Measuring up for baking.

My eyes were killing me yesterday, I must have been at the computer for four hours at that horrid essay, and it's still not written! Anyway, I decided enough was enough and dashed out to do a pic.

These are my measuring spoons ( in case that's not apparent!). I think they turned out to be a bit complex for me & I was tired & my eyes stung & I was pushed for time &  it was freezing & that's about as many excuses as I can come up with. It didn't really work.

Off to Dorset this afternoon for half term, I won't bring my paints as if I have free time, I'll have to use it to write about the blasted crusades.

Framed!

I'm all chuffed and excited. This is the first time I've had a picture properly framed, I picked it up today and have been childishly smiley since.

It just seems to have transformed from being a sort of thing hanging around the kitchen into, well, sort of  a proper painting. How cool is that!

I got it framed to send to Mom for her birthday. I tootled off to the framers fully expecting to get some nice minamalist modern plain thing, and then I got a bit carried away, and ended up with more frame than picture :-)

If anyone happens to see this that happens to live in Surrey that happens to need a picture framed, it was done very reasonably  by a  nice chap in Farncombe in Aquarius framing.

A little shot of leaves

I keep bringing leaves into the house, and leaving little bundles of them on the kitchen ledge. Nobody else around here seems to stop and grin at them... philistines!

I quite like this, the leaves don't sing like the real thing, & the  shadows may be a bit heavy, but still.

I am desperatly trying to paint as I think next week will be horrid essay writing week. Shudder.

jug with fabric I never quite got around to making curtains with

I had to try the jug again, I wasn't at all happy with that last dull old pic.

Thats better I think. Not perfect by any means, but there was a hellovalot to concentrate on.

Fabric could be fun - I better go rummage.

Yet another new resolution

I've decided I should force myself to paint more jugs/cups/bowls/solid things in order to get better at drawing correctly. Its too too easy to skirt the issue when you can get away with a bit of error with natural objects.

Erk! what a dismal start to my new resolution. I suppose the jug is sort of nearly drawn right. But beyond that there are no redeeming factors. Lesson learn though regarding painting white things, I made it too white which I only realised when it became impossible to make highlights.

It's a bit of a pain that all the crockery in the cupboard is white!!

A rush of chillies

I had told myself quite severely not to paint, but to study instead, but then  the weekly veg box arrived with a little bag of  fun looking chillies including a strange little twirly one.



It was all a bit of a guilty rush , so is probably ( okay definately ) not drawn entirely accurately. I don't mind that so much today, but the composition is poor.

Chillies are great fun to paint, but peppers, which you have to assume must be closely related, are a complete and difficult pain, I don't understand that.

Conkers

More Autumn. Lovely walk on Sunday, came back with some nice shiny conkers, or as my daughter Evy put it, icky nature stuff in my bag.

 I think these aren't awful depictions of conkers, but it doen't really excite as a picture. It's probably too much of an attempt at realism, but I'm finding it  hard to do detailed stuff without going into detail. If that makes sense.

More leaves

I'm doing a fine impression of a bit of a nutcase , wandering around the garden, picking up, examining and discarding leaves.

I'm not at all sure why I put the least interesting leaf out front. Ah well. I prefer yesterdays attempt.

Feeling autumnal.

The last few morning walks have been beautiful, with that lovely low autumn light turning even the most mundane scene into a thing of beauty. Much though I'd love to,I'm not at all brave enough to venture outside and paint. These few leaves, picked off the grass in the garden, will have to be my little autumn attempt.

I enjoyed doing this. It was quite different, especially not really having any highlights to rely on to try and bring it to life.I might try and look for more strongly coloured  or more crumpled leaves and try again.

Weary flower

I had flowers in coloured glass vases on the table for our curry night. The flowers, like me, are tired and droopy.

I wanted to loosen up and paint in a more lively way, I think things have tightened up lately. The problem with loosening up is that it is way too easy to get things wrong. Hence the wonky vase. I think that balance between correct but loose is crucial but very tricky.