The Flight of the Dolphins

Hello Friends!

The Merry Month of Mermaid May {Mermay} continues.  No mermaids today, but some of the underwater friends of mermaids by way of a trio of common dolphins in a galactic ocean.  Inspired by Ida Andersen Lang at Drawing Magic Circle.  

I can't pretend otherwise that I'm chuffed to bits with this one, and I'm even thinking I might push the boat out and frame it.

I hope you like it.

Until next time

Stay safe and stay well

Debbie xx

Successes and Failures

Hello Friends!

Life is full of opposites, and no matter how much I enjoy creating art, i feel that my failures outweigh my successes.  Typing is tricksy  for me at the moment, so today I'll not mince about and I shall get straight into the pictures. 

I'll begin with the failures.  This is my reference photo for everything shown today.  It was an app on Facebook, I think I wrote about it a few months back, whereby your photo is turned into how you would look as a Viking, a fairy, a princess, a Celtic warrior, and more, including a mermaid. This is me as a mermaid.  She has become my muse for Mermay.

I have to admit I am less than pleased with my first two attempts in various types of watercolour mediums.  They are whimsical in appearance.

Attempt one

Attempt two

Then I decided to swap out my medium of watercolour paint and pencils for graphite.  Here's what happened next.  It's quite a difference.

Finally resulting in this

I don't think she's too shabby at all, even if I do say so myself.  It's the first time I think that I've attempted an open mouth smile showing teeth.  I'm not disappointed with my efforts at all.  Every time I do a drawing or sketch in graphite I find myself thinking I've found my best media.  What do you think?

I have to say I really do enjoy working in graphite and mostly use a mechanical pencil with a graphite refill, along with a paper blending stump {tortillon}, a kneadable putty eraser, and a Tombow retractable fine point eraser.  I also use various graphite pencils and graphite blocks {useful for shading in big areas quickly}.  It can be messy work because the sign of good graphite is how dirty your hands get when using it!  

Until next time

Stay safe and stay well

Debbie x

MerMay part 1

Hello friends,

Thank you so much for those of you who have commented on my art. Your support means so much to me. It's amazing what a difference a few kind words can make when somebody's feeling down.

This is what I've been working on this past few days for MerMay. I've pulled a few pieces of work that I've done from other projects as well, because they're relevant. One of our prompts, for example, was pearls and some of my earlier index card art seems to fit in quite well with it.

Seahorse, in this case highly stylised by way of a Dendritic print

or this interpretation of Atlantis 

This is one of the mermaids, I am rather pleased with this one

and finally for now, an image of cetaceans swimming across the Universe.  The colour reproduction is poor, it's not as slime lime green in reality but my new phone does not seem to do well on colour reproduction.

It still persists in raining most of the time here in the west, so this watery theme of mermaids for May, or Mermay, seems somewhat appropriate still!

Until next time

Stay safe, stay well

Debbie xx

When Sleep is not Your Friend

Hello Friends!

Some nights sleep is just something you can only dream of in your waking hours. When insomnia strikes  there is nothing you can do. Well, actually, there is something you can do. On those long nights when Mr Sandman forgets to drop by and I cannot get a wink, I triy to do something constructive. When I was awake last night, and nothing closed my peepers, I just put the light on, pulled out my paints and caught up on one of my missed lessons.

Here is my lovely Lotus Flower. I am calling it Lotus of the Dawn. That seems an appropriate title given the ungodly hour of the day I was creating it.

I used my new Winsor and Newton watercolour paints and new Caran d'Ache Prismacolour II waterproof colour pencils.

I hope you like it.  

Until next time.

Stay safe. Stay well.

Debbie. xx

The Vikings Are Coming!

Hello Friends!

I hope everyone in the UK and near continent and Scandinavia are safe after the barage of storms we've had in recent weeks. I know some of you have suffered and it's going to be a long time before the flood waters will drain. I am thinking of all of you and sending wishes for normality to be restored as soon as possible.

There's a Viking invasion on Facebook.  It's a silly game everyone is playing whereby you have a photo of you edited to show what you would look like as a Viking.  Having had an obsession with Vikings since I was a child {along with all things Celtic too} I couldn't resist joining in. Frankly, we all look like siblings!

This is me as a Viking.  I like it!

As I enjoy creating fantasy portraits, and I'm currently learning to draw using graphite, I just had to draw a portrait based on me as a Viking.  My goal it to be able to draw people that are recognisable and while I'm very happy with the sketch, she does not look like me as a Viking.  

She is not quite finished.  Part of me wants to invest a little colour but part of me resists that thought.  I want to finish off her shirt, and I'd like to work a light bokeh background but I am afraid of spoiling it.

To satisfy my need to apply colour, I did this one using just Caran d'Ache watercolour and Spectrum Noir water resistant coloured pencils.

