Friday, July 3, 2009

Cool And Interesting

Rooks - Work In Progress

I am pleased with how this one has turned out. It shows two of my favourite birds - rooks. It is a pen and ink drawing using multi-directional cross-hatching to build up the tones. I find it quicker than pointillism. This is just to show that I can draw traditionally as well as stylising. It is in progress at the moment and I am not sure how to continue but that is where the value of a scanner lies. I can try out various backgrounds without ruining the original. What did we do before scanners?
Little White Bird
This is a pen and ink drawing with a digital background called "Medieval Lady". I found a lovely book in a charity shop a while ago about church brass monuments, how to do brass rubbings etc and which churches to find them in. It has lots of lovely illustrations and photos of the brasses and the medieval garb of the people represented on the brasses. This picture is inspired by some of the beautiful costumes and headgear. Many churches have brasses but are a bit reluctant to have them used for brass rubbing as it can wear away what is usually a 600 to 700 year old piece of art. I think they are just lovely to look at.



I have been listening a lot recently to the very talented violinist Andre Rieu. There is a lot of videos of his concerts on Youtube and I also have access to quite a few DVD's. One of his soprano's is Brazilian Carla Mafioletti and this one is called "Once Upon A Time In The West". I can guarantee you will love it.


The beautiful creature is a relief print found on theoddgallery on Etsy. It is the shop of the artist John Steins. He has some lovely prints on there and also at his website here. He has a journal site on his web page where he blogs about his art and printmaking. Very interesting stuff. I will have a much closer look when I get two spare minutes to rub together!
I really love this Jill Barker print of resting sheep.


This is a scabious flower head I photographed in a bouquet at an art show. A bit of PS later and quite a nice result. Gorgeous colour.

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens - well no whiskers on show at the moment but I photographed this rose in our garden a while back after a heavy shower.


The artwork below was created by Louise Davidson but there is practically nothing about her on the web except for a page of her gorgeous work here at Handmark Gallery in Hobart. Perhaps she is as mysterious as her beautiful etchings.

Hidden Things
The Art Of Reading Flowers
Last Sunday we went for a long hike starting in the village of Bledlow in Bucks. Bledlow is a quintessentially English village beloved of film-makers. It has a wonderful church which has been the centre of nasty goings-on in the Midsomer Murders detective series with actor John Nettles and also Agatha Christie's Miss Marple. Two favourites of mine. Holy Trinity here at Bledlow is an ancient church dating back to the 12th century and the churchyard is surrounded by lots of huge mature trees.

This is the most wonderfully photogenic cottage. It is just opposite the church and believe it or not, a road runs between the tree and the cottage. I am standing in the churchyard for the photo and our car is parked in the road but because the bank is so high it cannot be seen. Anyone who has watched the Midsomer Murders will recognise this as the cottage in Badger's Drift where the first victim lived. I now have this on my computer desktop.

A row of lovely cottages near the church. This would make a great pen and ink drawing if I had the time. I have drawn a few buildings like this in the past and they take ages to do as everything has to be in proportion and perspective.

I love these cottages with the huge chestnut trees in the front gardens and the pillar box on the wall. Very English.
This is at the end of our walk coming back into Bledlow. We walked through several fields of crop like this. The sound of the crickets was deafening.

Matte Stephens is well known artist and illustrator. He produces some very witty and quirky artwork. I love this gouache painting from his Etsy shop called "Lilian Playing With An Abstract Thought" - gorgeous. He has a great palette of colours.


I like this angel illustration by Julia Luchkina.
I recently discovered the work of an Irish ceramic artist that speaks to you. The artist is Fidelma Massey who has a studio in Co. Wexford in Ireland. Her works are mythical, symbolic and very individual. She seems to often work with themes of birds and trees which are my favourite art subjects also. She wants her viewers to be uplifted and stirred and surprised into a sense of wonder. I think her work does all this and more. It is stunningly beautiful. If money were no object I would buy all her sculpture so that I could look at it all the time.

You can see much more of her work on her website here and also at the following galleries:


Dancing Eve detail
Watermother detail
Shrine For Mother Of Birds
Mother Of All detail
Sweet Chestnut detail
Fish Girl
Crowing Hen

26 comments:

Dolores said...

Thanks for the walking tour. I really like your rooks drawing.

Caroline said...

Hi Cathy! What patience you have - your rooks are wonderful! Of course I like anything birdie and am in love with John Stein's work now! You are such a good photographer - I love the dew dropped rose, but Scabious is one of my favourite flowers so I'll vote that one number 1! Incredible sculptures too - I'll make a point of visiting that website. Thanks for all the goodies - hope you have a good week.

Caroline

jamjar said...

love your rooks, they look great just as they are!

Pamela Terry and Edward said...

