Inktober 2014

5th #Inktober. Wilting sunflower. Soluble ink in Moleskin sketchbook.

 On the 5th October, I heard about a drawing challenge called Inktober. It was created in 2009 by Jake Parker, the Inktober drawing challenge is to do one ink drawing a day the entire month of October. More info here: inktober.com  As I'm struggling with creativity and motivation, I thought I would participate. Here are a selection of the ink drawings I did.

15 Attempt 2... and again she moved before I'd finished

17th Scone with Tiptree jam

21st sketching in the #SilentPartners exhibition

25th Dad's tea roses.

 You can see the whole set in a FB album here: Sue's Inktober

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Did you participate in #inktober? Why not leave a link with your comment?

A week's sketches

Pencil & watercolour in A5 Stillman & Birn

Some of my friends not only sketch daily, but produce numerous sketches at a sitting. I'm not like that. I find a hundred things to keep me and my sketchbook apart, from the numerous daily walks with Degas, to social media, checking blogs, tv, reading... blah blah blah.  If I do sketch, then scanning is another issue. However, like this morning, when I do scan I don't always like the results and so snap a photo, as I have with the two watercolours. I have found that when my laptop is already in my studio then scanning is easier - so there's my excuse to buy a tablet and leave it there. Now, how to schedule more sketching time??? I've signed up for the Urban Sketchers' Symposium in August, so there's a start.

A5 sketchbook. ink & watercolour

First up in my sketchbook was last Saturday's sketch. Whilst waiting for my friend to arrive, so we could visit the Royal Academy's Sensing Spaces exhibition, I sketched the people enjoying the spring sunshine.

Next, having not seen daffodils for many years (I don't count those in florists) and inspired by Jean Haines' watercolours, I decide to paint some I picked from mum & dad's garden.

Watercolour with no predrawing

Lastly, I sketched the fluffy bone I gave Degas as her present for being good whilst I was away. I gave it to her yesterday, so she unstuffed and desqueeked one end, then I drew it.
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How often do you sketch? Why not tell me here.

The Children's Museum

2nd in coffee shop project.

On Saturday, Muscat Sketchers gathered for the 9th Muscat Sketch event at the Children's museum. It is still too hot to sketch outside (around 40°C / 104°F at noon). As with our last event I stopped at a nearby coffee shop first to add a second drawing in my concertina Moleskin sketchbook, but was unable to finish it on site as I had to meet the group. Consequently, I added some darker tones at home.

One of Kim's boys at the Children's museum.

During the morning, eight sketchers drew various exhibits and Kim's two children enjoyed testing them out. To me, it seemed a very provincial science museum from the 80s, but it seems very popular with families, and the children certainly had fun.

5 mins outside in 40°C

with colour added at home.

My internal sketch was not very successful, as I tried to get an impression of the general scene, but I'm happier with the 5 minute sketch of the building I made at midday. I had to add colour at home, as I couldn't stand outside any longer than necessary to get a few guidelines down. I should have drawn it when I arrived, but it was already in the 30s then, so wouldn't have been much better.

The remaining 5 (of 8 sketchers) show off their sketches.

Wall painting project - Unveiled

The finished wall painting. Photo courtesy of Ghalya's Museum of Modern Art.

As I mentioned in my post Wall Painting Collaboration, I was part of a large wall painting project initiated by Ghalya's Museum of Modern Art. The unveiling was on Tuesday and was cleverly done through having lights dimmed and smoke pumped in front of the wall, which then cleared to show the painting. 

Museum director Murtadha Al Lawati unveiling the wall.

Nearly a 100 artists, both Omani and internationals, took part to complete the 100 sections. As an artist living in Oman, it was a great honour to be asked to participate. The collaboration and friendship between artists working on the project was fantastic. To be able to add my small part to the project, working alongside great Omani artists, is something I will always remember.

Some of the particpating artists. Photo courtesy of Reehan Hoosein.

#29

The overall theme of the project was to celebrate Oman's 42nd National Day. My section represents the role of Omani women in the successful reign of HM Sultan Qaboos. Women have been a fundamental part in Oman's renaissance and I have tried to symbolically show that with my painting of veils.

