Sun, sea and sand

Too much choice to blog about this week. The weather has been wonderful, I’ve been out sketching, taken 500 photos, tracked down the horny beasts (at last) and even seen a golden eagle. I’ve been cycling for the first time in years (and don’t I know about it!) and been picnicking on our building plot with G & T in the flask. I have suntanned hands and a red nose after a few days out in the sun, aching limbs and head full of pictures to paint. So that’ll be all for words this week and I’ll leave you with some images of Scotland in the sun……..

                      

Fishermen and the opaque chick

It’s been a funny week – all to do with a lot of socialising and some disturbed sleep. As we approach midsummer the days are getting longer and longer, it only really gets dark for about 2 hours. This means I stay up longer thinking it is too early to go to bed, and get woken up by the light before I’ve had enough sleep – so I’m buying some blackout blinds to match the dark rings under my eyes! I'm a bit tired, and consequently, the funky chickens haven’t moved along a great deal this week. I joined a small local art group who get together to paint and chat on a Tuesday night. At 9.30pm we were still painting with warm sun still streaming in through the open door. When everyone was concentrating too hard to chat, we listened to a melodic blackbird doing his evening song. I did some quick chicken sketches whilst others laboured over delicate watercolours. I was very careful not to blow any dirty clouds of charcoal dust onto their translucent masterpieces. I'm not a fan of watercolour - I think it is the translucency that puts me off  – I’m more of an opaque chick! Whilst not clucking about with chickens I’ve been creating a watery scene for a hotel sign. This afternoon should see a paper pile of salmon and fishermen turn into a colourful digital graphic ready for my client to approve on Monday. However, the need to slump over my computer is less inviting than doing work on last week’s unfinished chicken picture – but the funky foursome will just have to wait for another day.

Charcoal Chickens

I’ve been painting for the sake of painting this week and I’ve really enjoyed it. I fancied working on a larger scale and in an attempt to overcome an internal resistance to experimenting in pastel, I unpacked my willow charcoal and swapped my expensive Spectrum pastel paper for something less precious. But, what to draw? In order to keep at least one constant I opted for animals. The weather did nothing to encourage me to take my materials outside in front of some live models, and the cats were either outside or comatosed, and I wanted something in an animated pose! I have a vast library of photos for inspiration – but since my printer was temporarily out of action I was limited to a small handful of ready printed photos. So chickens it was and a series has begun. My wish to be loose and fluid quickly slipped back into detail and the hours whizzed by – but I enjoyed the freedom and the opportunity to play about with composition. But to really loosen up a bit, I may need to set myself a time limit! I’ve started number 2, this time with an old grey Fergie in the background (Henry’s idea). Whilst I only wanted a hint of Fergie, my critical friend (Henry with anorak) quickly pointed out a few technical misgivings – so a little more work yet to do to the right hand rear wheel. The sun is now shining again and my printer is restored after a heart transplant, so I shall cycle out this afternoon in pursuit of some horny subjects for my next series……