the graphite pencil with a kneadable eraser, then re-applying using a 2H mechanical pencil trying to get the impression of soft fur with flecks of highlights. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">I so want to get back to this drawing that I will stop writing now. Watch out for an update. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><br><br></div> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8832405074573066415.post-63547855178937782392018-12-28T14:23:00.001+00:002018-12-28T14:23:13.119+00:00Work in Progress: Young Wolf<div style="text-align: center;"><img id="id_b39a_437d_1cdb_3f16" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-QimnXzpuH-8/XCYxzfluW8I/AAAAAAAAB0s/EBa4RFvDqPoLMTnduhAWJaaN9T0vLYTVACHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 398px; height: auto;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><font face="Helvetica" size="4"><b>Work in Progress: Young Wolf</b></font></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><font face="Helvetica" size="4"><b><br></b></font></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">It is a long time since I took the photos of this young wolf. He was 6 months old at the time and absolutely delightful. I started his portrait in pastel at the time but then post polio syndrome hit me and I wasn’t able to continue. It was a few years before I recovered sufficiently to take up drawing again. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">But I have always wanted to do this portrait and have started a couple of attempts at it. Now I am determined to draw him at last. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">I am drawing him in mechanical pencil on graphic film as part of a series for an exhibition. As these drawings are small, I can draw sitting on the sofa of an evening. The only extra equipment that I need is something to quickly protect the current drawing from any cat who suddenly decides that they want to jump onto my lap. I bought a pad in a plastic folder that has 5 extra pockets to hold future drawings ready set up. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">I started this drawing a while ago. I had been using a 4B clutch pencil and, now that I have picked it up again, I see that I had made it too dark. So I have been working hard with putty rubber and the Tombow MONO zero eraser and I am happy now with the ear on the left and nearly happy with the top of his head. I drew Jasper’s portrait mainly with a 0.3 2B mechanical pencil and a 0.3 2H mechanical pencil on the “white” areas, so I am blending in the erased areas of this wolf portrait with the 0.3 2H mechanical pencil. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">The portrait of Jasper is finished but I haven’t scanned it yet. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">My last blog showed a photo of my dreadful tiling. I spent Christmas, with much appreciated help from my son, building a kitchen unit and moving furniture upstairs and downstairs. My kitchen is already working better for me though there are still problems to solve. One is the door to the unit. I found the door took up too much room when it was open and also I had trouble with the hinges. I am thinking of sawing the door in half vertically and hinging it so it will be a bifold door. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">The point of the unit is to hold the cat litter trays away from the dogs. The cats are happy with it so that is promising. The top shelf is holding the cat food and a spare bag of cat litter so it is looking promising. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">It would have been nice to start the New Year with everything organised. But it is much easier to cook my dinner in there and that is great. I was so tired of living on sandwiches!</span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">And you can’t see how bad the tiling is. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">(See Fliss in the cardboard box rather than one of the beds! Typical cat.)</span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img id="id_f56f_7303_2530_4a81" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-wCYDPT4bLro/XCYxzxIXaJI/AAAAAAAAB0w/xO4AqCha1Bw_4SQEkaY0P6wJOIdpNygPwCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 259px; height: auto;"><br><br><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: center;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><br><br></div> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8832405074573066415.post-43822256971685951082018-12-21T17:42:00.001+00:002018-12-21T17:42:15.809+00:00Jasper as a Puppy <div style="text-align: center;"><img id="id_eac1_bbf6_9d16_802a" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-HsCl34pFCa4/XB0l9FdR3NI/AAAAAAAAB0Y/Oz9Bl1iKYjsKXZmZd4gzYMOmLo-TzoGywCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 457px; height: auto;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><font face="Helvetica" size="4"><b>Jasper as a Puppy</b></font></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><font face="Helvetica" size="4"><b><br></b></font></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">I have been drawing Jasper from an old photo that I took when he was a puppy. He is still as cute!</span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">I am drawing in pencil on graphic film. I use a mechanical pencil with a 0.3 mm 2B lead so I don’t have to spend all my time sharpening a pencil. The lead that I am enjoying using these days is </span></font><span style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Uni Nano Dia Lead. It has nano-diamonds in it which make it very smooth to draw with. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I also spend a lot of time using erasers, both kneadable ones and the Tombow MONO eraser which is a retractable eraser that is only 2.3 mms at the business end. Between the fine pencil and the small erasers I can make delicate pencil marks to suggest puppy fur. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">So far I have spent 5 hours on this portrait. Small drawings are not as quick as you might think. