Prosperous & Creative Soul & MFW Year 3

beanielou

Lovely to catch up with your DS. 

WelshmansDaughter

Like the sound of the art class

savingholmes

Thanks WD, Beanie, Lucielle and Sandy

I keep thinking I've replied and get distracted.

Well I've attended my first ever nude model drawing class! Two different ones in the same night as the first left in a huff after being asked to remove his hat Apparently they alternate between male and female models by week so I may go back. £40 a session apparently to the model if any of you are looking to earn some dosh... I have to say everyone was respectful. I noted afterwards that some focused on particularly areas of the anatomy and avoided others or that their drawings were abstracted or generic. It was interesting to see different people's approaches to drawing the same thing - but also how the physical viewpoint of the artist in the room changed the view. I was rather unfortunate as I arrived late and it had already started so got greeted with a full frontal view from the off. There were some regular attendees there - I was the only one who was a complete newbie. I was proud of what I drew though. 

I treated it a bit like exposure therapy... I was glad when the models changed as the first looked really grumpy and unhappy and it radiated off him and made it difficult. The second was really happy and relaxed. Apparently there was a bit of a row with the first - but thankfully I missed it as I was spraying my charcoal drawings in the corridor.

I've booked to do some skyline sketching locally on Saturday. Wish me luck. I'm hoping that will help me meet more local artists. I've only paid £8 for Saturday's session - it was donate what you could afford so picked a number. I hate the uncertainty of that though - as I don't want to over-pay but don't want to underpay either.  Yesterday's group was a longer trek (car journey) than I anticipated. It was fairly straightforward to get to though although there are some road closures coming up which would make it more difficult. Tomorrow I have the bowling to look forward to. I'm feeling the need to add more people into my life again - which is progress. I realise now that following the divorce and the unconnected trauma that occured that year plus pandemic impacts - I've withdrawn a lot from in-person social and I need to find a way to build it back in. My art is better / more focused when I take part in groups / classes too.  

I'm hoping that scheduling regular art groups even if they alternate between venues / types will help me not overspend on things that don't align with my long term goals. My ambition is to be a successful artist and writer so this spend aligns with that. I've loved the jumpers I bought last weekend though. The weather is very hit and miss still.

My attempts at drawing on screen are currently woeful. Need to watch some more tutorials I think.

savingholmes

Not having the best financial month. I'd budgeted my car insurance in at £250 - but actual is £328. If I added DS it would cost an extra £200 roughly - so he'd need to drive my car for 10 days for it to be pay back. I think in practice it was only around 5 days last year. I think it is still cheaper to book by the day when I go and see him - roughly £20 a day. I have gone on multiple comparison websites and didn't like the results! I even tried a previous provider directly but no. I will pay it nearer the time on a points CC and then immediately pay it off. 

I have to go to a work's event tomorrow which I'm a bit nervous about. It's a fair distance as well. It's in a nice setting though so I'm hoping to add a walk in before the meeting. I'll then travel to my normal site afterwards and catch up with colleagues before going bowling with DD and her BF in the evening. It's going to be quite full on. I perhaps should have planned the outing with DD better but can't change it now as her BF booked the night off work to go.

I still love my view and seeing the weather and light changes and cloud cover continually move. I've had a couple of more successful days of work and caught up on some hours which is something at least.

I can't get the printer to come up on my new laptop. My old laptop still has it - so I may need to keep that just for emergency printing. My virus checker didn't like it as the driver is so out of date. I have about £50 of toner cartridges though and it's a laser printer so don't want to switch to something newer if I don't have to!

I'd best sort some tea and then perhaps catch up on some diaries.

KajiKita

I really admire your oomph in getting stuck into new methods and approaches to your art 😊 Long may it continue to bring you pleasure. 

Re the drawing on screen, are you using a mouse or stylus or something else? Maybe it’s partly the hardware, angles (the screen being vertical rather than flat / low angle like a pad or canvas) or even the software itself - is it behaving like you would expect it to? 

KK

savingholmes

Thanks KK. I think it is partly trying to draw on screen. I've bought 2 different styluses - but also I'm finding Paint too restrictive and Ad&b3 overwhelming. I may try on my phone at some point to see if a tablet style would be easier. I have used C@nv@ for work and love that for designing stuff - but never used it to draw with. 

I've also been using collage to tell different parts of my life story - even if the only planned audience is me and my counsellor. It is helping. 

When DD's has some free time I may get her to come over and help me do more decluttering. 

KajiKita

Maybe some of it is just the boring, laborious practice of laying down new neural networks of coordination? Perhaps do 10 minutes a day and draw the same thing every day (or rotate three things) so you can see how you are improving? I was on a call with one of the R&D guys a couple of days ago and he started free drawing on the screen to highlight a section of the drawing we were discussing - I remember being stunned by his aptitude and then reminded myself that he did this all day every day ….! 😉

If it’s not a daft question, why do you want to draw on a screen? Could you scan in a hand drawn image and then manipulate it? (I may well be talking through my elbow here of course! 😉)

KK

TallGirl

Gosh you are busy but as you say sometimes it is good to force yourself to do social interaction I agree after Covid and working from home I am also more isolated. Well done on trying all the different types of arts sounds like it is definitely working for you. I hope today is not too stressful.

jwil

Glad you are having fun with art and hope the work event goes well.

WelshmansDaughter

I did a course in drawing where she hand drew images and then scanned in to digitise.