Session 34- Down on the Farm!

Yesterday's sketching session was Down on the Farm which was suggested by Martin Ansell's dad Roy who joined us last week. There were only 4 of us sketching live with some of the other regulars sending in their drawings later. As is usual with this talented bunch we had a wide variety of interpretations of the subject from mad goats to a variety of cows and cocks (stop sniggering at the back!) so let's get our wellies on and dive in!

First up from Uzbekistan working after the live session is Anna Lindenberger with a lovely digital drawing of a happy cow with a basket of flowers. Mi gusta mooooooocho!

Then we have another later submission from Annalisa Renee with 4 fabulous cocks and a little story about one of them.

And now another happy cow from one of our live sketchers- Anna K Lange! What a vibrant image! I'd never  have thought of the ring of white dots around Daisy! (all cows are either called Daisy or Ermintrude!)

And another of the fantastic four live sketchers is Alan Bartlett with this gorgeous image of a farm in Africa!

The third of our live daubers was Julia Xandru who was feeling very sleepy and after the session she sent me this dramatic print which is a Linography (?) of an archaic Romanian village/farm house. 

The twins over in Morocco (who always join in at the same time as the sketching hour but can't get on line over there which is a shame) sent me there lovely drawings of another cock by Khawla Sdour and a very peaceful looking farm by her sister Somaya.

And finally my contribution. I've always liked goats so I thought I'd have a bash at a few- Mad goat, stern goat and goats in love!

The Fantastic Four! And our next subject is- CITY LIFE!
Keep on sketching!
Paul
xxx

Session-33- ARCHITECTURE!

Yesterday's one-hour sketch session was on the subject of ARCHITECTURE which encouraged some wild interpretations (Martin!) We were joined this time by first-timer Roy who is Martin's dad and still going strong at 95. He showed us a painting of the Queen that he'd done a few years ago in acrylic which was excellent and a lot better than the recent official portrait in my humble opinion!

There were seven of us sketching live and a jolly fun time it was! Here are our efforts-

First up with a gorgeously colourful image including gold leaf is Alan Bartlett. He says it's a semi-abstract interpretation of the theme and why not?

Anna Lindenberger wasn't with us live this time but she sent me this lovely drawing of Guri Amir which is the mausoleum of the Asian conqueror Timur (also known as Tamerlane) in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Those two colours are great together! Nice one Blondidredds!

Another of our live scribblers was Annalisa Renee who sent me two images. The one on the left was intended to be a homage to the artist Leger and the image on the right is a sculpture she made a while ago inspired by the Sagrada Familia cathedral in Barcelona. Two wildly different and interesting interpretations but that what's great about doing these sessions- the variety and the wide range of skills!

Talking about wild interpretations we have the Martin Ansell and his dad, Roy!
Martin's is the one on the left. His explanation was that the inside of the mouth reminded him of a church or cathedral interior. Tenuous, I reckon but I like the drawing. Roy's pencil sketch of a lovely old rustic church is definitely more on the nose. He didn't know what the subject was until we started the session so I reckon this is drawn from memory. Fabulous!

Our next live scribbler is the ever surprising Anna K Lange who produced this wonderful twisted version of the Chrysler building with strange giant plants around it! I love this! I'd never have thought of making the sky black but it works.

My idea was to draw the strangely shaped twin buildings in Prague that are know as Fred and Ginger after the dancing film stars Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers with the dancers in front of it. It was intended as a line and wash drawing but the pen I used wasn't waterproof so I had to tweak it a bit in Photoshop.

Working remotely from Morocco is another of our regulars Khawla Sdour with this beautiful drawing of a pergola. 

Two gorgeous paintings from Julia Xandru. The one on the left is of the beautiful old 12th century castle Belver that dominates the skyline here in Palma. And the one one the right is influenced by Matisse and shows a girl in Rumanian folk costume with a Rumanian village depicted on the skirt. Beautiful stuff but I very much doubt that they were done in an hour! Oh well, rules were made to be stretched and broken.

The magnificent 7 live Zoomers!

Session 32- WINGS!

Yesterday's one-hour sketching challenge was on the subject of WINGS and, as usual with our inventive gang of scribblers there were a few different interpretations of it. So, let's let fly with the fabulous results shall we?

First up is Alan Bartlett working live in oil and gold leaf in Mallorca to produce this gorgeous angel sitting on a large red egg (I could be wrong about the egg!)

Next up is Anna Lindenberger who joined us half way through the hour from Uzbekistan and still managed to produce this striking image of Batman leaping off a building. Technically speaking he doesn't have wings but we like to be pretty broad in the interpretation of the given subject.

