Artistic Inclinations

I hit a bit of a lull in enthusiasm for my 'learning to draw' project over the past few months, so put down my pencils for a while, but now I'm feeling the creative urge again, so it's time to have another dabble, before my fragile inclination crumples forever ...

I would like to learn how to draw realistic animals, but for me, they just don't happen and instead, I am more likely to find a fun teddy bear making an appearance at the tip of my pencil. Ho hum.

With the old adage 'draw what you know' (or should that be 'write what you know?!) dancing in my head, I thought I'd restart my artistic endeavour with a picture of Polly and it looked reasonably promising to being with, but eventually I became frustrated by my clumsy attempts to reproduce her fabulous wavy fur.  Back to the drawing board Paula ...

At least this week's free hand pencil portrait of my daughter can be said to bear a slight degree of resemblance and is an improvement on a previous attempt from a couple of years ago - but my goodness, I struggle with noses and angles! That said, I can see I am starting to get the hang of hair, so yes, I guess that can be called progress?! Hopefully, one day, I will have learned enough to do my beautiful girl a little more artistic justice. 

So, I suppose the moral of my sporadic drawing story has to be don't give up ... and in particular, don't be so self-critical, that along with any rogue pencil marks, you also erase the joy of learning! 

I know, it's easier said than done eh?!

;-)

Away with the fairies

It has been quite some time since I last played with my art materials, so when I saw the #janedavenportinspiresme #fairyuary challenge, I decided I ought to revisit my inner aspiring artist and give at least one of the prompts a try ...

After teaching myself to draw and paint for the past couple of years, I think I have at last reached the conclusion that my favourite drawing medium is pastel pencils, with the addition of a little watercolour and sparkles now and again for good measure.

I find it very relaxing to sit quietly blending layers of chalky colour in front of the tv and love the soft, pretty effect it creates ... so perfect for fairies!

:-)

Practically Perfect in every way

For me, one of the most magical things about being a child of the 60's, was growing up with 'Mary Poppins' on film, sitting glued to Bert's chimney sweeps, as they belted out 'Chim chim cheree' whilst twirling across London's rooftops, laughing and singing with Jane, Michael, Bert and Mary Poppins, as they levitated to the ceiling to join Uncle Albert for an 'I love to laugh' tea party and having my little girl heartstrings tugged by the elderly lady, who every day warbled 'Feed the birds, tuppence a bag,' on the steps of St Paul's Cathedral.

I was inspired to try a little sketch!

 I don't mind admitting, I have been a die hard Mary Poppins fan all my life and of course, brought my children up watching it too, so to be honest, I was sceptical that a modern day 'Mary Poppins Returns' could possibly live up to my devoted childhood expectation ... but thankfully, I couldn't have been more wrong!

My daughter, daughter-in-law (both in their thirties) and I, went to watch the new film on the Big Screen last week and were completely swept along, as the new 'Practically perfect Mary Poppins' brought back a world of wonderment and laughter to Cherry Tree Lane, more than half a century after the wind last changed...

I can happily report we all agreed it was every bit as joyful to watch Jack's lamplighters 'Trip the light fantastic', as it had been to see Bert's chimney sweeps dancing across the rooftops all those years ago, it was a delight to enter Topsy's laughter filled upside down life and an absolute breath of fresh air to see London cast in such a spectacularly magical light.

And the new Mary Poppins herself? Well, she has a slightly more mischievous twinkle to her eye perhaps, but there can be no doubting she is exactly who she claims to be ... Mary Poppins has indeed returned!

:-)

One Snowy Day

Snow is falling here today. There I was hoping Spring was just around the corner but instead we have 'The Beast from the East' looming large and have been warned to batten down the hatches!

Inspired by snowdrops and other early Spring bulbs starting to bud on my walks last week, I painted a sweet teddy wearing her Spring bonnet, but now I'm thinking I should probably have given her a pair of furry snow boots and a cosy ski jacket to wear, like the bears in the sketch below!

Ah well, I suppose at least the cold weather means it will be a good week to stay warm indoors while I work on my latest mohair teddy bear!

:-)

Fairy Faraway

I confess, I am not the most patient person when it comes to doing arty stuff. For example, I am a terror for not allowing layers to dry properly and can't tell you how many pictures I've messed up through sheer impatience!

Unlike teddy bears, fairies don't take kindly to being worked on for long hours at a time, indeed, they are rather fickle creatures, preferring to reveal themselves to their creator, a little at a time.

I have come to love the process of spreading my art materials around my fairy as we consider together, what might suit her best. By listening carefully I usually find a fairy knows what suits her temperament; in case you didn't know, some fairies are fiesty, some are flitty and some, like this one, are rather thoughtful. One thing is for certain though, they all enjoy revealing their fairy personalities through the magic of colour.

And then of course, there are wings ... should they be bold and bright, soft and subtle, flittery, or still? In the case of 'Fairy Faraway', she concluded her wings should be translucent and shimmery yet motionless, because she required quietude whilst pondering her future ...

