An interesting week lies behind me. For several months it has not been possible for me sketch in the capitol; however with our impending trip to Israel it is necessary for me to bring my street sketching up to scratch. So on Thursday off I went into London to do a bit of street work, the result was a very pleasant day. Whilst drawing the above street scene near Covent Garden two Hungarian art students came over to me and chatted a while, then, when on a bus, a Brazilian sat next to me, shortly afterwards I met a family on Waterloo bridge who hailed from Argentinean. To cap it all a lady from Newcastle sat next to me on the train home, we chatted a while, so a very pleasant international day, the sketching was OK as well.

The weekend has just been spent in Sheffield among old and dear friends. We saw the famous St. Tims community panto and it was all very silly, funny and time well spent; well done St. Tims.

But down to earth, life can be tough. We have been in contact with a lovely young couple over the last few days. They are homeless! The situation is being resolved; we are so fortunate

An extra blog following an extraordinary evening at Guildford cathedral. They put on a light show to celebrate Epiphany, which is when the three wise men arrived at the nativity. The moral of the story is keep a camera near at hand.

I took just over a hundred shots and selected 16 with which I tried to show the diversity of the colour  used in light show. Technically a little tricky, this is how.

No tripod, so my walking stick was stuck in my trouser waist belt and the camera rested on the handle.

Rather dark, so I needed a fast ISO setting (light sensitivity on the sensor), 3500 was chosen.

The shots needed to be warm so  Kelvin (colour temperature) number of 5600 was used.

Depth of focus wasn't a problem and a fast shutter speed was wanted so f3.5 was fine.

That mixture gave me a shutter speed of around half a second, so breathing gently and squeezing the shutter gently were also needed.

When we got home, half an hour on photoshop. and above is the result.

A super evening.

Duncan

Good morning and winter seems to be everywhere; thankfully much of my work at present is based in sunnier climes! The Hebrew Galilee sculpture is coming along nicely, as you can see above.

The hardest part of this work was recreating the sand. The answer was messy, laborious and was roughly done the following way.

About two tea spoons of coral sand was ground to a fine point with a pistil and mortar, mixed with acrylic paint and pva glue. This was spread over the contoured paper base, then whilst wet, heated with a hot air gun to boiling point.  At which point an aerosol glue was used,and then the can was removed (fire risk) before continuing with the hot air gun and metal probes to shape it all. I hasten to add that the widows were open, a fan was blowing, a respirator was used and a jug of water was handy.

All messy and good fun, but if you try this, be careful; fire or fume inhalation are not a good idea. 

Work ongoing.

Met a pleasant young lady whilst painting the other day. She loved Durdel Door, sadly i think that my drawing of Durdle Door was a tad rough, maybe all the hot sun, heavy bag and climbing had something to do with it, so I have posted a sketch of Kimmeridge Bay (just along the coast) instead, it was done on the same day a little earlier in the morning.

Good morning all, I am at MIND in Woking, just snatching a few minuets quiet before the business of the day starts.
Yesterday I was painting in Alf's (a cafe) and as usual chatting to passers by. A couple of ladies approached me and mentioned that they had been to Egypt. So here is one for them.
The Hebrew boat is coming along fine. By the way it is now two boats, one under repair and the second decked out and ready for a fishing trip. At the moment the background of sand is being constructed, out of paper!!!! I did photograph it to show the process of paints, paper, glue and hot air (electric  hot air gun), but to be honest at the moment it is simply a mess, so no photo.
Trees are continuing, the work is intense and ongoing. and I hope to show you my latest soon.
So really today's blog is about being busy and trying to show that being an artist is not just about sitting around dreaming, but about hard, if enjoyable work.
I do a bit of dreaming as well.
Duncan

Bow Street, London

Well I wish you all a happy and prosperous New Year; The last one was very good, so lets hope this new decade is as good, or even  still better.

New Year resolutions! Most are not kept, so lets take on aims and resolutions which we intend to and are able to keep.

For myself as far as my art is concerned, my tree work; the drawing are taking a more abstract construction, which result in representative images in the end. This will continue.

My metal health art communication work seems to have fresh impetus, so that will certainly continue.

Sculptures of small sea vessels are ongoing as my blog demonstrated the other day. regular updates will be posted; so that will obviously carry on.

Travel art, I plan to travel to Israel with Liz in a couple of months.

Teaching, leading, workshops and giving talks, I seem to be still wanted, so that also in ongoing.

So my resolutions for this coming year are, to continue working and playing hard.

A short prayer goes with it; Lord give me strength!