coldneedles: (Default)
[personal profile] coldneedles
I've been doing a lot more drawing recently, since I've been going to a life drawing class on Thursdays, which has inspired me and shown me how much you can improve by practising.

It's strange for me, because I usually just draw people (mostly faces) except for when I was at school and had set themes or assignments to do, which pushed me out of my comfort zone. At the moment I'm trying to get out more and draw interesting things, both to improve my abilities and also just to do something and get so fresh air. Because of the fatigue and malaise my ME gives me it's very hard to seize the day. Even when I am physically capable of going out I sometimes want to crawl up into a ball and moan "I don't feel well." But of course this is no good for me psychologically, so what I want to do is less mooching (random internet surfing and TV watching) and more arts and crafts work, alongside more productive resting (lying down in a darkened room meditating). I sometimes forget that TV watching and surfing the internet are not energy neutral and get stuck on them too long, instead of pacing myself properly.

I'll post some life drawings soon, but here's some other stuff I've been working on.



A smudged pencil drawing of an abbbey, with the right side in ruins, with its window and roof absent. In the front of the abbey are grave stones

My mum and I went out to Crowland Abbey, which is a former Benedictine Abbey that is now partially demolished. It's decoration has incredible detail, so unless I wanted to be there all day I had to simplify it a lot and create an impression, which I guess is what differentiates drawing from photography.

A black gel pen drawing of a pond/wellhead surrounded by weeping willows.

This of the local wellhead. Willow trees and water are both really attractive to me, but I don't think I've mastered them yet. Good thing about parks is that I can usually get through them on my scooter, which is not the case for woods or public footpaths, so it's an easy way for me to get some landscape to draw. In the park there were little duckings, a pair of black swans and for some reason a bunch of noisy crows (I seem to be seeing crows everywhere these days).

A picture of a bird, a Great Tit, in black gel pen and watercolour. The bird has a black head with a white patch, a yellow-green breast, and blue wings and tail. It is perched on an elder branch, which also has leaves and berries. The background is light green.

I did this Great Tit for a card to send to my Grandma. Sadly it's from a photograph, not direct observation. We did get a bunch of Great Tits around our front window, eating the berries on the hedge, and I could sit on the sofa and watch them. I don't usually have the patience or skill for watercolour, but I like this.

Two felt tip drawings of a woman with short hair's face. The first drawing is smaller and the second flows on from the neck of the first and has a look of slight surprise, with raised eyebrows and an open mouth.

Two self-portraits. These were done in fifteen minutes with felt-tip. In the drawing class I go to we sometimes do poses in fifteen minutes and are told not to rub anything out. I'm a total slow-coach and always want to erase stuff, but it's excellent practise and really helps your hand eye co-ordination. So I thought I'd make a regular habit of doing quick self-portraits, in a medium I couldn't rub out.

A drawing of a field in brown artist's chalks. In the foreground of the image is a gate and a bushy tree to the left. There is grass, another tree and a forest towards the horizon.

A drawing of fields ten minutes away from my house (advantage of living on the edge of a rural town) in artist's chalks. I just walked up there with my seat cane, unfolded it and started drawing. It took me two short sittings to complete.

Date: 2012-10-03 01:04 am (UTC)
lishiewishes: Starry fairylights strung amongst tree branches (Crash B: Adventure)
From: [personal profile] lishiewishes
(Hey, I'm over from embodiment_dw - friended if you don't mind!)

Love your stuff, especially the painting of the great-tit :) I found that when doing my foundation course they encouraged a rough, expressive style. I really like it. ^^

Date: 2012-10-05 03:20 pm (UTC)
lishiewishes: Starry fairylights strung amongst tree branches (Crash B: Adventure)
From: [personal profile] lishiewishes
I regularly blogged about the course itself on my main site, if you're interested in the read. :)

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June 2011

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