These are definitely wings as beautifully drawn live by Annalisa Renee in Dorset. This, apparently, is one of the biggest moths in the world with an 11 inch wingspan called the Thysania Agrippina from Brazil.

Next up, from over in Poland, we have the fabulously unpredictable Anna K Lange with an unusual angel in a cathedral.
It looks more like the filigree pattern of a fairy's wing to me but the artist knows best!

Another of our unpredictable regulars is Julia Xandru with two interpretations of the subject. The portrait on the right is taken from the sketches of Leonardo Da Vinci and includes one of his designs for a flying machine. The beautiful image on the left looks like an Edwardian woman with wings by the sea looking for something. A lost little dog perhaps or her wayward lover. But only Jools knows for sure.

Drawn simultaneously in Morocco but unable to join the live session is another regular contributor- Khawla Sdour with a beautiful drawing of pegasus the flying horse. There's a great poster featuring pegasus for the film The Thief of Bagdad (1924) which I used to have on my wall as a student back in the dim mists of time!

Finally, we have my own offerings and I thought I'd try and portray nature's different designs for wings- birds, bats and insects. A bird's wings can flap up and down with the feathers allowing the air to pass through on the upstroke and they can also pivot with an active hinged-torsion drive to achieve greater efficiency. BUT,  that is nothing compared to the wings of the dragon-fly! It has two sets of wings that can work independently enabling it to hover, glide, turn sharply, accelerate quickly and even fly backwards! This blog is SO educational, innit!
Next Wednesday's subject is one that fills me with dread- ARCHITECTURE!

We have a late entry from Andrea Salzman who sent me this spectacular dragonfly and a variation that she did a while ago but it fits the theme and I was banging on about dragonflies in my bit. So it's a welcome addition! Thanks Andrea!

Session-30- EYES!

Now see here! Our subject this week for a one hour challenge was - EYES! There were 7 of us drawing live and several other regulars working remotely and a magnificently wide interpretation of the theme ensued! Aye Aye and here we go! Eyes down!

First off we have regular Siberian contributor Anna Lindenberger who couldn't join us live  a she had a migraine but sent me this striking image this morning with an attached explanation. Reminds me a bit of Pan's Labyrinth for some reason!

Now for the first of our magnificent seven live scribblers- Annalisa Renee who chose animal eyes as a theme animals  rely on acute vision for self defence. In this scene we have the mouse being eyed by the cobra which is being eyed by the mongoose! Can mice kill mongooses? Mongeese? Who knows? A lovely painting in any case!

A fabulous painting from Anna K Lange over there in Poland! Lots of wonderfully different and decorative eyes.
We're calling this image Mojito Monday in honour of the day we first met many moons ago!

Another of the magnificent seven is regular scribbler Julia Xandru who has supplied me with these three gorgeous paintings all of which she did in one hour! (as if!) Great work as usual from our Rumanian member!
This is how she describes the first one-
It's from a dormant idea planted in childhood by the Greek mythology...
the main inspiration is Argos Panoptes- a primordial giant with many eyes. He was a servant of Hera and is also represented as a peacock with his many-eyed tail. So it is named "The Peacock Song" as those birds cannot sing but they scream!
Blimey! so now you know!

Yikes! We're being watched! this fabulously arresting image is from Khawla Sdour in Morocco. One day I hope that Khawla and her twin sister can join us live but their internet is too crap at the moment. They always try to do the painting or drawing at the same time as the rest of us then send it over after the hour is up which seems to work. 

My own humble offering this time is portraits of two Hollywood actors with unusual eyes! On the left we have one of my favourite character actors who appeared in numerous films (mainly westerns)- Jack Elam! I also drew him in the second ever session months ago. And on the right we have the English comedian, actor and writer- Marty Feldman. You might have seen him in the wonderful Mel Brooks comedy- Young Frankenstein.

Another of the magnificent seven- Alan Bartlett who produced this fabulously creepy and atmospheric portrait in oils during the live hour even though his brushes were so clogged up that he painted most of it with his fingers!
It reminds me a lot of the art of my favourite writer- Melvyn Peake who wrote the utterly brilliant Gormenghast trilogy!

Some gorgeous Manga-style eyes now from Khawla's sister Somaya Sdour. I have no idea what medium she used but they have a great sparkling presence!

The Magnificent Seven (Vivian Salzman is not shown but she was there!)

And here's Vivian's last minute entry! Just in time. Digitally drawn eyes of the main characters from The Rise of the Resistance- The Dark Crystal! Excellent Vivian. And next Wednesday's subject will be-

WINGS!

Love
Paul
XXX