Watercolour Class

I've started going to a new painting class, which followed on from the ink drawing. This is watercolours for beginners, which is actually what I thought I had signed up for before. I'm not overly happy with my two paintings so far, but I am trying to view the class as a way of learning techniques, which is obviously going to take a while.

I was not sure whether to post them, but then thought that this is just a personal blog, so not everything has to be great. 

The first week we did seascapes, and my picture was really quite insipid compared to the rest of the class. I was thinking Scottish isles, where I think everyone else was going tropical. I was not too uphappy with the sky or foreground, but realised that part of my problems were because I had bought the wrong sort of paper. I think that is why my distant islands ran into the sea. We were shown how to use masking fluid to make the waves. But when I look now, I actually prefere this one to the next painting.

What can I say? The hills are too dark, the tree a complete mess, the hillock too blue, and what is all the white space meant to be? I didn't want to use red for the blossom tree, and was toying with the radical idea of green leaves. But I was not brave enough to do my own thing. Maybe the rocks and foreground are not too bad. 

In the class we are all essentially doing very similar paintings, and although we looked at some beach scenes and trees, it does seem a little bit "Bob Ross". Please don't get me wrong, because I love Bob Ross, but I think I want to try and make pictures that are realistic, and not purely from my imagination. But I guess these are really exercises in handling the paint and learnings techniques, and we will then be able to do what we want.

Another problem may be that I don't really want to paint landscapes. There seem a lot of amateur landscape and seascapes around, and I think I might really like to have some buildings in a scene, or even do some still life, or animals.

But next week we are moving on to flowers, and I think after that maybe buildings, so watch this space ....  

This is a Knitting Blog

Although I occasionally get side tracked by other things, gardening/sewing/walking/art, this is essentially meant to be a knitting blog. I don't seem to have posted much at all this year, on knitting or the other things. I am working on a new pattern, but it is slow going. Here is a little peek at what I have been knitting, just to remind you that this is still a knitting blog! 

Ink Bird Paintings

Final week of ink painting class, and we could do whatever we wanted. A bit scary, and I was tempted to go back to flowers or trees, but decided to be a bit brave and try to paint some garden birds. This was my second go at a blue tit, my first attempt looked like he was wearing sunglasses.

I was quite pleased with my watery robin.

Nuthatch is bit darker than I think he should be, but not to worry. 

This a a fledgling longtailed it. They really are like little pompoms.

 

Sudddenly it was nearly the end of the class, so I decided to try to use up some of the inks on my palette. Mr Pheasant is a little bit odd, I think perhaps because he looks a bit annoyed. But I enjoyed splashing on the bright colours. I wish now I had thought a bit more about backgrounds for the birds, but will definitely tray again at home.

Trees in Ink

 
This time on the ink drawing and painting course was tree week. Above was drawn with a stick, and more spattering.

Below I outlined the trunk of the tree. Then painting with water and dropping in the colours. On this exercise we also used white ink for the first time, which I found quite good at calming down my bright colours.  

Then at the end we did some very quick exercises. First blowing the ink through straws. I think I should perhaps call this "Fire on Dartmoor"

And finally a way of just using black ink with lots of water, and drawing in the tree. This was a bit of a rush, and my inky background did not really spread with the water very well.

 

Next week is the final session, and we can do whatever we like. I am tempted to return to the flowers, but not sure yet. 

Ink Drawing and Painting

I have been having a lovely time doing a short course painting and drawing with inks, with West Devon Arts. We are half way through. 

The first week we did a seascape, and although I wasn't completely happy with the final picture (the rocks in the sea are a bit weird) it was part of a learning process, and I do quite like the foreground.

Today we moved on to flowers, and were using stick to paint with Indian ink, which was quite unusual. Found the drawing part hard, but I do like when it get to the painting on of the colour. Putting on lots of water and letting the colours run into each other is great fun. As well as the spattering at the end.

 

 

The final picture was an exercise in painting with water, and then dropping the coloured ink in. 

 

 

 

Next week we are moving on to trees.