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">As well as drawing most days, I have been getting on with the plan for my kitchen alcove. I was expecting to start tiling last Sunday but I had to scrub a patch of black mould and leave it to dry. I didn’t want black mould trapped behind my tiles. So I did the tiling yesterday. The walls are so uneven that I am not worrying about how bad the tiling looks. Most of it will be hidden behind the unit anyway. I am capable of doing decent if not perfect tiling, but I would have had to replaster first to get the walls flat, and I don’t want to lose the time. The whole point of this is to make my kitchen more efficient so I can spend more time drawing and painting. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">The walls are uneven because this house was built back in the 1870s using sandstone from the local quarry. It is poor quality sandstone with lots of inclusions. I think it is referred to as pudding stone. The general effect is that the walls are built of rubble. There are a couple of internal walls made of lath and plaster with horsehair in it. There are the remnants of the old gas lighting if you do a bit of archaeology under the old plaster! </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">So here is a photo of the alcove this morning. I have done grouting since, so it looks worse (until I clean it off).</span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img id="id_5e57_467e_8b57_e23" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-oX6WV3VFCoo/XB0l9kLbSQI/AAAAAAAAB0c/RQfx6Tq2s6MQmsYLjJ5A6OAPuw31bk7GgCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 341px; height: auto;"><br><br><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></span></font></div><br><br><br><br><br></div> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8832405074573066415.post-12348601472633844902018-12-15T20:42:00.001+00:002018-12-15T20:42:27.340+00:00Busy Organising <div style="text-align: center;"><img id="id_2d0f_19b1_4119_8ce5" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-fSPG36D01wQ/XBVnLulvDvI/AAAAAAAAB0A/ln1dvcBQKGQ2r0pfka9zRyEx1qRM-WzUACHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 463px; height: auto;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><font face="Helvetica" size="4"><b>Busy Organising </b></font></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><font face="Helvetica" size="4"><b><br></b></font></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">This week I collected 2 of my “portraits” from the framers. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">Didn’t he do a wonderful job!? </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">On the left is Jasper’s Eye which is a scraperboard. I did it from a kind of selfie. I was sitting on the floor and Jasper was behind me looking over my shoulder. The miniature on the right is a portrait in acrylics on ivorine which is an artificial ivory that isn’t made any more. I have had the two artworks for years because I couldn’t think of the best way to frame them but I knew that Adrian could do it. I have written about him before. If you live in this part of the world check him out:</span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font face="Helvetica">Adrian Brunskill at Your Life as Art, 13/14 Devonshire Arcade, Penrith, CA11 7SX, telephone <a dir="ltr" href="tel:07712" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="telephone" x-apple-data-detectors-result="0" style="text-decoration: none;">07712</a>569787</font> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">The other thing that I have been busy with - well my iPad broke where the cable plugs in to charge it. Luckily it was charged at 80% when I discovered the problem, so I turned it off and ordered a new one. It was a while before the new one arrived and then I had to spend many hours transferring information to the new iPad. Of course I wasn’t backed up! (I am now except for photos which I always transferred to my laptop.) It took me until today to be set up sufficiently to catch up with my blog - I have an app that makes it easier. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Finally I have been wishing to make improvements to my kitchen for months but it was quite recently that inspiration struck me. Then I had to work out a plan for the project. The first job was to pull out some drawers and shelves from the alcove. It had been stuck in with expanding foam because I had been getting cooking smells from next door. This is an old house built about 1870 and there are a few cracks. First I tried to use chisel and a knife to cut through the foam but it didn’t work so I had to use a 24 inch saw. That worked. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">I am going to tile the alcove and then I am going to build the corner base unit I bought. I am going to use it to house the cat litter trays so the saw is going to come in handy to cut cat sized holes. One will be in the blank face, and the other one in the door. The alcove is only 75cms wide so there should be space for a slim cat to get in and out. And there will be the hole in the door. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">I will publish an update when the base unit is in place. It won’t be finished then as the work surface is currently acting as a desk in my bedroom and I am waiting for my son to visit and bring it downstairs for me. The desk now in the kitchen will go in my bedroom. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Here is a photo of how half my kitchen looked this morning. I think that the easel will go upstairs to my bedroom with the desk. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img id="id_2d59_e389_85f1_6d5d" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-4H2MJU9rsFA/XBVnMbogQCI/AAAAAAAAB0E/FgMPj4TKL6kl_p-IpCv0TfwPm2YlIuEzgCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></span></font></div><br></div> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8832405074573066415.post-34344014300579364222018-11-23T14:40:00.001+00:002018-11-23T14:40:50.165+00:00Pastel Palette Box<div style="text-align: center;"><img id="id_810d_9115_2397_58ba" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-hExQ7jv2d54/W_gRbz77VuI/AAAAAAAABz0/sZfZUSBMvPQspgYk2kPIB54P65rQYVa4gCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 529px; height: auto;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><font face="Helvetica" size="4"><b>Pastel Palette Box</b></font></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><font face="Helvetica" size="4"><b><br></b></font></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">I love my cats but they are a hazard in the studio. They are so fond of sitting on my work table which means trampling my palettes. