The artist sleeps...

I went to visit a friend yesterday to photograph his paintings for an exhibition. Part of the deal was that I got to draw him. It was really hard when he sat for me as he couldn't sit still. He was a great model though when he fell asleep. I was quite pleased with this drawing.

I thought George Square in Glasgow was looking particularly nice yesterday morning in the sunshine. I was going to a course near here when I stopped and took this photo. The course was on marketing your business for those thinking of setting one up. I'm toying with the idea as the job situation is so bad. The course was excellent and really stimulated my thinking about it.

Today is the day that I join the lovely man so I'd better start to get organised... Have a great weekend folks.

Cafe visit

I had never noticed this witich before. She adorns a shelf in a local cafe that's a favourite with my friend and I. When I commented on her I learned that she was found under the floorboards when the place was being done up.

Quiet day with bit of shopping and a coffee.... I'm hoping to get into a habit of more frequent blog posts again so watch this space.

More life drawing

I was at life drawing group last night as usual. This was my favourite of my drawings. I particularly liked it because I had actually captured a fair likeness of the model. This was a ten minute pose. 

I had a couple of frustrations last night. One was that, though I'd packed my charcoal, I forgot to pack my pencil case with the chalk. That meant I didn't get the usual chalk drawing. Another was that my arthritis was playing up and I had sore hands. Finally, I was slightly frustrated by the prevalence of short poses - most of them were ten minutes last night.

Having said that, these were minor and I am always pleased I went. The group is so popular, it is getting more and more crowded. It would be good if they could book a second night. 

You may think that this man is standing on thin air but he was almost one legged as I nearly forgot the leg he's putting weight on! I had just started to draw it in when the pose ended so it's pretty rough but it seems to work.

Those hands were doing such complicated things that a ten minute pose was not long enough to attempt to get a realistic rendition of them. 

I had longer for this one but by then I was a bit sore and less motivated. The cushions just ended up being big black scribbles.... Ah well, I think he has something...

I will NOT forget my chalk next week. I missed it!

Lensbaby day

I have been determined to take more pictures and have been inspired to use my lensbaby again after Sandy's interest in buying a lensbaby. I look forward to seeing what he does with it. 

I went out with the plastic optic and I only had one aperture ring with me so all pictures were taken with that today. The above picture was of a massive squash on a fruit and veg shop display. It was my favourite of today's pictures.

It was a really grey and uninspiring day. When you take pictures with a lensbaby, you can take a really dull and uninteresting picture and make it a really dull and uninteresting fuzzy picture.... Great eh? I'm hoping I got a couple that weren't too dull. I'm still really experimenting with the lensbaby - especially the plastic optic.

Here's another that I quite liked. 

And now for a touch of colour on a grey day...

Rainy day in t'other place

A certain other site which I refuse to advertise is at it again with a resultant loss of another excellent candid photographer. The good news is that we can still see their shots here

My message: Keep on posting, it's not you!

Another Tuesday night's work

I almost never went to my life drawing group last night as my friend who usually comes with me wasn't going. I decided to make the effort though and am glad I did. My favourite was this one though I was pleased with a few.

I did two drawings of this pose as it was a 45 minute pose. The other one is in chalk and you can see it on Flickr.

This one was a two minute pose. While they are mainly a kind of warm-up, I was pleased with this one.

I have had internet contact with a couple more photographers who like candid street shots and remember Mr duck and I's blips. That is encouraging. I will take my camera out with me later when I'm going out and try to get back to the more regular blogging. I have also been remiss with the comments lately and hope to get back to you all soon. Hope you're having a good week so far!

Meeting up with old friend

This afternoon I had lunch with R. We have not seen each other for around 20 years I think. Her brother is one of my closest friends and I used to see her a lot. We've had recent Facebook contact and so decided to meet up. Here she is with her lovely daughter. We had a fun and relaxing afternoon. I took a lot of photos of them.

Here's another which I liked.

Here's the one for the caption competition!

Life drawing with a difference

This woman did manage to hold the umbrella for 25 minutes! I was impressed. It did lose a bit of height but still impressive. 

Models choose their own pose and this one made me a little uneasy initially but when I'm drawing I draw what I see and I was pleased with the drawing. If I write that blockbuster crime novel I could have one illustration in the bag...

I liked this drawing too. Previous drawings - some years ago - with chalk have been quite a different style and more sparing on the chalk. The lighting where I am is encouraging a different style. I am enjoying experimenting with it.

This pose didn't inspire me but I liked the result.

My weekend

I had a lovely weekend with the lovely man as usual. We also met a few other people who are fellow blogger/photographers. Sandy - it was great to meet you and it was well overdue! The author of Photographs and Stories who lives in Orkney was also around and met up with us in Edinburgh. It has been a great experience making new friends through our shared interests.

This chap was very elusive and difficult to photograph on a windy day. Here was a glimpse through the foliage on the Water of Leith.

This chap was actually easier to photograph... If I'd known I would see him I'd have taken a bigger lens! Both of these images are cropped and all are taken with a 50mm lens.

Sandy, the woman who takes lensbaby photographs that I told you about is Mary Jo Bedford She takes some interesting shots.

Life drawing

My photojournal seems to be becoming a life drawing journal. I promise I will get out and about with the camera soon but this seems to be the way it is at the moment. Here was my favourite from last night's life drawing. I wasn't terrible enthused when the model was wearing this helmet but I did like the resultant drawing. 

I was also pleased with this drawing and drew this pose twice. You will see on the second one that the helmet is on her knee but omitted from this drawing.

We arrived late which meant I was sitting at a strange angle with the light shining at me and the model's outline emphasised. I thought this would lend itself to a chalk drawing. I find the chalk harder to control than the charcoal. I was pleased with the suggesting the face in this image with so few lines. 

Here is another drawing I was pleased with. It's a ten minute pose and shows a little of the almost paint-like quality of the charcoal which I like. 

As ever, there are more pictures on Flickr. The conditions were a little difficult this week as it was very busy and where I was sitting, the light was obscured by another person from time to time. Must go earlier next week! It is so wonderful to have a regular, well organised and cheap life drawing group. I am loving it!