Not so Simple Sketching.

 I bought this old book for £1.50, published 1958.

Sketching may have been simple to L.A. Doust, but it's a challenge to me! 

This was the subject, the week before last, at my drawing class. A basket of cyclamen. 

 l looked at it and thought to myself, how am I ever going to draw that, where do I begin?

 But somehow, once I started I produced something that resembled a basket. 

There's something not right about it and I haven't figured out what it is yet. 

I'd hoped to continue last Thursday but the basket went walkabout.

Instead, my tutor brought in this Aloe in a pot to scare me off drawing even more.

I feel happier with a pencil in my hand, but we are encouraged to use charcoal and I wanted to try it.

 I was given a buff coloured page to draw on.

 But where to begin, I didn't have a clue and I did have a bit of a panic. 

 Anyway, I got started and this was my view of the Aloe plant.

My drawing below after two hours of concentration.

I used charcoal and some shading pastels. 

My tutor talks about dark tones, mid-tones, light tones, but it's all Double Dutch to me.

I was putting in the detail long before I'd done the basics.

I took a photo of the plant so I could finish my drawing at home.

Once I looked at it more closely I began to understand. I could see the dark and light, the reflections in the pot -  but that didn't help me in knowing how to put them in to my drawing.

I wore away my rubber and this is how my drawing looks now.

I needed a new rubber after all that rubbing out and decided we would go in to Belfast at the weekend and have a look in the art shop, Bradbury Graphics, now called 'Bradbury Art' . It was nothing like the shop I remember.

 Then we went to North Street as I'd seen on the internet that there's an art shop there called Ink Monkey. The shutters were down, 2pm closing on a Saturday.

 I was pleased to see the second hand bookshop was still there, but it wasn't as I remembered it either.

I used to pick up some good craft books there.  The first book I bought when I was getting interested in creative embroidery was from there, 'Creative Wall - Hangings & Panels by Audrey Babington.

Now on the shelves it's mostly cross stitch books. I love these bird sketches in my new book.

On the way back to the car we passed St Anne's Cathedral bathed in gold.

Now wouldn't I like the skill to draw that!

Halloween.

I went to see the parade and the fireworks in Derry this Halloween. The 'grandwains' dressed up as Lego characters. It was buzzing, mad, grand, flat to the mat, the craic was 90, Happy Days.  Just some of the colloquialisms I hear when I'm up there.

The weather was gorgeous and the next day we went for a walk in the woods close to where my son lives.

The kids had fun on a swing.

The light was perfect for photos. I took a close up of the bark.

I thought the bark might make a good subject for practising my drawing. I've been going to a drawing class for 5 weeks now and it's challenging. When I signed up for the class I assumed I'd be starting from scratch.
It's not quite like that because, although I'm a beginner, some of the class have experience.
So I'm just getting on with it. Looking. Listening. Learning.

We went for a walk on the beach at Kinnagoe where I collected some shells.

Then I drew them for this week's homework.

Bourjois and an Evening In Paris.

Funny how one thing leads to another.
A little while ago I wrote a post about Stratton compacts and I was reminiscing about how my mother always used Bourjois rouge.
Because I've just started a drawing course I went searching for charcoal. I thought I might have some in this box below.
I didn't find charcoal, but I found a pot of Bourjois rouge.

I'd forgotten, that in my box of art stuff, there was some old make-up and a little box of Bourjois rouge that used to belong to my mother-in-law.  I'm not one for wearing make-up every day.  In fact, I think that some of the make-up attempts I'm seeing on girls nowadays is plain weird!
But what I do like is the make-up packaging, and the names.
There's Cover Girl and Miners and Outdoor Girl.
Turquoise, Sky, Lavender Mist, Pastoral.

Yardley lipstick, Gay Crimson. Not PC these days, I'm guessing.

   Bourjois 'Evening in Paris'.  I love the thought of that.  So romantic!

   Unfortunately the box has been dropped and the casing is broken.

I like the little Bourjois puff and the powder underneath.

What a lovely name, Rosette Brune.

I got so carried away looking at my old make-up collection, I completely forgot about the charcoal!

Thinking hat.

Someone else can do the thinking now. 

 The 30th birthday was looming and time was running out with my hat making project.  

The button looked bare on the top of the hat. 

I made a sort of rosette with the braid and tucked it around the button. Then I unravelled and knotted the ends of the braid. It looked ok but I could have finished it better and I would have preferred a proper tassel. 

It's the first hat I've made so it was all trial and error. My husband is SO jealous of this hat I've been commissioned to make him one now. I gave my son the hat along with the little 'Studs' box I found in an antiques shop when I was over in England recently. I hope he liked his presents.

Then my daughter-in-law outdid my creative efforts with this Showstopper 'Tour de France'  Birthday cake worthy of the GBBO!

Now I've finished with thinking and moved on to something else ending in 'ing'.

I've signed up for a draw..ing course.

More thinking.

 So, in my previous post I'd cut out the tweed band and crown for the thinking cap.

Should be plain sailing now! I took these photos at night and the colour isn't right.

I stitched a 1/4' side seam on the tweed band and fitted the crown to the band.

It looked ok after a press and I was pleased that the lining seemed to fit well. Not sure about the finished width of the band yet and I'm playing around with it to see what looks right.

I took this photo below in daylight and it shows the true colour much better.
The braid is vintage, I'm just using up whatever I have in my fabric stash. I put my son's initials in.

 

This button is really old and it's going on the top. And I'm starting to think about making a tassel with the braid.

There's still a bit more thinking to do!

Thinking.

I had to put on my thinking cap this week .... just to make a thinking cap.
My son has a birthday coming up and he's just the sort to wear one, I thought.
I texted his wife and asked her to measure his head. A reply came back straightaway, she was curious!
59. 5 cm. I trawled the internet looking for ideas.
I didn't have a pattern so had to make it up out of my head. There was going to be a lot of guesswork!
It's a straightforward shape, but I'm not too confident when it comes to pattern making.  I cut a piece of card for the band, adding an extra 1cm, I thought I'd need to allow for his hair. Then I stuck it together to make the circle.

I had some pure silk samples, given to me from a soft furnishings shop. I cut the band for the lining on the bias, I don't know why but I thought if it turned out to be too tight it would give a bit of stretch. I also thought it would be better to make the lining first and get that measurement right.

I used some natural cotton wadding and quilted the lining.  Then I fitted it it round my card circle and pinned it before stitching the seam.

My next task was to make the pattern for the crown. I just used my card circle as a template, placing it on to another piece of card and drawing round.  Then I used the compass to make sure it was an accurate circle. Complicated, this hat making business!

I quilted the crown and hoped it would all fit together, then I stitched a 1/4" seam.

 Yay! It worked. Lining done.

Now, for the outside of the hat, I'm cutting a piece of tweed. 

I made the  pattern for the crown 1/4" larger to allow for the lining.

I'm worn out thinking!