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">My pencils are safe in boxes, and my oil paint palettes are in air tight food storage tubs. I paint my gouache portraits upstairs in my bedroom on my other easel. And that paint palette is also in a food storage tub. That left my pastels. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">Many years ago my dear brother made me a wonderful storage palette for my pastels. He got a nice chunky piece of wood and routed pastel sized grooves in it. It is brilliant. It keeps all my colours separate so my pastels don’t get dirty. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">I had the palette in a big box which sat on my cupboard. But then I got cats. Actually I got Fliss and Jet. Pumpkin never put a paw wrong. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">Although the box fitted nicely on top of the cupboard and would fit in the cupboard, it wouldn’t fit in the drawer where I could reach the pastels and they would be safe. I had to make a smaller box for it. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">So I bought a sheet of plywood and left it leaning against my bedroom wall for a couple of weeks. Yesterday I got my saw and a ruler and marked out the shapes and sizes that I needed. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica;">I also cut a piece of wood to hold my reference photos on the downstairs easel. I have one that works fine when I am painting on an A3 canvas in portrait mode but it is too big if I am painting in landscape mode. So I marked that out as well. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica;">All the pieces fitted beautifully into one end of the plywood. I have a nice tidy piece of plywood left. I may use it for paintings. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica;"><br></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">I have my parents to thank for my practical woodwork skills. My wonderful father taught me how to use a saw (you let the saw do the work) and many other skills. My mother encouraged me try everything saying that I could do anything anyone else could do even if it took me longer (referring to paralysis left from my catching polio). So I have more confidence in my skills than many able bodied people. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">My sawing was slow but I got it all done. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">I had two problems with my new box, but they both had the same solution. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">The plywood was thin so my plan was to stick it with “No More Nails” glue. I have the glue but I can’t find the gadget that pushes it out of the nozzle. Maybe it is in the attic? </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">The other problem was that the wood isn’t flat. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">So I used Sugru. I am a big fan of Sugru and always have some in. It is a glue that you can shape and it sets to a firm rubbery consistency after 24 hours. I used that to stick the pieces of plywood. I was generous with it because of the gaps with the wood being slightly bent, and the Sugru packets were a number of colours so I have a messy looking box (see above) but I don’t care and it keeps my pastels safe in the drawer. I will paint it one day. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">If you don’t know about Sugru check it out. I am not getting any money for advertising. It is so useful and I just like to be helpful. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://sugru.com/">https://sugru.com/</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><br><br></div> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8832405074573066415.post-80227681562543802822018-11-16T12:52:00.001+00:002018-11-16T12:52:15.457+00:00This week’s painting <div style="text-align: center;"><img id="id_b981_da29_a726_e2d" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-zdNV66NHmog/W-69frxhRvI/AAAAAAAABzo/o6zGOMAJRgALeDaYBLROZkBmt7MNnlozgCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 512px; height: auto;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><font face="Helvetica" size="4"><b>This week’s painting. </b></font></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><font face="Helvetica" size="4"><b><br></b></font></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">I was just thinking about what I have done this week. It has been a week of disruptions as usual but I did get on with the portrait of Bentley. However as I have been modifying the sheen on his head I don’t think it will show well in a photo. I also worked on a graphite pencil drawing of Jasper when he was a cute little puppy. It is nice to be able to work on a pencil drawing on these dark evenings when it is hard to judge colour. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">Then I remembered. I have been covering canvases in glitter. I am doing it for Father Christmas. He visits Appleby-in-Westmorland every year on the last Saturday in November so he can find out what the children want for Christmas and he gives them some sweets to take home. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">I didn’t see him last year but I heard that some of his visitors were disappointed by his grotto. So I wondered if I could help. Some years ago I bought 2 triple hinged canvases. They are big. They are 1.5 metres high and the full width adds up to 1.5 metres wide. I had an idea that I could use them, so I bought a lot of red and silver glitter and some blue glitter acrylic paint. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">I tried the blue glitter paint. It was pretty but I souped it up with lots of silver glitter and used it to paint the top halves of the canvases. I used 2 coats. Then I turned the whole thing over and mixed the red glitter in PVA adhesive and blobbed it on the bottom half. I gave that a second coat too. Once it was all dry I gave the whole thing a coat of acrylic gloss varnish. I hope the varnish keeps the glitter where it belongs because I worry that the glitter flakes may get in the river and the fish may eat them thinking that they are food. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">The canvas has been handed over to a man with a big car who can take it to Santa’s Grotto for me.</span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">I still have to paint the second triple canvas with Sparkles this weekend. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">Do you think Father Christmas will like it?</span></font></div><br><br></div> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8832405074573066415.post-51245611747641137452018-11-12T16:02:00.001+00:002018-11-12T16:02:06.938+00:00Housework <div style="text-align: center;"><img id="id_3049_b_abec_c685" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-SyaLz7jwUJ0/W-mj_bMnglI/AAAAAAAABzc/joZV1WvCtmU1WOK5mIxCw5eEfPCQHG_IACHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 536px; height: auto;"><br><br><font face="Helvetica" size="4"><b>Housework </b></font></div><div style="text-align: center;"><font face="Helvetica" size="4"><b><br></b></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica">I wrote last week about how I couldn’t work on my paintings because I had a bad cold. This last week I did very little because I was spending my time catching up with housework. </font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica">The photo shows the corner of my bedroom where I used to do my best paintings before I moved my old cat in there and the room became full of scratching barrel, cat litter tray, food and water bowls... You get the idea. Also my latest rescue cat, Jet, is territorial and lurked outside my bedroom marking. I didn’t like it when he scratched the banister handrail. It gave me splinters in my hand. So I set up my studio easel downstairs and worked there despite the cats jumping on my work table. </font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica">So, the old cat having died and having got over the worst of my cold, I did a lot of sorting out my house. </font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><br></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica">The best thing is that I have my table easel set up again and Bentley is already being worked on there. </font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica">I like this space next to the window with lots of north light. It is upstairs so I am not shadowed by the houses opposite and neighbours’ cars and vans. (I can cope with grey ones, but brightly coloured cars outside the window reflect strange lights on my portraits.)</font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica">You may have noticed the step ladder under the table. If you look at the top corner you can see blackish marks on the photo. They are caused by damage to the plaster from rain coming through the wall which has been fixed now. I will need the steps to climb up and repair it. I will do that after I have finished Bentley. I don’t want to drip plaster on him!</font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><br></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica">I want to spend more time painting. </font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><br></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica">I only have two serious distractions. One is my pets, but that is a welcome and enjoyable distraction. The other distraction is housework. I am trying hard to organise my home so that housework is easier. </font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica">I tried blocking in time to dedicate to artwork. That is the recommendation for getting things done. But it doesn’t work for me. I can’t concentrate on painting when there is dog hair all over the place. (One friend called it tumbleweed.) And NO! I am not getting rid of the dogs. </font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica">So my solution is to schedule Housework time. That means that I have the rest of the day to paint. </font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><br></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica">As for organising my house, I have plans to rearrange the kitchen. I designed the kitchen when I didn’t have any cats. I always had dogs but they were no trouble until I had to keep them out of the cat litter and stop them from eating the cat food. I am going to take the lower shelves out of the small alcove and buy a corner kitchen base cupboard which I am going to use to hide the cat litter trays and hopefully store cat food too. Then I am going to feed the cats on the higher shelves in the alcove. Meanwhile I will replace the storage space with a tall wide but shallow cupboard which will go behind the kitchen table. At the moment I have a desk behind the table and that will go in my bedroom to hold my best printer. </font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><br></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica">I have other plans too, but they are waiting for the kitchen to be finished. </font></div> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8832405074573066415.post-68281597751859998112018-11-04T18:45:00.001+00:002018-11-04T18:45:22.330+00:00Difficulties <div style="text-align: center;"><img id="id_dcdf_e8e9_8136_11c3" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-S6gWT8wcTIY/W98-QJ4SneI/AAAAAAAABzM/9OmZ96RjN_QSG4TZT85T4pNrkfryeUyXwCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 420px; height: auto;"><br><br></div><div style="text-align: center;"><font face="Helvetica" size="4"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><b>Difficulties</b></span></font></div><div style="text-align: center;"><font face="Helvetica" size="4"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><b><br></b></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">I didn’t post last week because I had a difficult week and didn’t do any art. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">Everything happened at once. One of my dogs, Bryn, became very ill (her legs collapsed), and my old cat died. On top of that I caught a bad cold. It doesn’t help a person recover from a cold when they are digging a cat’s grave in the rain. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">Instinct told me that the best way for Bryn to recover was to take her for short walks where she had something interesting to sniff. I used a harness with a handle on the back to support her. It worked and she has recovered. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">My cold took a lot longer to recover from. In fact I am still snuffly. There is no way that I can paint with a cold that bad. I was coughing non stop and I can’t paint in pastel when there is danger of it getting spattered. I vividly remember the day that I was painting a mother and child portrait in my dining room. My son was listening to a recording of one of the William stories by Richmal Crompton, and eating a cheese sandwich at the same time. He burst out laughing and sprayed greasy cheese all over my pastel portrait. I had to start the painting again but it was worth it because the second version was much better. </span></font><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">So instead of fun stuff like painting and drawing, I worked on my end of business year accounts. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">I started thinking of filing. I always want a better way to file my projects and plans. One day I will find a perfect solution. I have digital filing systems but I have a feeling that I will do better with a paper solution. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">I went on my favourite website who stock my favourite notebooks. I ordered lots of notebooks in different sizes and some cards because I think a card index file might work. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">Then I looked at pencil sharpeners. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">I have been buying a lot of different pastel pencils and in the case of one brand in particular, I have a problem with breaking leads. I do drop the pencils a lot. I have a lot of different types of pencil sharpener. In every case the lead broke. I used a craft knife. That was better but it was still stressing the leads. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">I had read about a new design of pencil sharpener made by Caran d’Ache and I wondered if Cult Pens stocked it. And they did! </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">So you can see it above. It is so easy to control. I hold the sharpener in my right hand with the pencil in my left, and use my left thumb to push against one fork of the sharpener to stabilise it. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">It is amusing that a new pencil sharpener should be the high spot of my week.</span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8832405074573066415.post-84609812156834108902018-10-22T13:10:00.001+01:002018-10-22T13:10:58.466+01:00Craft Fair 2018<div style="text-align: center;"><img id="id_c4fa_1570_1ba0_71e" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-UsvxwizFf-Q/W82-UM_BsfI/AAAAAAAABy4/KONfxjCDLb8f9quzRTzuysyHrHVciu24wCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 439px; height: auto;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><font face="Helvetica" size="4"><b>Craft Fair 2018</b></font></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><font face="Helvetica" size="4"><b><br></b></font></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">I decided to show my animal portraits and drawings at this year’s Craft Fair at St Lawrence’s Church, Appleby in the beautiful Eden Valley near the English Lake District. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">I was given a pew to set up my artworks, which was great because there was a ledge to hold my smaller works so I didn’t have to take so many easels down the hill. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">From the left, at the far end of the pew (by my folding walking frame) you can see the portrait of Gucci in oils on canvas, followed by the portrait of Boots which is painted in pastel on canvas, then a pen and ink of my son with his horse. After that there are five drawings in pen and ink on graphic film. I drew the animals on the front of the graphic film, then I turned them over and put touches of colour on the reverse. Graphic film is translucent so the colour shows through. The wolf only needed his eyes and tongue enhanced to look good! Finally my masterpiece is the portrait in graphite pencil of my dog Bryn. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">I always talk of going down the hill when I walk into Appleby town centre because the town is in a valley with steep sides and I live near the top of the hill on the east. From my house I can see the top of the Church tower. It is a beautiful old Church in the centre of the community. I have been in so many churches that feel as if they are kept in mothballs during the week, but St Lawrence’s feels alive. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">The yearly Craft Fair is one of the events held to raise money for repairs to the Church and I like to support them though I don’t attend the church as I am a Buddhist. So this year I held a raffle. I offered a prize of a portrait by me and I managed to sell a total of 27 tickets. I was a bit disappointed as I hoped to sell at least 30. Hey ho! </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">I have talked to the winner of the raffle and she wants a portrait of her cat who died. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">I also showed two of my old animal pastels. The wolf was facing the other way and I don’t think many people looked over the other end of the pew to see it. </span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">Here is a photo of the rabbit. I painted it back in 1997 in pastel on paper. If you think it is more whimsical than my usual style I agree. It was intended to be an illustration for a children’s story about a teddy bear having an adventure and this was when the teddy meets a rabbit. But I got bored with the idea so I cut off the part of the painting with the teddy bear and filled in the gap with the thistle.</span></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></font></div><img id="id_5234_89c1_cbe4_b14f" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-u52HsSVQ4yY/W82-UFp6ooI/AAAAAAAABy0/umAwdR10TpIsDIJVY3Y9ikqLK2LBIci_QCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 361px; height: auto;"><br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"> </span></font></div><br><br></div> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0