Why It's Good To Step Out Of Your Comfort Zone

Buildings are my downfall - buildings and cars.  Anything requiring precise perspective has me stumped.  I think it's a form of image dyslexia (I know that's a contradiction of terms, but you get the gist!)  I can sit there and draw a building for hours and think it looks fine, until someone with a better handle on perspective comes along and points out that just about every line is wrong. 

So to take on a cityscape was a bit daunting to say the least, but I wanted it to be part of the background for a picture that's been in my head since last year.  This is the view from the stands at the equestrian event at the Paralympics last year.  I want it to be an integral part of a montage of images from that day - the rest of the paper will be filled with horses and riders - much more my cup of tea! Hopefully they will detract from any glaring errors in the buildings...

This is being painted in watercolour with a Sharpie liquid pencil being used rather than an ink pen for drawn detail - I like the fact it is a bit more subtle than ink - plus I can rub out any mistakes up to two days after they have been made.

Despite making me work very hard and draw lots of straight lines, I am thoroughly enjoying this - feels very good to do something different for a change.

Luscious!

While on a bit of hiatus waiting for feedback on a couple of scarf designs, I found myself with a bit of time to spare in which to get on with some stashbusting.  I have a lot of lovely balls of yarn that I have been collecting over the past year but never seem to have the time to utilise them.  This is a ball of sock yarn - far too pretty to be used for feet!  So I am knitting a scarf/shawlette with a cable design - it's such fun watching the colours emerge as I go along and very relaxing not having to make up the pattern myself for a change!

There has been a development regarding the tomato race between myself and Soggibottom.  Not only have our poor seedlings been struggling against adverse growing conditions, despite being indoors and nurtured, but Midge's cat decided to tip her tray of pots onto the floor....oh dear! As mine are straggly wisps with barely any secondary leaves, we have had a chat and decided to 'cheat' and buy some stronger plants from our local garden centres.  I will still persevere with my seedlings, but don't hold out much hope for them. This year it will be interesting to see if either of us even get tomatoes, let alone win!

I was going to spend some more time in the garden today after getting out there for the first time in months yesterday, but it's raining.  Oh no, guess I'll have to get on with some painting then.....what a shame!

How To Make a Dr Who Fan Very Happy...

...take her to meet him!  If you look closely, you can see that it isn't really Matt Smith and that definitely isn't Karen Gillan (nasty wig!) but as far as my daughter was concerned yesterday, it was good enough.  We certainly didn't have to ask her to smile for the photo!

We went to the Dalek Invasion of Portsmouth, held at the Royal Marines Museum.  We kept this outing secret until the last minute as we  weren't sure whether to go or not, it all depended on the weather.  As you can see, the sun was shining.

We even ate barbecued burgers while sitting on the grass!  Amazing to think two days previously, we suffered all-day blizzards and freezing temperatures!

Here's me stuffing my face too - it was so wonderful to sit outside and be warm for the first time in what feels like an eon.

It was only a small show, but there were various people in costumes wandering about - a cyberman..

...K-9 was zipping about too.  The daleks were raced against each other which was hilarious, and also the Matt Smith lookalike and a David Tennant not-so-lookalike had a mad running race around the daleks - 'Matt Smith' won.

So what with being immersed in Dr Who for a few hours, followed by....

...a walk on the beach in the bright sunshine, it really was a fabulous day and we took home a very happy and contented Stacie. 

Tools of the Trade Part 2

Have I been gorging on chocolates?  No, but I opened what was inside these wrappers with just as much gusto, possibly more.

I've been after a set of these for a while - St. Petersburg White Knights watercolours.  They aren't professional standard, and are quite cheap, but I love the intensity of the colours and their covering power. For painting deep coloured washes and anything requiring clear bright colours, these are the business.

Whilst ordering the paints, I also stocked up on some Derwent Drawing pencils - there are some colours that seem to wear out quicker than others and have to be replaced.  I think these must be labrador/retriever colours!  The brushes are some I have been trying to find a supplier for for a couple of years now - I got a small set free with a magazine while I was painting potatoes and they were great - I used them until they literally fell apart.  Now I have some more - yay!

Things are not looking good for the tomato race.  The weather has been atrocious for weeks (months) now.  Yesterday we had blizzards - it's April for crying out loud!  I do hope we get some warmth and light soon or this will be another lean year in the garden.

Gardening For The Disabled

A few weeks ago I was contacted by Alan Titchmarsh....well, I am sure it wasn't him personally, but he is supporting a silent auction of drawn/painted postcards by artists and celebrities on behalf of  the charity Gardening for the Disabled.  I was asked if I would consider providing a postcard with a drawing or somesuch to be included in the auction.  Well, after my soapbox speech on here a couple of months ago about random people asking for freebies in the name of charity, I made sure this was a legitimate request before gladly agreeing to take part. My daughter attends a place called Bell's Piece in Farnham twice a week which offers people with special needs a chance to either work in the art studio or take part in the horticultural side out in the extensive grounds.  My daughter wouldn't do gardening if her life depended on it, but I do see plenty of others who thoroughly enjoy it and are made to feel useful and worthwhile, ultimately selling their produce in the shop.

So this charity strikes a chord with me and I hope they do extemely well out of this event.  Here is my contribution, a little watercolour of my sister's dog, Barney.  Let's hope someone likes him enough to place a bid!

Droolworthy!

I can't be the only one who gets so excited by yarn!  This arrived in the post today and it is absolutely gorgeous - shades of grey (no, not fifty...) and airforce blue in a luscious bamboo chenille.  I have to knit a cat from this for the animated film - I just cannot wait to see how that turns out!

The yarn is called 'Baby Elephant'and was bought from Yarntopia Treasures on Etsy.  I'm hoping there will be a substantial amount left over so that I can make something else from it.

Tools of the Trade...

I'm often teased at home for the amount of times I suffer from regret over not buying something when I saw it.  I tend to dither and wonder if I can justify the expense or of I will use the item concerned, then a few weeks later I wish I'd bought it and find out the article is either sold out or was somewhere too expensive to return to. However, I am trying to be a bit more sensible, especially when it comes to art materials.

Our local really-cheap-we-sell-everything shop has a bit of an art section for some reason.  The paints and brushes are cheap and nasty, but the other day I found this really cool portable sketch board - it's about A3 size, has a clip for the paper, is made of light MDF and has that excellent handle.  And it was a whole £2.99 - no dithering this time!  I know I will use this either out and about or just for when I am not at my desk.

Yesterday I had a day out in London - a visit to my favourite paintings at the National Gallery (Whistlejacket by Stubbs, various Monets, Van Goghs and Rousseau's 'Surprise!' to name but a few) and then a trip to the discount art store round the corner.  I don't currently need paper, boards or sketchbooks, but at their prices I would have been stupid not to stock up for the future.

Maybe now I will be inspired to pick up a paintbrush - I haven't painted for far too long.