HAPPINESS IS LIME GREEN

A couple of Limeys - Jez
Pitt pen, coloured pencils and digital framing

The Three Muses this week asked us to create something using Turquoise and Lime Green.  I asked myself what I could paint with Lime Green, and the answer was obvious - Limes.  I even found that I had pencils labelled Lime Green and Turquoise in one of my many sets of coloured pencils, so it was meant to be.

When I was younger English people were often referred to as "Limeys", mostly by Australians and Americans.  This seems to have died out in favour of other nicknames.  The name Limeys was derived from the fact that from the 1800s the British Navy issued lime juice to their sailors to help prevent Scurvy, which is a rather nasty illness caused by lack of Vitamin C.   

Nothing like doodling - Jez
Acrylic paint

For the April challenge at Art Journal Journey the theme is Moments of Happiness.  I was stuck for a while because it can be interpreted in so many ways.  Inspiration struck when I was doodling with paint, and realised that doodling and colour - particularly yellow, orange and red - give me a lot of pleasure and many moments of happiness.  Who needs diamonds and couture clothes when we've got colour to play with!

Linking to The Three Muses, Art Journal Journey, and Manon's Paper Saturdays

MIXING IT UP A BIT

Doodle-Town Map - Jez

'Welcome to Doodle-Town' is my entry for the Mix it Monthly challenge to create a map and use pinks and browns.  Wherever you go in Doodle-Town there is a great deal of variety - in fact it can get a bit too much variety if you are driving around looking for a particular address because there are no signposts.  The best thing about Doodle-Town is that all roads lead out of town and away to something more like civilisation.

And now three digital paintings, which I created for the 'Away from Home' theme at Paper, Paint, Pencils & Pens .  I wanted to illustrate some of the holidays I would love to have taken but never got around to, and here are my imaginary holiday destinations.  All three were painted with the 'Brushes' App on my I-Pad.

Painted on I-Pad with 'Brushes' app - Jez

I love Japanese Gardens, and this little corner of the large garden of the old house we'd spend a month or so in would be where I would come to sit and enjoy the silence and serene atmosphere.

Painted on I-Pad with 'Brushes' app - Jez

Then there was the holiday we fancied in a lighthouse on a cliff, but that was in the days when we would have enjoyed climbing half a dozen or more flights of steps to see the view.  Good job it's got a television aerial and broadband.

Painted on I-Pad with 'Brushes' app - Jez

And a real castle on its own little island, with a gentle slope on the other side behind the castle with a helicopter pad and beautiful gardens leading down to the beach.  At the moment we are out for a ride in the power-boat that is included in the deal.

If you want to come and spend a little time with us in one of those lovely imaginary places, I'm sure we'd find room for you.

Linking with Mix It Monthly,

A TALE OF TWO CHALLENGES

The challenge on Inspiration Avenue  this week is an interesting one - 'Altered Ancestors', with a choice about using real ancestors or 'instant' ones borrowed from some other source.

I have no photographs of real ancestors because sadly almost all my parents family photos were destroyed.  That left me free to use an instant ancestor, and I chose my Auntie Andromeda, though I've lost count of how many 'great, great, great, greats' there are before her name. 

Auntie Andromeda (or Auntie Andie as we call her) was a bit of a rebel, always getting into scrapes and usually being rescued from disaster just in the nick of time.  Here she is, with 'before and after' photographs.

You can see that she took her penchant for tattooing to extremes, and the photographer firmly refused to take a shot of the front view.  Whew, thank goodness for that!

Actually, at the time of the tattooed photograph Auntie Andie was stuck in the middle of one of her latest escapades, marooned on a rock in the ocean and at the mercy of a vicious maiden-eating sea monster.

You probably remember that in Greek Myth, Perseus travelled to rescue Andromeda from a terrifying sea monster.  Valiantly he wasted no time and plunged straight in to tackling and killing the monster, even though it enmeshed him in its coils.

Unfortunately for Auntie Andie, when Perseus turned and saw her, the tattoos were such a turn-off that he changed his mind, departed suddenly, and left her to the mercies of any other sea monster that might come along.  And history (or at least myth) was changed.

Credits:  Original painting: 'The Doom Fulfilled' by Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, sourced from Wikipaintings.