So I listened to Faraway's request and in keeping with this thoroughly modern Miss, we Googled such matters and discovered the perfect paint medium to lend her wings the beautiful soft shimmer she desired.

Lastly, Fairy Faraway whispered a little poem into my ear and I noticed with a smile, she had borrowed a few of the lines from an old poem I wrote years ago. Fairies are practical creatures and as that little poem had been gathering dust whilst discarded in the back of an old folder, she decided it was time to put it to good use, so reworked it and claimed it as her own. I didn't mind at all, after all, fairies always know best.

:-)

The 'Joynal' course referred to in my pics is an online course, run by lovely Australian artist Jane Davenport. I am currently thoroughly enjoying this lovely escape from reality ... and as you can see, I'm learning heaps of fun stuff too! 

www.janedavenport.com

Away with the fairies

As regular readers may know (forgive my assumption, but I am praying I still have a few regular readers as I have been blogging since 2007!) each new year, I like to try to give myself a challenge to learn something new.

After a brief and rather fanciful foray into drawing fairies last Autumn, I chose this year, to sign up for an online art course with the lovely Jane Davenport , a fabulously expressive Aussie artist.

Jane's 'Joynal' course is proving to be a lovely escape from reality; my imagine is on overdrive and I confess to having heaps of fun finding fairies here, there and just about everywhere!

Drawing is still a huge challenge for me. It never came instinctively and I have felt uncomfortable in this artistic department since I was a little girl, so throwing caution to the wind and sharing work now, is quite a biggy for me. However, since settling into my mid-fifties, I have reached the conclusion life is way too short for such inhibitions ... colour and fun should be shared!

As CS Lewis once said,

'You are never too old to set another goal, or to dream a new dream.'

I couldn't agree more!

:-)

One day, you will be old enough to read fairytales again

'One day you will be old enough to read fairy tales again' ... I stumbled across this lovely quote recently and for some reason, at the grand old age of fifty four, it struck a chord, inspiring me to start a new art journal. I plan to escape reality within those hot pressed pages, by filling it with fantastical characters and fanciful stories!

After all, no one should never be too old to believe in the magic of fairy tales, should they?!

;-)

An INKRedibleTOBER inspiration

I am still busy teaching myself to draw and paint, so throughout October, took part in a fun challenge called #Inkredibletober.  The idea was to interpret Halloween prompts each day using ink in one form or another.  I didn't manage to complete the entire thirty one prompts, but I did do most, learned heaps and thoroughly enjoyed the challenge!

Here are a few of my favourite prompts ...

Last but not least, I squeezed in a little Trick or Treat teddy bear!

In fact I especially enjoyed drawing teddy bear scenes, so with Christmas on the distant horizon, I think I might try to paint a little festive teddy bear and if he turns out okay, could even be bold enough to turn him into a Christmas card ... fingers crossed!

:-)

Mermaid Magic

I always think there is something quite magical about Cornwall, especially the dramatic coastline and beautiful seascapes.

Not only have I been walking in Cornwall with my family this Summer, I also squeezed in a little 'Paula playtime' with paints and ink pens. Lo and behold a little mermaid appeared from nowhere ... I can only assume that wonderful Cornish scenery worked some magic on my paintbrushes!

:-)

A pencil 'n paint day

Another hot summer's day today and oh boy am I wilting! It has been a day to play, rather than a day to attempt sewing teddy bears with sweaty hands - shudder!

So, I set myself up with paints 'n pencils and had a lovely relaxing time, sketching and sploshing purple paint around.  By the time the heat of the day had eased slightly, a pretty lady had appeared on my paper and I felt sufficiently inspired to head up to my workroom to start work on a new teddy bear dancing in my head ... definitely a good day for creativity! 

(By the way, to give you a tiny hint, I think the pinks 'n purples of my paint palette may have inspired my inner teddy bear designer today!)

;-)

Colour me happy!

As I've mentioned before, whenever the mood takes me and I can squeeze a few spare hours, I have been trying to teach myself to draw ... not only to battle old artistic demons, (leftover from disappointed art teachers whilst at school!) but mostly because it now completely absorbs me and I find it very relaxing. I have been keeping an art journal and with the help of an online course, recently completed my first pastel face ...

I genuinely had no idea I could ever achieve this!  

Now of course, I have the bug and am itching to learn how to draw anything and everything, so have treated myself to a posh set of pastel pencils and am looking forward to colouring my world!

:-)

Sketchy Teds

I didn't set a new year's resolution this year, but one thing I would like to continue into 2017,  is teaching myself how to draw. Who knows, maybe I'll even teach myself how to paint a little as well!

After a lifetime of  feeling like a clumsy 'leftie' with a pencil, I never had confidence in artistic endeavours either as a child or as an adult, so last year, decided it was time to push a few creative boundaries. I started to create an art journal in my spare time and gradually my silly sketches began to improve and on the odd occasion, I quite surprised even myself with the results!

