art

Cozy

| Anna Cull
Cozy Knit (spots and stripes) #1 – surface pattern.
Cozy Knit (spots and stripes) #1 – surface pattern.
Cozy Knit (spots and stripes) #2 – surface pattern.
Cozy Knit (spots and stripes) #2 – surface pattern.
Cozy Knit (spots and stripes) #3 – surface pattern.
Cozy Knit (spots and stripes) #3 – surface pattern.
Cozy Knit (spots and stripes) #4 – surface pattern.
Cozy Knit (spots and stripes) #4 – surface pattern.
Cozy Knit (spots and stripes) #5 – surface pattern.
Cozy Knit (spots and stripes) #5 – surface pattern.

These were my entries for the recent Tigerprint Spots and Stripes design competition. The brief was to come up with a fresh take on surface patterns featuring spots and stripes and to follow key colour trends for spring/summer 2014.

The main pattern was taken from the little angel I drew for Shoot it, Sketch it a few weeks ago. I scanned the original ink drawing and edited it as a vector illustration. I ended up with quite a few combinations I really liked but had to narrow it down to just five. I picked a couple of the brighter patterns, a couple in some rather yummy grey-blue tones and one that looks a bit like knitted brown paper.

No, they didn’t win, but that’s not why I enter competitions. I do it for the challenge, for the experience and because it’s fun to have a go. Anything more than that is a bonus : )

Shoot it, Sketch it: Uncharted waters

| Anna Cull
Uncharted waters – acrylic, ink and digital, 2013.
Uncharted waters – acrylic, ink and digital, 2013.
Acrylic Islands, 2013 – there be treasure buried here...
The Acrylic Islands, 2013 – peeled acrylic paint

I ventured into unfamiliar territory to produce today’s Shoot it, Sketch it. Well, it’s really more of a Shoot it, Sketch it, Peel it, Shoot it, Sketch it!

My inspiration was the leftover paint from last week’s random texture. When I lifted the dry paint off the plate I use as a palette (it just seems a bit more environmentally friendly than rinsing it down the sink), I thought the blobs of acrylic paint (shown in the photograph) looked quite beautiful and wondered if they could be used in a kind of Rorschach inkblot kind of way to inspire a new painting. And the answer is yes. Yes, blobs of paint CAN be remote islands on an old map — if that’s what you want them to be.

Also taking part in the Shoot it, Sketch it experiment are Clouds of Colour, The Little Leaf, Lunch Sketch, Poppytump and Two Scamps.

One Lovely Blog Award

| Anna Cull

one lovely blog award badge

I’d like to thank a grumpy young woman for considering this a lovely blog. You can visit A Grumpy Young Woman (Loves and Hates) here. Be sure to check out the open letter to a rude bus driver. In the immortal words of Pink Floyd: good manners don’t cost nothing, do they, eh?

So now, as part of accepting the OLB award, I need to tell you seven random (and arguably true) things about myself and nominate seven lovely blogs to receive their own lovely award.

  1. I’m a night owl who also likes getting up early in the morning
  2. I’m not particularly good at getting up early in the morning
  3. I like the words ‘serendipity’ and ‘champagne’ (and ‘random’)
  4. Three years ago — 27th December 2009, to be precise — I discovered I could draw
  5. If I had to describe myself using only three words, I’d probably deflect (see point #3)
  6. If I close my eyes, I can hear the universe humming
  7. I’m fairly certain that I need to get out more

And here, as promised, are seven lovely blogs for you to visit and admire.

Have an uncommonly lovely day : )

Blog of the Year 2012 Award

| Anna Cull

Blog of the Year Award 1 star jpeg

My thanks to J. E. Lattimer of Fictional Machines for nominating my little blog for this award. Fictional Machines is a story of intrigue and possibilities. And machines. Where is Jack? Has he stumbled upon an alternative reality? Is he dead or is he finally home? Who is really in charge of the planet, what’s with all the robots and will Charlotte ever snap out of it?

Danny Gregory’s blog is my pick for Blog of the Year 2012. Danny Gregory, as some of you will know, inspired me to start drawing in 2009 when I first read his wonderful book The Creative License. I’ve been a fan of his work and his philosophy ever since. Danny gives us — in his blog and in his books — something we actually already have: permission to be intensely, brilliantly and wonderfully creative. He talks about what creativity is, how to stimulate it and how to express it every day. Here is one of my favourite quotes (an excerpt from his blog, posted way back in 2004):

All I Really Need To Know I Learned From Drawing:

Always carry a pen.
The best way is to be still.
Everyone can do it, except those who say they can’t.
Forget your eraser. There are no mistakes. Only lessons.
Don’t do it for fame. Do it for you.
Don’t seek beauty. See it.
Everyone’s perfect pen is different.
Learn from others. But don’t be an imitation.
No books, no teachers, no system, can teach you as much as practice.
If you don’t like a drawing, turn the page and do another.
Study how kids do it.
A forest is just a lot of trees. A tree is just a lot of leaves. And you know how to draw a leaf.
Value everything you make.
Give your drawings away.
If you can do it perfectly, it’s boring.
It’s all about the Now. That’s why it’s called a drawing, not a drawn.
Know when to stop.

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Here are the ‘rules’ for this award:

1 Select the blog(s) you think deserve the ‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Award

2 Write a blog post and tell us about the blog(s) you have chosen – there’s no minimum or maximum number of blogs required – and ‘present’ them with their award

3 Please include a link back to this page ‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Award and include these ‘rules’ in your post (please don’t alter the rules or the badges!)

4 Let the blog(s) you have chosen know that you have given them this award and share the ‘rules’ with them

5 You can now also join our Facebook group – click ‘like’ on this page ‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Award Facebook group and then you can share your blog with an even wider audience

6 As a winner of the award – please add a link back to the blog that presented you with the award – and then proudly display the award on your blog and sidebar … and start collecting stars…

Unlike other awards which you can only add to your blog once – this award is different! When you begin you will receive the ‘1 star’ award – and every time you are given the award by another blog – you can add another star! There are a total of 6 stars to collect. Which means that you can check out your favourite blogs – and even if they have already been given the award by someone else – you can still bestow it on them again and help them to reach the maximum 6 stars!

Check out Frequently Asked Questions for more information about this award.

Shoot it, Sketch it: Hello?

| Anna Cull
Random texture #2 – mixed media, 175 x 235 mm, 2013.
Random texture #2 – mixed media, 175 x 235 mm, 2013.
Random texture #2, original photo, 2011.
Random texture #2, original photo, 2011.

Here is a second random texture for Shoot it, Sketch it. The inspiration was my photo of a manual telephone exchange/switchboard we discovered at a machinery museum a couple of years ago. It was an odd museum too — a collection of old farm machinery and equipment that seemed abandoned and forgotten. There was no one around and yet it was unlocked and ‘open’. Donations welcome.

I’ve shown the final painting (above) as well as various stages (below).

Random texture #2a
Random texture #2a – the acrylic background
Random texture #2b
Random texture #2b – more paint, more details
Random texture #2c
Random texture #2c – more colour, more contrast

Also participating in Shoot it, Sketch it are Clouds of Colour, The Little Leaf, Lunch Sketch and Poppytump.