Linking to Inspiration Avenue

EVEN A LITTLE HOUSE IS A HOME

'CHOOSHOE HOUSE'
Coloured Pencils and Pitt Artist Pen - Jez

At So Artful there's an intriguing challenge which appealed to me instantly - "A Little House with Something a Little Bit Different".  Various ideas whizzed round my head including the kind of 'Crazy House' that you see at funfairs, and 'The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe', but that has been illustrated zillions of times.

Then I thought that perhaps a young woman today might like to live in a shoe house with elegant 4" high heels.  I would have liked to create the house from a shoe with 6" high stiletto heels, but this would have meant that the stairs to the upper floor would be too steep even for a young person.

Co-incidentally, over at Take a Word the theme this week is "Home" with the note that 'any home will do'.  Well, even an odd little house can be a home, so Chooshoe House is my entry for the challenge.

When houses in the UK are advertised for sale by developers or house agents they are never referred to as 'houses', they are always 'homes'.  You have to admit, there is a subtle difference in the feeling you get from 'house' and 'home' ……… and 'home' wins hands down with its warm and welcoming feel.

So 'Chooshoe House' is now being marketed as a unique and individual 'home'.   It's new on the market, so if you fancy viewing it and making an offer, put in your bid soon before the celebrity rush starts (I hear Victoria is showing interest).

Linking with So Artful Challenges, Take a Word, Paint Party Friday, and Paper Saturdays.

ART EVERY DAY, WEEK 2

I no longer sell my work, and so I have the freedom to create anything that takes my fancy, silly or serious, doodling or experimenting, as you can see from the 'work' I do.  It's always fun that way.

I'm creating each day for NAEDM and combining the Saturday to Friday creations into a single post on Fridays to make life easier for myself.  Here is a run-down of some of the things that have kept me occupied this week.

SATURDAY

Garvey Greengrasse
The Green-fingered Gardener

Garvey is generally a grumpy guy

not garrulous or gregarious.

He won't grow anything 

unless it starts with G.

Garvey gardens in Greenwich

growing gigantic gourds, 

garlic, ginger and greengages, 

grapes and gooseberries.

His gardens are gorgeous 

garlanded with geraniums galore,

glorious geum, godetia and gentian,

gillyflowers, gazania, gardenia and gypsophelia

- all germinated in Garvey's greenhouse.

Go Garvey go, get going and get growing!

(but try to include some plants that start with P).

That's the total of what I created this morning and this afternoon we are off to the marriage 'Blessing Ceremony' of our youngest granddaughter Eleanor (Zoë's daughter).  The wedding has already taken place in the registry office, followed today with a blessing in the church and then the reception.  I'm hoping to be able to get a few informal snaps so I can include a couple of shots of the happy couple in tomorrow's section.

SUNDAY

A moment when Eleanor's happy, bright personality showed through as she turned just for me.

Eleanor and Andrew, such a happy young couple, together since they met at college at 16 and so in love.  I love the cheeky smile she has in this photo.

The photographer's assistant was arranging the train of her beautiful dress and it was a nice unposed moment.

MONDAY

Watercolour, text and frame added on Photoshop - Jez

As today is 11/11/11, Remembrance Day, I did my own remembering, in particular of family members who fought in WW1 or WW2, with this painting of poppies from one of my own photographs.

TUESDAY

Watercolour, with text added on Photoshop

I created this watercolour abstract for Try it on Tuesday's November challenge of COLOUR EXPLOSION.  The text was added with Photoshop, with a poem I wrote myself to match the challenge theme.

WEDNESDAY

Not a pretty sight, but this is how I am feeling this afternoon because of silly little mishap.

I went to a shelf behind my work table in the studio to select a folder I needed.  Everything dropped out of the folder and slid between the shelves and the box I keep my pens, pencils and other bits and pieces on beside my chair.  Sudden movement in annoyance - I bent down to pick them up from the narrow space and wham.  One of the mechanical pencils was point upwards, I missed the space, hit the pencil and the lead drove right into my flesh at the base of my thumb.  Very painful and deep.

Dev spent over half an hour of digging about with a needle and the help of a magnifying glass and managed to extract most of it.  By that time I agreed through gritted teeth that we just had to leave the little bit that was left and slap some Savlon and a plaster on it.