When drawing the outlines I use the basic formula of an oval divided in half both vertically and horizontally, then the bottom half gets divided in half again, twice.  Here are some stages in the early development of a portrait as you might like to see how one develops.

As you can see, the proportions are basic and can be altered, but the more you tweak, the less human like the face becomes, making it more fairy like, or elfin for example. I like to fill in the eyes early on as it makes the face less spooky!

*Editing to add that this method for drawing a human face was not created as one might think by the genius that was Leonardo da Vinci, but by the American illustrator Andrew Loomis in the 1940's!

Next week I begin a seven week long intensive drawing course using graphite under the mentorship of Danish artist Ida Andersen Lang I hope to vastly improve my skill set in this medium.

Until next time

Stay safe, stay well, stay warm!

Debbie 

2024 The Year Of . . .

Hello Friends!

So here we are, Day Two of a brand new year.  Now, I'm not one for making resolutions.  I see them as setting yourself up for failure from the get go, and if you truly, really do want to do something, why wait for January  1st?  Why not start as soon as you can?

Totally out of character for me, I have come perilously close to making actual resolutions for the first time in about forty years, but thankfully I pulled myself up just in the nick of time. I have, however, decided to make some lifestyle changes and commitments to improving myself, it's just coincidence I'm implementing those changes now.

So, what are they? I hear you ask.

Dispense with the Grumpy Old Woman syndrome!  Instead of whining, whinging and complaining try to find something positive to say about a situation

Be kinder and less angry by looking in the mirror.  By this, I mean that when someone does something that unbeknownst to them upsets or angers me, instead of ranting or giving what for I should stop and take a look in the mirror to find out why their actions are provoking me so.  Then, diffuse the situation with love and take steps to remedy my response or reaction.  {caveat: misuse and misspelling of two, too and to; their, they're and there, sew and sow; sowing not planting seeds; drop not bit of water, etc are not included in tolerance management lol}

Eat sensibly and try to exersise more,  This should not require explanation.  It's common sense, but thanks to a combination of grief a diagnosis of Parkinson's Disease, and the pandemic both have been ignored for three years and I have suffered.  It's time to get back in the driving seat.

Resume Morning Pages. The above helps take care of the physical, Morning Pages helps take care of the mental.

Learn some new skills and take on the challenge of using and clearing my Crafty Stash.  This will help keep me active {especially when Winter weather limits going outside} will reduce the amount of "stuff" in the cottage, and hopefully result in some beautiful things.  I will share my progress with you.  Who knows, I might even run some giveaways for my makes.  You will need to be following visibly in the sidebar to qualify for these events which I will spring without notice.  

Procratination must stop.  Had I not procrastinated or prevaricated with such aplomb, I would not be in such a pickle over matters I do not wish to discuss!

Finally, I refuse to beat myself up if I slide off the Path of Changes and Improvements.

If you are implementing changes and wish to share, then I'd love to read about them too!

In the meantime, I have been busy sketching again.  Here are the results of Sunday's work

Until next time

Stay well, stay safe

Debbie

The Colours of Days

Hello Friends!

November sits, suspended midway between the glory days of Autumn and  the bone chilling cold of Winter; a no man's land of dull November grey when all the vibrant leaves of orange, yellow and red have fallen from the trees and branches brown hang down, empty, dull and bare, against a leaden sky where December snow has yet to form.

Light is scarce in the sky, a dull grey gloom wraps itself around the horizon and wild clouds scud across the sky.  Cracks in the clouds let slivers of silver light push through, a reminder of what once was, and a promise of what is yet to come.  Houses, curtains tightly drawn across windows, glow with light, beacons that guide us home.

We have time to stand and stare.  Our harvests are gathered home. We are ready for the winter hibernation that will come.  Let the season of hygge commence!

 

Wrapped up warmly against the chill and bitter wind, wearing our mittens and scarves, woolly hats and chunky Fair Isle socks, we take brisk, invigorating walks out into the Welsh countryside.  

Berry picking time is over. There is nothing left to harvest now other than a scant handful of late fruits that we leave for the wildlife, for the birds, for the squirrels, for the mice.  

If we are lucky, there are piles of leaves dry and crunchy through which we stomp and kick. But in this November gloom the rain has fallen hard. The spent leaves are a squishy squashy mess of muddy brown. Are they not in decay? No!  They are making the food for next year's plants.  The Circle of Life rolls on 

Soon , much sooner than we realise it will be December. The snows will come and all will look different again, dusted in powdery white.

And so the seasons turn.  The days that not so long ago were warm with summer sun, now cold and chill us to the bone with withering winds.  The time has come to withdraw inside. Let us sit by the fire cosy and warm with books and hot chocolate for our companions.  

My friends I have been doing more art. Here is my latest effort by an online course offered twice a year by the renowned Danish artist Ida Anderson Lang, called Wish Upon A Star. 

Until next time

Stay safe. Stay well.

Debbie xx