Updates and a bout of Flu.

Hi all,
  Firstly I would like to thank everyone for all their comments on my previous post, it does seem to be that if one does not draw/create art over a period of time you can loose your edge a bit, so something that I shall not repeat again !
   The last few days I have been a bit under the weather and yesterday came down with a horrible bout of cold/flu like symptoms which kinda of surprised me as I cannot remember the last time I had anything like this, and am lucky enough to say that I just dont get the!. So now it is 3.53 am on Wednesday and I am awake with a bunged up sneezy nose,earache,dry itchy cough feeling pretty naff .......lemsip will be the call of the day with lots of tea, as I absolutely hate feeling like this and need to be rid of it quicktime.
  As you can see above I have done some more on the scarab,using gold pen over black to create the bottom part, and is coming along nicely and I quite like it so far, but more importantly it has helped me to kick start the creative juices again. I will post another update later on when I start to feel a bit more human, but for now it is back to bed for a while and try to nab some sleep without me waking everyone up....perhaps the sofa might be a better option !.

Offline

Hi all,
        I have been offline for a few days now and as from tomorrow will be so until Monday, and to cut a long story this is due to a cock up by my ISP, which I am changing and accquiring a new telephone number, so a new broadband package.
          The good thing is I suppose, with no internet I am not get distracted so will be able to get on with some art for a change so will catch up with you all on my return.
          Have a great weekend.

Blogger Template Designer In Draft

Hi all,
      Another quickie, Blogger has rolled out a new feature in draft called Template Designer, which allows us to recreate our blogs, with some funky new designs, customizable layouts,fonts and colours etc. I think this is a great addition as the templates here are fine, but just a tad boring, and with the addition of adding pages a short time ago, it seems an exciting time for the blogger team. I have gone back to the old white template in preparation to use these new features, and will be giving the blog a good overhaul as I still think it looks a little untidy.

White Paper versus Coloured Paper

Hi all,
           As promised the stones are put to one side for a change and my pencils are back in hand and am feeling quite inspired to get some serious drawing done. This current piece was started some weeks ago on the white paper, but as these gorgeous puppies are mostly white I really was not happy doing them on that surface, in actual fact it is not often that I will do a white dog/cat on a white surface, I much prefer to work on a coloured ground and had forgotten how creative one can get using a paper like this. Depending on what colour paper you choose to work this will affect the end result of your coloured pencils, but that is half the fun I think, as they can become quite vibrant, and adding in subtle undertones of whites will make your drawing pop. The paper I mostly use is Canson as this has two surfaces, one more textured for the Pastels, and the back alot of smoother ideal for CPs with it coming in quite an array of shades. I have quite alot of it in various colours and will be doing some flowers to herald the arrival of Spring if it ever gets here.

I have a request for all my artist pals out there, in relation to Pastelmat paper, which I have read alot of good things about. I would love to try this out, but am a tad reluncant to invest in buying a whole pad of it, in case it is something I dont like. In the past I have gone out and bought different types of paper, in a pad format or large single sheets ony to get it home and find that I dont like it, and as most artists know paper can be quite an expensive commodity. So my request is I would love to know what you really think of it, is it good to use with CPs, and does anyone know if the suppliers will send out a small offcut as a sample?  Thanks for any input provided.

PS.....Still cannot find my spellcheck, so apologies for any mistakes.

Just a Quickie

Hi all,
     Just a quickie to say that I am still here, but been busy working on my stones, so now new artwork yet to show. However the pencils are calling me and I do have a few pieces that need my attention so will be getting back to those in the next day or so.
I just noticed that my followers have reached 120, wow I am well cuffed that so many of you out there want to follow me and all my erratic ramblings, but it is much apprecaited and a huge thank you from me.
Have I missed something within Blogger updates, I seem to of lost my spell check and the posting box seems to be a little different.....anyone else noticed this ?