So this is a painting of how I feel now, not how I felt while he was doing it - that would not be a pretty sight.  I learnt this style of painting with acrylics on one of Kristin's 'Tutorial Tryouts on Tuesdays', very quick to do and enjoyably sloppy to do with all those drips.

THURSDAY

'The Winnower' - Bronze Sculpture
Sean Rice (1931-1997)
Pitt Artist's Pen

Dev and I went to draw in the newly re-furbished Atkinson Art Gallery in Southport today.  We had coffee and toast in a café before going in, drew for an hour or so, went out for lunch, and spent a final hour or so in the gallery again in the afternoon.

These three small sections of the sculpture took me an hour to draw!  I couldn't attempt to draw the whole thing.  It's a large sculpture mounted at eye height on a plinth, intricately convoluted and twisted, and though it is quite frightening I love it.  It certainly very demanding and tiring.  Fairly pleased with the results.

My morning piece was in pencil because it was in the picture exhibition area.  I need to draw over it with pen so that it will photograph clearly, and hopefully add a little colour to it.  So that will be a piece for next week.

FRIDAY

And here's Friday's 'Start the Day with a Warm-up' doodle.  Say hello to the Wooga Wooga Bird, who seems to be under the impression that she's in need of help.  I'd say she certainly needs help from a stylist - and a good photographer.

'THE WOOGA WOOGA BIRD'
Water Soluble Crayons on A3 'ordinary' paper

Linking with November Art Every Day Month, Paint Party Friday and Manon's Paper Saturdays.

ART EVERY DAY IN NOVEMBER

Here's my collection of 7 pieces of art, one each day during the past week for November Art Every Day Month.  I'm posting at the end of each week to make life a little easier for myself.  Nothing special, just the practice pieces, experiments and generally the results of fiddling around.

SATURDAY

My arty plans for Saturday were completely squashed when it turned out to be a day of several different callers - no complaints about that, but this silly ATC was all I managed to complete in the whole day.

SUNDAY

Experimental day today.  I've been wanting to continue experimenting with these A4 sheets of craft foam for printing for a while, since I can't do 'proper' printing in the flat.

I created these two figures, each from a full sheet, by just picking up a pair of scissors and a sheet of foam and starting to cut, with no idea as to what I was going to cut and no pre-drawing.  If you've never 'drawn' with a pair of scissors you should try it because it's surprising what happens and how pleased you will be, as long as you don't have high expectations of the result.

Once the man had been cut out I decided he needed a dancing partner.  I started from the left foot (being left-handed) and found as I approached the top of the sheet there was too little room for her head.  Never mind, who cares, I like her even if she has got a flat head.

I stuck them to an A3 sheet of cartridge paper with diluted PVA glue, covered them with cling film and stuck a heavy book on top.  When they were dry enough I coated each figure with the PVA glue, and they will need another coat before I can experiment further - perhaps next week.  Creating this easy piece so far left plenty of time for drawing and painting during the day.

MONDAY

Insects are fascinating to draw and learn about (as long as they are not spiders).  Thankfully we are not invaded by Bloody Nosed Beetles, so this sketchbook drawing is copied from a book - "The Illustrated Book of Insects" by John Burton, Peerage Books.

TUESDAY

Yet another long clinic visit with Dev.  I used the time to sketch people in the waiting room using the Brushes App on my I-Phone.  Helps to pass the time.  At home I made a digital montage of these four and added a frame.  Once again, this was the total sum of my creative efforts today.

WEDNESDAY

         

Another experiment.  I was looking for something in a cupboard and found a piece of fabric as I searched.  It's a piece I saved when I gave away most of my quilting fabric stash when we made the move to our last flat.  I felt inspired to try doodling with Pitt Pen on the fabric, using the pattern on the grey section as the starting point for the doodle.  Very enjoyable, and it led me on to colour my design with sparkly gel pens.  A dreadful stormy dark day, which means that the photo is very poor, too dark on the top half, and I apologise for the quality.  I added a narrow frame on Photoshop.

                             

Couldn't resist trying a couple of colour changes, but the purple/green and blue/brown were the best I could manage.  Nothing like a bit of doodling to pass studio time enjoyably.  I'm not sure yet what I'll do with the doodled piece, but it will certainly be used in another project.

