Drawing August: Fingerprints and all!

Second drawing for this year’s Drawing August online event. This is pastel on Ingres paper. I used Schmincke and Sennelier here; the pigments are so strong and vibrant, they are always exciting to use.

Pastel is possibly the purest form of painting – we work with pure pigment and little else!
Amanda McLean

Soft (chalk) pastels were the first medium that hooked me into art properly. I made a picture when I was at school using pastel on black paper. It was a revelation, the colours and contrast were something wonderful and that was it, I was off on my journey. Lovely memories!

Especially Espresso, mixed media drawing of gladioli by Maxine Dodd

Drawing August: Especially Espresso

It’s Drawing August time! An online event to celebrate and encourage drawing. Simply post a drawing every day throughout the month using the hashtag #DrawingAugust.

This is my first for this year, a mixed media drawing of my gladioli ‘Espresso’ which I made with a combination of watercolour and charcoal.

Still life on kitchen table

I made these pictures in the kitchen, after arranging some of my Mum’s flowers in a vase on the kitchen table.

I liked the look of them against the white table top, so I decided to set up and draw them there.

The table top was soon cluttered with my water pots and paints, along with the fruit bowl which lives there anyway, which made a pattern in itself.

Still life on the kitchen table, with Mum’s flowers, my pots and paints and four little oranges

Then I tried another just concentrating on the flowers this time.

The last one has the white space that I liked in the first place, but I think I prefer the clutter… I don’t know!

I took the photos while the pictures were still drying on their boards so they will look different when the tape is off… I may change my mind again!

The main thing I enjoyed, was to work spontaneously on a subject that stays perfectly still, which made a nice change from rushing around.

Seems that there is life in stillness…

Spring cleaning…

It’s been a while… but I’m getting ready. I recently came across these photos of two drawings I made in our garden…I am not quite sure where they are in my studio so it’s time for a little Spring cleaning, followed by some gardening and definitely pastel drawing outside… Have a lovely weekend! 🙂

Sunshine inspiration…

In January, there is nothing better than reminders of sunny days. Looking through some of my pictures made in Mallorca brings back good memories and inspiration for the year ahead…can’t wait! Wishing you sunshine inspiration too…

Glad all over!

Hello – Welcome to Sunday! I’ve had to pause my Tour de France work for one reason and another – resuming next week all being well, but I have been working on pictures inspired by my garden.

This year, I’ve grown gladioli for the first time. I chose three varieties, Sancerre (white), Espresso (deep wine-black) and Bimbo, (fiery terracotta). The soil is yellow clay, so rather than risk them in the ground, I’ve set them in large tubs which I’ve placed on the patio and on the front border.

The surprise has been amazing! Beautiful flowers that have been going for several weeks now, with more new spikes to come. I’ve had to run around with extra staking as they have grown so tall – this may be due to the heatwave in the UK – not sure but, they’ve been a pleasure. This little study is of a few stalks that flopped with the sheer weight of the flowers they were carrying, so I brought them indoors into a vase.

Have a lovely Sunday! 🙂

Glad all over!

Image size 20 x 20cm (8in x 8in)

For all information about pictures – please see Picture Info

Many thanks! 🙂

Little darlings - Stage 8, Maxine Dodd, mixed media drawing

Drawing January: Snowdrops in colour

Hello! Another January drawing, again looking at snowdrops. This little group grow in the yard of our village church. What you see below are the stages of one drawing, Little Darlings. I wanted to use the transition effect to animate the stages a little. The most recent stage (stage 8) appears underneath. I’m nervous of this in some ways – often I see a stage when perhaps it would have been best to stop…Nevertheless, here is my drawing in its underclothes of watercolour up to its top dress in pastel:

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Little darlings – Stage 8

Easel by the pond, photograph, Maxine Dodd

Drawing January: Winter and snowdrops

Hello – and a belated Happy New Year! I’ve just come indoors from my first drawing expedition into the garden. I know that’s overstating it, but I do carry so much stuff down from the studio, it feels like I’m going to the North Pole! Weather bright and sunny after a flurry of snow – not like the painted sketches I did last year (or was it the year before?), but certainly, it was chilly! I went down to the pond, where I discovered our first snowdrops. I used large paper and pastel for a change. Here are my drawings and photos from today along with a couple of studies of the garden in oil when the snow came down properly!:

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Food under the plum tree, (January 2013), Maxine Dodd

Food under the plum tree, (January 2013), Oil on board

Snow banked up, (January 2013), Oil on board

Our first snowdrops!

Snowdrops on easel

Easel by the pond

Easel by the pond, photograph

Wisteria magic

Hello! Spring is almost over and the season on the brink of changing to summer. One plant that marks this transition is the wisteria, which pours colour and fragrance like fountains in many gardens, including ours. It’s a lovely subject, offering curling lines, twisting branches and of course the colour. I’ve drawn it in pastel, pen and ink with watercolour and now digitally for the first time. Here are my drawings…

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