I suppose it was inevitable a few teddy bears would creep into my art journal and I dare say more will arrive in time as they are fun to draw.  In fact, I may even find sufficient artistic courage to sketch a little teddy to print onto my next batch of 'All Bear' hang tags and never, ever, did I ever think that day would be a possibility!

:-)

A Sketchy Halloween Ted

Didn't quite finish this little fellow in time for Halloween ...

Never mind Little Wiz, there's always next year!

:-)

The Sketchy Teds!

For anyone wondering if my new 'teach myself to draw' hobby is leading me away from teddy bears ... take a little peek below!

'Ted E. Bear'

'A Trio of Teds'

'Feeling Blue'

They are still very much 'work-in-progress' and I can see plenty I need to improve on, but as you can see, this bear maker has been having fun sketching a few teddies, as well as making them!

:-)

Artistic Demons

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I have been attempting to teach myself to draw. It has not been an easy process as this skill is far from natural to me, but I think I am at last beginning to conquer a few of my artistic demons!

I am gradually building a scrapbook to record my progress ...

It is fun to try different mediums and I am slowly finding confidence to build on my new skills. Who knows, I may even try my hand at painting eventually!

I thought I'd share a few of my drawing projects here today. 

I was thinking about all the different skills I have taught myself over the years, from designing teddy bears, to photography, making cloth dolls, knitting, crocheting, computer skills, website building, dog obedience training, running my business, driving (that was a biggy!) ... the list goes on, so whenever I feel a bit as though a 'proper career' in the 'real world' has slipped through my fingers, I take a moment to remind myself of everything I have taught myself over the years.  

For those of us who work creatively, the nag of not being part of the 'serious working world' can bite now and again, but the skills we have developed while living a creative life are worth remembering and taking a little pride in now and again ... don't you agree?!

;-)

Drawing into a new half century

I was never confident in art lessons. Left handed and ill at ease with paintbrush and pencils, I was usually to be found lurking at the back of the art room, planning how best to skip future art lessons ... in fact, it was with a sense of great relief I dropped the subject from my school curriculum as soon as possible, at the tender age of thirteen.  It wasn't that I didn't enjoy drawing as a child in the privacy of my own home (I always loved using Dad's posh set of Caran D'ache art pencils when I was allowed and to watch him sketching his favourite subject - budgies) but as a shy child, submitting anything artistic to an unimpressed teacher at school, was enough to send my creative self shrinking into a dark corner.

My first eye

As I began to share crayon, paint, pencil and paper with my little Grandson this Summer, I was frustrated by my own lack of drawing ability. A tiny glimmer of determination began to dawn as we happily splashed and smeared colour onto sheets of paper in the sunshine and that glimmer brightened rapidly. Almost before I realised what was happening, a small collection of 'learn to draw' books, tins of graphite and coloured pencils, sketch pads in assorted sizes, a variety of erasers, a green ruler and a drawing board made their way into a big bag, tucked away in the corner of my living room ... within easy reach of my sofa.

Three eye sketches later ...

It was at that point I tentatively mentioned my new hobby to my sisters and discovered my youngest sister had recently started learning to draw and one of my middle sisters was also keen! Spurred on by our shared interest and limited drawing confidence, we launched a sisterly challenge to see if we could each sketch an eye ... one thing led to another and we now have a private family art group on Facebook, set up to encourage one another and anyone else in the family who fancies a dabble ... it turns out, nieces, daughters, daughter-in-laws, a brother-in-law and even a great niece have 'come out' to draw together!

Becoming bolder and starting to play with colour!

We've had loads of fun commenting in our private drawing group and have run several family challenges already, designed to stretch abilities into different directions. 

'Draw a favourite cartoon character'

For me, learning a 'new' skill and facing my drawing demons, is both absorbing and relaxing. I've a very long way to go as there is an immense amount to learn, but at least I am no longer daunted by the prospect ... and the ghost of my old art teacher is fading fast!

Witch in graphite pencil

In fact, last week I even plucked up confidence to try my hand at a couple of portraits based on photographs ... neither of which ended up looking like the people in the photos, but no matter, they are at least recognisable as faces!  Plenty more practice is of course required, but a couple of weeks ago I would never have believed I could even have begun to tackle these!

Portrait drawing in graphite pencil

So, now I've started, I suppose I ought to try drawing a teddy bear at some point eh?!

Challenge: Design and draw a toy

In the meantime, remember my cloth dollies? Well, using coloured pencils, I tried my hand at a little sketch of one of my 'Prim Dolly Doodles', trouble was I made a complete hash of her lower half (who knew sitting a dolly on a flower pot could be so hard to represent?!) so took the liberty of heartlessly cropping her wayward legs off ... until I can find time to try drawing them back on again.

Challenge: Cartoonize yourself!

Teaching myself to draw at this advanced age (let's just say I have edged well into my second half century) sure is proving heaps more fun than my art lessons at school, all those disillusioned decades ago!

:-)