I wonder how many times I've felt the need to write a "Back in the Saddle Again" post? I suppose it doesn't matter! But here it is again! More posts soon to follow, but I wanted to announce on this site the creation of another blog (a 'sister' blog?) called and then there was puppy. It may well cross over a bit, and if it seems right to do, I'll link one to the other. Hope to see you there, and by all means LEAVE COMMENTS!
Might seem a slow week, but although visible "output" seems to be sparse, I actually made a lot of progress with experimentation behind the scenes. Yippeee!
angler fish | fungi the dingle dolphin | puffin (take II)
So my 'sketch of the day' has turned into something else... quality not quanitity? I have five for this week, but as it turns out it's a lot of sketches in each. My Facebook Sketch Challenges have been very fruitful indeed, and I'm enjoying them
seed pod of some sort. I drew it from a photo I'd taken years ago, but I still can't figure out exactly what it is.
Came up with the idea the other day to ask my FB friends to pick some animals for me to draw, and it seems it's something people want to do! So, above is the result of the first challenge. I had to do: pangolin, ladybird, chicken, rhino and Bostie. The Bostie became an alien. Let's just call it artistic licence. Overall, pretty happy with it. :)
The second challenge gave me saddleback pig (a la wheelie), bumblebee, lemur, bongo and giraffe. If anyone wants to play, I'll probably be doing them quite a lot. Just go to my BBE Facebook page to see what's up. There's usually going to be a pretty tight time frame in which I'm collecting 'subjects' ... so get in early!
My friend Victor wanted an axelotl. Couldn't resist that even though he missed the cut. Need to work on it, it's simply not nearly as cute as the real thing... although I do have a soft spot for the little fella on the right.
A day late, but not a dollar short. I was very occupied yesterday trying to get more of my space in order, which still isn't complete, but is looking pretty good. The most important part is that I feel motivated and inspired to draw and paint while here, so that's a huge plus. Apologies for the massive blue clip in the photos of the sketches. It seems my sketchbook is having difficulty keeping itself opened for photo taking!
24/1/14 (date on this one is wrong! Changed after pic taken)
25/1/14 (dreaming of pondweed)
Soooo by this time next week (hopefully by this time tomorrow) my studio will be mostly set up and I can share some photos. I was thinking about taking a few to show the 'in progress' stages, but honestly it looks like a bomb went off in here, so I'm going to put that off a bit until it's just ever so slightly less embarrassing. I will say I have two new lamps to make sure I never stop working because of lack of light. I have an actual work table which will hopefully also fit my scanner. I think what I might be lacking are some creative storage solutions for my supplies -- but there's always Muji for that! I'm sure I'll think of something. Back to table (re)assembly. (Silly Ikea
sent me a faulty part so I had the (dis)pleasure of going there on a Saturday afternoon with the ever-present Ikea vacuum sucking money from my pocket.) I have entertained the idea that they might very well put faulty bits into cheapish Internet orders so people are all but forced to going to their stockpile of material temptation. Astoundingly, their wait time for email response was a whopping 11 days (seriously, I could get hit by a bus in that time) -- and the phone wait ridiculous. Ah well, a few more things to inspire me in my new space. Stay tuned... and share this site with your friends (and enemies if you like. enemies are fine too -- or at least generally interesting). Oh, and here's me.
So it's January, and although I'm a couple of weeks later than anticipated, I'd like to announce that I'm back in the saddle again - artistically, creatively, socially and as visibly as you will allow. The last year and a half or so has been incredibly difficult, and at some point I might even share the complicated details publicly. This would be an attempt to throw myself out there, warts and all, but hey ... not quite up to that warty reality yet, if I'll ever be. Those of you who know me might say I hold my cards close... and so I will continue to do with matters I deem unsuitable for public consumption. But see, I'm also learning that sharing is an awfully good thing, even when you perceive you're putting yourself at risk to do so. I think... I think I've learnt, that often the opposite happens ... connectedness, help, support, encouragement. So suffice it to say, for now, that I've tasted a little bit of hell, if not danced with the devil. And though I'd like to say I've been to hell and back, those lines are often blurred. Still.
Soooo ... I'm not usually one for New Year's Resolutions, but I made one this year, and it is one I intend to keep. I will make a sketch or some sort of drawing or artistic idea in a book -- one for each day of the year. It goes without saying that sometimes I'll love them, and sometimes I'll hate them enough to want to rip the pages out. I mean, who will know anyhow? Well you will, because I'm going to post them here...love 'em or hate 'em.
So here goes! -- Sketches from 1st January to 11th January 2014. I'll post sketches from this week tomorrow night.