Wonderful post, as ever. I love The Mother of Birds! And those delightful cottages on your walk. Yes, I am a fan of Midsommer Murders and Miss Marple as well. And I love your rooks. The first encounter I had with these birds was in a rather haunted inn in Cornwall. They yelled outside my window from their macabre wooden nests all afternoon. I loved them!

Re your comment about my "Americans" post for the 4th of July. Oh yes, we have more than our share of the unloveable types!! I just hope our good outweighs our bad!! :)

Acornmoon said...

You always post such a treasure trove of images it is hard to know where to start!

So, I will begin with your rook drawing which is wonderful, also I admire the sheep print you have selected, they are my faves.

Kat Mortensen said...

Stunning work, as usual. You are so considerate to give generous space and words on behalf of other artists.

I am very familiar with the music from "Once Upon a Time in the West". The movie is one of my all-time favourites.

Kat

Cathy said...

Thanks Dolores. It is a technique I haven't used much but I am so pleased with how it turned out that I shall do some more. Glad you liked the Bledlow pictures.

Cathy said...

Hi Caroline. I am glad I found that gorgeous website for Fidelma Massey. I would love to own one (or more) of her gorgeous pieces. I thought you would like the birds. If there were no birds or trees I would be stuck for inspiration for my pictures...ha ha.

Cathy said...

Thanks Joy. I enjoyed drawing them. They are my favourite birds.

Cathy said...

Your encounter with rooks sounds really spooky and interesting Pamela. I would love to experience a night in a haunted place, but definitely not on my own. I didn't realise Midsomer and Marple were aired in America.

Cathy said...

Thanks Valerie. It is lovely to know my posts give people nice things to browse.

Cathy said...

Hi Kat. Oddly enough I haven't seen the film but found the tune delightful and I have always like everything Andre Rieu does.

Regarding posting the work of other artists; there is so much wonderful creativity on the Internet that people don't always get to see, so if I find lovely things I like to share them.

ArtPropelled said...

Your two rooks are fantastic, Cathy! I'm in love with Fidelma Massey's sculptures. I want Mother of Birds!

~ Phyllis ~ said...

Hi Cathy,
I love your drawing of the Rooks.
The expression on their faces make them look very curious about something.
I enjoyed the walk and the pictures of the church and cottages.
Miss Marple is one of my favorites.
I just watched one last night.
Your rose picture is amazing. How did you manage to capture all of those raindrops. I have a feeling that one would win an award on Flickr easily.

Cathy said...

I thought you would like Fidelma Massey Robyn. She is amazing isn't she. If only I had the funds to buy some of her ceramics....sigh.

Cathy said...

Hi Phyllis. Thanks for the compliments on my art. Fancy you watching Miss Marple. I love Agatha Christie films. The rose was in our garden and I took the photo after a heavy shower with late sunlight but I took out the distracting background in Photoshop. I often do that if I have a single lovely flower head but don't want any other distractions. Takes ages to do though.

Holly Zemak said...

Hi Cathy - Wonderful Rooks,they are coming out great. Keep us updated. We enjoy Miss Marple also, sometimes you have to watch it more than once to pick up all the clues. Love those cottages, I could be very happy with those front gardens! Thanks for sharing Fidelma Massey, what an imagination, I am inspired.

Old World Primitives said...

Hi Cathy,
I absolutely love how your Rooks turned out! I want to reach out and pet them, they look so feathery soft and full of depth. I really like the colors, textures and design of "Little White Bird" too.

It looks like you had a beautiful hike - I wish there were some cottages that quaint and pretty closer to me.

Have a great weekend!
Stephanie

Crafty Green Poet said...

So much in this post! So many lovely things but I have to comment particularly on your rooks, they have so much character!

Cathy said...

Thanks Holly. My rooks seem very popular. I am just working on giving them a bit of a background at the moment. I am inspired to do some full size ones now...ha ha. I agree about Miss Marple. I have some DVD's and I watch them time and again and still find things I missed the first time around. I love the old fashioned English feel to the stories too.

Cathy said...

Hi Stephanie. Wouldn't it be lovely to own one of those gorgeous cottages. I bet they have wonderful gardens around the back too. The rooks did turn out well. I just wish we could entice some to our bird tables so that I could see them in close up - but they are very much birds of field and farmland.

Cathy said...

Thank you Juliet. I am pleased you have found things you like in this post. So much inspiring art around everywhere.

Kat Mortensen said...

Cathy, if you have a minute, stop by my blog; I have something for you.

Kat

Cathy said...

Hi Kat

Thanks very much. I have got it and will post it with my new post.

Anonymous said...

I like your rooks drawing. I wish I had the discipline to do such detailed work and hatching. Also, I wanted to tell you that I love your new banner!

Cathy said...

Thanks very much Mellanie. I am definitely going to make my next banner a black and white illustration though..ha ha.

I was surprised at how quickly the rooks got done. Previously I have used pointillism, which as you know, takes ages at that density of black. Cross-hatching was much quicker and built up the darker areas quickly. I will definitely be using it again.