 

Fox Jumper and My Thoughts on Foxes

I have designed a new knitting pattern, which I am calling Fox Jumper. My Child's Fox Jumper Pattern is selling well, and as I had some of the same wool left over, I thought I would knit a similar garment for myself. This fox jumper is loose fit. I guess you might call if a boyfriend jumper or a sloppy joe. I love this style of garment and designed it using one of my favourite shop-bought jumpers as a guide. The sleeves are quite loose, but then gather in to a neat fitted cuff. The neck is a boat edge, which I thought fitted with the stripes on the sleeves to give a bit of a retro feel.

I have thought a lot about the foxes while knitting it, and toyed with the idea of having more of them maybe higher up or on the sleeves, but in the end settled for a single row about the base, like the child's version. I have added the fox coloured stripes on the arms and cuffs, as I wanted to highlight the cut of the sleeves. These sections could be knitted in the main shade. Or indeed the row of foxes could be left off, if they are not your thing.

The Fox Jumper Pattern is for sale on Ravelry and Etsy, and will be in the other places soon. 

 

But enough about the fox jumper, and on to foxes. I do think they are lovely creatures: the long noses, pointy ears, beautiful colour, their family groups and cunning, or what I would call intelligence. When I lived on the edge of London foxes were a regular sight. If you were out walking at night it would not be unusual to have several cross your path. When our neighbours house was empty for a while we had the pleasure of seeing a fox family being brought up in their garden, much to the annoyance of some of the other neighbours.

  

Now I live in the county it seems much harder to see foxes. Below is one that I unexpectedly saw when I was trying to photograph rabbits. I was sitting in a bush, and he was also very interested in the rabbits, so did not notice me.

On Boxing Day a local hunt sets off from the town square. I was on my way to work (I know, work on Boxing Day!), and have to say I was much more on the side of the small group of anti-hunt protestors. This is a scent hunt, as fox hunting is not legal, but I am not sure if a pack of dogs caught the scent of a real fox it would be possible to call them off. 

So I am a fox fan, but I am also a chicken owner, which does put me in a bit of a dilemma. We lost one of our chickens, but I am not convinced that it was a fox who took her. Below is my favourite photo of the three girls. I would occasionally let them out of their coop to have a peck around the garden, which was possibly rather foolish. It is a balance between keeping them safe, and letting them have some quality of life. Called out by some sqwaking - Nugget, the chicken in the middle was just gone, and the other two had flapped up onto a fence and were very upset. Despite searching the whole area, we never found any sign of what had happened to Nugget. Not a single feather or trail in the undergrowth. So I am not sure that I can blame a fox, and have my suspicion it might have been a stoat. I saw one kill a rabbit in the garden once, and despite its small size, drag it off. Either that or it was alien abduction!

The other two chickens are still with us, and although we did think about getting a replacement for Nugget, they seem happy as a pair. I still let them out to the garden from time to time, but only when I am out gardening to keep an eye on them. And I guess foxes are just doing what they have to do to survive.

Ring Up The Curtains

 

I have been very preoccupied this year with curtain making. I think my friends and work colleagues may have got a bit bored with my answer to "what have you been up to?", always being making curtains. But they are done, and I am very pleased. Although I have made curtains before, that was quite a while ago, and making 8 was quite a job. 

They definitely make the living room cosier, and also less echoy. Although we are now thinking that they may stand out better with a slightly different wall colour. But I suppose there is always something to do.

My pets always seem to want to part of a photoshoot, and although our cat Joey can be a bit naughty, he at least does not seem to be a curtain climber. 

The fabric was bought from Lenka Dresses on Etsy, and called Sole Raya Grey Stripe. I was very pleased with it, and the whole ordering process. It is extra wide, with the stripes going across the width, so I was able to make full length curtains without having to have any seams.

I have always used pencils pleats before, but this time went for pinch pleats, which I think has worked quite well. 

And although I am planning to get back to the knitting, we still have a bedroom without curtains, so I have been browsing at fabric again.