THURSDAY

I've been doing short course involving a piece a week for six weeks.  This is the final piece, an exercise using pastels to create a sgrafitto image of two cats in front of a window.  I hated every moment of doing it because I dislike using pastels and getting my hands dirty.  In addition, all the dust it created meant it triggered my asthma and I coughed all the way through it.

I was probably distracted by this because I forgot to leave a line of black indicating the window sill, and I chickened out of trying to leave lines for any window bars.  So it's one big pane of glass in the window.  I drew the cat shape and cut out a stencil to make it easier to work around the cats with the sgrafitto, which I did with a knife because I didn't have any better tool.  I added the black frame around the arch digitally.  Not a success, but at least I made myself do it and I learnt something.  But any future sgrafitto work will be done with a different medium.

FRIDAY

Like many artists, I nearly always start an arty day with a quick loosening-up exercise.  There's almost always a sheet of A3 paper on the big easel, and this was today's early morning, very quick doodle, drawn with a thick black pen.  Bunty was disappointed that I hadn't given her a coloured dress, so I added the colour on Photoshop.  Champagne anybody?

Linking with November Art Every Day Month, Paint Party Friday, and Manon's Paper Saturdays.

THREE SILLY LADIES AND THINK PINK

Three quick sketches today of silly ladies, with a little touch of doggerel added.  Sketching quickly like this without a preconceived idea of what I am going to draw is always fun, and I hope you enjoy them.

'MIRANDA'
Digital drawing on 'Brushes' App - Jez

Click on the image to enlarge

JILLY-JO
Pen and Inktense Pencils - Jez

SUKEY TROTTER
Pen and Inktense Pencils - Jez

I think Miranda is my favourite, she really knows how to enjoy herself.

INSPIRATION AVENUE reminds us that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  My niece died very young from breast cancer, and as life has gone on some of my friends have also died.  I am so glad that since those days of many years past, the treatment for breast cancer has improved tremendously and can now save women's lives.  My entry for the challenge is very simple, but I hope it is a reminder to 'Think Pink' and take action early.

"THINK PINK" - Jez

I had a lovely surprise last week.  I had won the September prize on Try it on Tuesday with my 'Dotty Man' -

He was one of the faces I had drawn for the 29 Faces challenge in September.  I had experimented to see if I could create a face using only dots, and when I saw the TIOT challenge was 'Dots' he seemed just right.

I don't know what the prize is yet, but just winning the challenge is enough of a pleasure.  Thank you Try it on Tuesday.

Linking with Inspiration Avenue, Art Journal Journal 'She Art', Paint Party Friday and Manon's Paper Saturdays .

GO DOODLING FOR APR

Jenn over at Artist's Play Room knows how much we all love doodling and this week she has told us to 'Go Doodle'.  Both my doodles were drawn a few weeks ago, but they seemed right for the challenge.

I always keep at least one sketchbook by me when I sit to have my coffee breaks, and my doodles most often take the form of a face or cartoony figure, who always come ready with their own name.

Here's Cecil - when I put my pencil on the page he just appeared.  He's trying to put over a good impression, but it's certainly not working on me.  I think he's got shifty eyes and a very false smile.

CECIL

CECIL

   

Cecil, Cecil, you do look quaint,

Your looks would make a Cherubim faint,

You pose as an angelic saint,

You're no angel, and a saint you ain't.

I don't very often doodle patterns and shapes, but occasionally something like this will emerge from the tip of my pen without any conscious thought, and if there's a pen handy I'll add a little colour.  I quite like this, I think it has a lot of movement.

For Sunday Postcard Art the theme is Summer Solstice, and it took me a while to think of something appropriate.

The postcard I made for SPA was inspired by this photograph of a young girl.  Last Thursday we had parked overlooking the sea at Southport - those of you in the UK may know that 'overlooking the sea' is rather a euphemism.  The land around here is so flat that most of the time the sea is just a shining line of water on the distant horizon beyond the sands.

A young girl with a circlet of flowers in her hair walked right up to our car and stood by the car door while her friend took a photograph.  I called through the window to ask if I could take a photograph, and had just a moment or two to snap her - no chance to frame the best shot.

She seemed just right for celebrating the summer solstice.  I isolated her from the background and digitally superimposed her over two pictures of Stonehenge from a vintage book I have called 'British Social History, Vol 1'.  The text and frame were added in Photoshop.

