J is for...Jedi

Today's alphARTbet drawings should, hopefully, be recognisable to Star Wars fans.

A is for...

Today in 'Golden Time' ( a reward session at the end of the week that the children 'earn') we drew horses. 
They did 'before' pics ;

and then, following really simple guidelines (starting with a letter 'A'), they drew horses in various poses.   

Bear in mind that these are only thumbnail sketches and not huge.

doodle

As a follow-up to the ballerina automaton post from yesterday here's a quick doodle in a similar vein.

panda's

Today to finish off their topic about China, the y2's drew panda's. They had a go themselves before being shown a simple way of representing the animals using shapes. You might be able to spot the 'before' pic.

We used pencil first and then switched to felt pen. The latter was chosen to bypass their reluctance to make mistakes - you can't really erase felt pen!

We then progressed on to using brushes and ink. They used the same shapes to again 'draw' their panda's.

Finally we had a go at representing bamboo by altering the strength with which we applied the brush rather than painting outlines and filling them in. I don't think the results were too bad for 6/7 year olds.

today's sketch

I had a hankering to revisit a 'style' from a while back and managed a quick sketch of a couple of rugby players ;

I actually enjoyed the 'process' and might even transfer this onto canvas and paint it up.

new card

Another card 'design'.

Card

Drew a female pirate on a card today. She looks a bit wistful!

Have been drawing lots of cards lately. To me, it's just as quick as printing them and each one is unique. I've packaged them up with envelopes and even put them in those fancy cellophane pockets! I'm intending to sell them for £2 each or 3 for £5. I don't reckon that's too bad for an original piece of art.

Oh, and have just sold a painting and another 'A is for Art' book on Folksy! Yay!

drawings

Have been drawing some cards . Various subjects but in the same styles. Might list some in my shops. Done with sharpies on card, A6 single fold. 

 

hot

Even robots need to cool off in this weather!

 

leaves & doodles

Y1 have been adding to our 'magical forest' by weaving leaves. These are then being threaded with wire before being wrapped onto the branches with yarn - a laborious process but its all slowly beginning to take shape.

 

 

 

Meanwhile, a few doodles from my sketchbook. Must've been listening to some Sinatra tracks in my head whilst drawing them!

 

 

 

drawing

FS2 children did some observational drawing yesterday.  We kept it simple (basic shape, surface texture/detail) as their attention spans and concentration are still developing! 

 

Strawberries....

And pineapples!

Finally, a couple of pics of my completed ceramic roadster.

the inspectors!

Apologies for the lack of posts lately - we are in the midst of a dreaded Ofsted inspection (ask anyone who is or knows a teacher and they'll concur). Hopefully it will all turn out fine in the end, fingers crossed. To calm the nerves I managed a couple of card drawings this lunchtime. 

 

 

I've tried listing them in my Etsy/Folksy shops and even sending samples out to various real shops but so far no takers. Still, I'm determined to keep trying.
I did sell one of my paintings on Folksy though - yay!

today's doodle

Had a hankering to do some chaps in top hats. Decided they might look better if I exaggerated the height of the hats. Am quite liking this as a quirky doodle - though it used up a sizeable amount of pen! 

 

 

 

 

'Bankers'

18x14 cm, pen in notebook

cards in shop

Have just listed some packs of cards in my Folksy shop. Each and every card is hand-drawn and they come in packs of 3 (complete with envelopes). The content of each pack will therefore vary (no two cards will be the same) as will card colour as they are drawn on recycled offcuts.

 

 

bareback rider

Over the hols my wife 'bullied' me into getting an ipad! Am slowly getting to grips with it and thought I'd try and add an entry to this blog using it. Failed miserably! I managed to take a photo (using the ipad) of a recent sketch but then for the life of me couldn't insert it into my blog.I ended up doing it the usual way - digital camera, SD card onto laptop, laptop into blog.

Any help or advice as to how to do it solely on the ipad would be most welcome as it would certainly remove a lot of the faff and be much more flexible.

The sketch came about after having seen an artist on the quayside at La Rochelle. She had a range of images for sale (at what I thought were quite steep prices) and one that caught my eye was of a lady standing on the back of a horse. I copied the essence of the pose but drew it in my own 'style' ;

 

 

 

I had to stick several sheets of A4 paper together to get it as I wanted it. Unfortunately I forgot to get the name of the artist and didn't have my camera with me to take any photos. Might reproduce this as a shaded drawing as I don't think I'd be able to do it justice as a painting.

cards

I was toying a few weeks ago of letting my Folksy & Etsy shops quietly close - I was finding it a struggle to promote them and consequently nothing was selling. In the last couple of weeks things have turned around. I sold the latest 'Peggy' and a painting! They must be getting visitors from somewhere who like the sort of stuff that's in there. So, onwards and upwards. I'll try to keep them well stocked and make a bit more of an effort to promote them somehow. That's after I've finished writing the end of year reports and marked the yearly assessments! Managed to doodle a few cards today during lunchtime. Hand-drawn images on yellow card. Might package these up in 3's and see how they go. It's just as easy to draw them as to mess about printing them. Might add some spot colour for the lips, eyes, hair or dresses.

Hand-drawn cards, A6 (single fold), pen.

on my drawing board

A few quick sketches of enthusiastic belles undertaking some ballet poses!

new work

A new piece on my painting table. The photo isn't brilliant due to the fact that my 'studio' is in the cellar!

'Jazz Combo'

13x18cm, mixed Media on canvas board.

recent sketch

Managed to do a quick sketch today. A couple of ladies enjoying a spot of afternoon tea at a genteel establishment somewhere 'in town'. Played around with the shadows on the picture - they're deliberately meant to be 'not quite right'. Am thinking of painting up a version. What do you reckon?

new folksy items

Have just listed 3 pieces of art in my Folksy shop. The only thing is - these are all wearable!!
They are all mixed media pieces on 5x5cm canvas board, each with a regular brooch fastening bonded onto the back.
They look great whether they are being worn or displayed on the dressing table.
Would love to hear any comments.