Happy birthday to Huddersfield Town Supporter John (you can tell it’s him by the Terriers scarf).
Some Rambling Advice
Category: Art
Garden Painting Workshop
I did consider taking acrylics and a canvas to today’s painting workshop at RHS Harlow Carr run by their current artist in residence, Hilary Burnett Cooper, but I stuck with my regular pen and watercolour and it was a chance to try my larger watercolour box on location. I recently updated it so that there are fewer strident greenish blues and earthy browns, replacing those with colours that would be more useful for flower painting.
Link
Hilary Burnett Cooper Landscape, scenic and figurative artist
Legends and Superstars of Nottinghamshire
From the Mighty Aegir . . .
. . . to Ada Lovelace. Happy birthday last weekend to two Notts superstars, Connie and Annabel.
PenTips PenPad
More PenTips goodies: glove, grip and, my favourite, the PenPad Shortcut Panel for Procreate on the iPad. I’ve used Procreate a lot and gone through dozens of tutorials but there are some shortcuts, such as ‘Cut’, that I have a mental block about. There they all are on the pad, so I don’t have to break my workflow by searching through sub-menus.
I’m still searching for my favourite virtual pen in Procreate. In Clip Studio Paint my go-to pen is usually the ‘Real G-Pen’ but in Procreate with dozens of virtual pens to choose from, I’m still undecided.
Perhaps drawing my chitted potatoes with a selection of pens from the Procreate ‘Inking’ section will help me narrow it down.
Pentips 2 Soft
I like the extra control that I get with the PenTips 2 ‘Soft’ rubber-like replacement tip for the Apple Pencil but I’ve now damaged two of the three that come in the pack.
Although most of the time when I’m drawing my touch is reasonably light, when it comes to adding colour or erasing it’s a different story. I find that it’s necessary to press on extra hard to squeeze a pool of virtual watercolour from a brush. If I’m using one of the subtler forms of the eraser I can find myself pressing hard to remove a stubborn line.
The PenTip can then stick to the glass and split at the end, revealing the metal core.
The Hospice Team
A big thank you to all the team at the Prince of Wales Hospice, Pontefract, who did so much for Barbara’s brother John and always made us welcome. We’re so grateful to them, although not SO grateful that we’d sign up to be dangled from a rope from the Cow and Calf Rocks in September (see link below if that appeals to you).
Of course, some teams are greater than others . . .
But John really did enjoy their visit.
Link
Ilkley Cow and Calf Tyrolean Traverse and Abseil Challenge
Challenge yourself and conquer The Cow and Calf Rocks by Tyrolean traverse and/or abseil
Date: 09 September 08:00 – 17:00
Saltholme and Hauxley
The Sand Martin Wall, RSPB Saltholme, 12.45 pm, Friday 21 April 2023
Our favourite coffee (and carrot and coriander soup) stop on our trips to Northumberland and today the view of the lagoon from the first-floor café is quite different to what it was on our autumn visits. Instead of exposed mudbanks and shallows for waders and dabbling ducks, water levels are now raised, creating what appear to be fox-proof islands for the breeding colony of black-headed gulls.
Queen Elizabeth II Country Park, Ashington
This swan breast feather is almost transparent so that you can actually read large-print text through it. I drew it on a dark background as on white it fades into the background.
The new Willow Hide, Hauxley Northumberland Wildlife Trust nature reserve, 1.20 pm, Saturday 22 April, 2023, 15℃ 59℉ in the hide. Rain had passed over, grey skies, getting brighter.
There are thousands of dancing gnats in loose gatherings, especially in the shelter alongside hedges. On the window of the café I can see there’s a mix of hump-backed females and males with feathery antennae.
Teal are dabbling and twirling, picking up insects from the water surface.
The Lookout Café, Hauxley Northumberland Wildlife Trust, 2.30 pm, Saturday 22 April, 2023.
Pea and mint soup with a cheese and beetroot scone, overlooking a corner of the lagoon with teal, gadwall, mallard and Canada goose. Oystercatchers and lesser black-backed gull go over. We see our first swallow, flying low over a field towards the reserve’s lagoon.
Coffee Stop Sketches
Recent sketches from my smallest pocket-sized sketchbook.
Cat Chess
The all-feline chess set was looking as if it would be a sure-fire success until, in the opening move, the White Queen’s Bishop’s Pawn insisted on using QB4 as a litter tray.
Happy birthday to Alex.
Night Herons
Some recent exotic visitors sampling the night life along the River Calder at Healey, Ossett. Happy birthday to John.