DOODLING THE DAY AWAY WITH ED AND TIM

Here's Edgar on the left - always known as Ed - in his best bib-and-tucker, 

and of course Tim dresses just like his brother because they are twins.  

Here's their story:

EDGAR THE MAD MARCH HARE

Yes, he's mad with Tim just at the moment

Here's Edgar Hare, he's quite a toff,

Never seen with his top hat off.

Fancy waistcoat, snazzy tie,

Watches all the girls go by.

Several more at home like him

But the one he liked best was his brother Tim.

Tim stole Ed's girl Sue, and thinks it's funny,

And Edgar's not a happy bunny.

He isn't speaking to his brother,

Which really does upset their mother.

But a passing Bunny Girl catches his eye,

He forgets sweet Sue, and makes a pass at Vi.

I'm glad the lads once more are pals
Now they've sorted out
who has which of the gals.

So all ends well for Tim and Sue, Ed and Vi, 

There'll be two weddings by and by.

PAPER SATURDAYS

I've really made an effort this time to make at least a simple piece of paper-craft for Manon's Paper Saturdays by cutting round the brothers and folding their figures to stand up independently.  

Ed and Tim were still not speaking when I posed them a few inches in front of my own photo of the garden where they live:   

If you would like to see more of my doodle creatures and their accompanying doggerel verses

just click on DOODLING THE DAY AWAY in the sidebar list of Labels on the right. 

Linking to Paper Saturdays

DOODLING THE DAY AWAY 6 - ALMINA, BLING QUEEN

  
This is Almina, THE BLING QUEEN OF THE AVIANS, who enjoyed a hedonistic life of pride and pleasure as a bright young thing.  

But as with many things in life, the passing of time brought many changes ....... as you can see below.

ALMINA, BLING QUEEN OF THE AVIANS

Meet Almina, the Bling Queen, she's full of sharp angles,

Her mate buys her jewels, with long dingle-dangles,

A beak stud, some rings, and a lot of bright bangles.

Almina when young was a happy young chick,

She strutted around - all the others were sick!

But when motherhood came she began to feel blue,

Pointy wings, pointy legs ...... that means pointy eggs too!

She HATES laying eggs -

                                                 well, I think so would you!

POOR  ALMINA

If you would like to see my other doodles-with-doggerel-verses

you might light to click on

DOODLING THE DAY AWAY

in the column on the right hand side of this page.

I hope you might enjoy them. 

I'm linking this post to Manon's Paper Saturdays today
and to Sunday Postcard Art tomorrow. 

EMERALD - OR AT LEAST AS CLOSE AS I CAN GET

Emerald the Evil, the Green-Eyed Monster, 

just lying in wait for the chance 

to plant the seeds of envy 

in someone's unsuspecting heart.

I'm sure this is not what the Collage Obsession theme of 'Emerald' for this week, was supposed to produce.

My mind went through emerald jewellery, lovely dresses for red-haired ladies, fields of green in the Emerald Isle.  I even thought of something connected with the Emerald City but that's not having such a good press here in the UK at the moment.

I firmly decided to create some emerald jewellery designs, and even drew a hanging hook for the first earring ..... but when I put my pen on the paper, this is what happened.  I don't know where he came from, but I never do know where creatures like this come from.  I shudder to think what's inside my mind when I see this kind of thing developing on the page.

So, emerald may be seen mostly as a colour of beauty, green is also the colour of envy which, when it goes too far and becomes jealousy, can be one of the worst vices.

So let's put all the blame on Emerald the Evil.

I drew his outline with Pitt Artist's pen, and coloured him with Inktense pencil, and sparkly gel pens for his eyes and claws.  I wanted to get an unpleasant feel to his skin, so I put the fairly thin paper of my sketchbook directly on to my battered desk (i.e., ex-dining-table), so that the grain and other bits of battering affected the pencil work.  He's not really emerald in colour, but this is as near as I could get to it, whatever medium I tried.

As an example of pencil work it looks horrible, but that's what I wanted, and his skin makes my flesh creep.

I scanned the finished drawing into Photoshop and added the wiggly, snake-like border with a distortion filter called 'waves'.

So that's enough about him.

Now I'm looking forward to seeing all the really beautiful creations of other artists

over at Collage Obsession.  Why don't you take a look too.

P.S. - IF YOU HAPPEN TO BE COMMENTING

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IT'S 'ORRIBLE.

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