 Don't forget you can see a slideshow of the day I painted here. If you are in Oman in the next 3 months, you can see the actual painting on Ghalya's museum wall.

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Sketch Muscat June

The group

Due to the time of year, we were a small group who met at Bait Al Zubair museum to sketch on Saturday. I had a phone call from one person saying they'd be late, only thing was that they were 7 days early! I chose this venue as it has amazing artifacts in the main museum as well as an old Omani house. Plenty to occupy us in this hot season when sketching outside is impossible.

Al Hirz A4 sketchbook © Sue Pownall 2012

We started off in the main exhibition rooms and I decided to draw some jewelery - not the best choice for a warm up subject. The Al Hirz are types of necklaces for carrying the Koran. above

Drawing jewelery. Photo by Martin Mtuba

Next up, I attempted an antique coffee pot, which was not overly successful.

WIP

I did 2 more sketches in the old house, which I am also not happy with, before returning to the main museum to sketch some more jewelery.

Sketching in the old house at Bait Al Zubair museum.

Omani jewelery in A4 sketchbook © Sue Pownall 2012

Thank you to Bait Al Zubair and their staff for helping make it a great mornings sketching.

Busy, busy, busy

Hanging pictures ready for Art Event: Private view this Saturday.

So much has gone on these last two weeks it is hard to know where to start.

Synchronicity occurred during the first week of October when I entered an online facebook competition to win a book of b&w photos with the Qatar Museum Authority (QMA). Sunday lunchtime - I was drawn from the hat, and Monday I collected my prize over a cup of tea and quick chat about who I was. Tuesday nasty photo published of me and my prize on FB plus my FB page & blog details. (see below) As I wrote on my facebook page "I won a prize and got some publicity for my art too".

If only I had known how much... The same day I was called by their senior designer who wanted to commission some illustrations after looking at my work. Last Thursday, I met her and  she commissioned some drawings for her concept towards a collectors exhibition. You may notice from the example below that it is not my normal style, I was requested to do them in a woodblock/scraper board effect. As with all these things, there was little time to do the work, this morning, a week later, I delivered 3 illustrations. Fingers crossed the concept is accepted because that will mean lots more work for them. A big thank you to all of you who replied to my email asking for help: all your answers were very useful.

Khanjar (QMA commission) © Sue Pownall 2011

Now, a normally sane person would take a break after working too many hours to get the illustrations done on time, but no... This Saturday, a friend is hosting an art event to showcase my original drawings and new limited edition prints, which has involved making posters, promoting it, signing prints, hanging pictures (see top photo), converting prices into local currency and the to-do list is still a mile long too. However, if I make a sale I will be happy or if I gain a commission that would be nice too.

Another thing I have been doing, is working on a new book of drawings and photos from this summer's trip, but I haven't finished it yet. To the left is the contents page. I'm currently calling it Cuban Scenes, but if you can think of a better title, all suggestion are appreciated.

Finally, I wrote and distributed my first newsletter. Don't worry if you didn't get a copy, you can still sign up and receive it, just use the tab above.

Doha SketchCrawl plus.

Pencil in A5 sketchbook. © Sue Pownall 2011

Last Saturday I arranged another Doha SketchCrawl. On the day we lost four sketchers; one due to a flood in their apartment, the other had to work, one was in hospital (get well soon Maria), and one got time/places confused. However, two new women turned up, plus a friend and myself, at the meeting point - Museum of Islamic Art (MIA). Note to self, catch up with friends before I'm due to start sketching, as my friend and I did a big catch up and little drawing.We wandered around the upper-galleries, which I hadn't visited before, then stopped in the last gallery to draw this example of armour.

View from MIA.

Abandoned view

Going back downstairs I wanted to draw the heavy machinery working on the new museum park. Not concentrating and feeling bad after the physio I'd had earlier, I didn't scale nor compose it properly and gave up. Meeting up with the other ladies for a show and tell, they put my friend and I to shame with the number of sketches they had done. ho hum

Thank you everyone for showing concern over my health. So far I have had 3 physio sessions, but they are not offering any relief, in fact seem to be aggravating things. Currently, I'm on sick leave (again) trying to rest and see if that helps things. However, when I was in physio, I sketched the pillows in front of me - all I could see while strapped to a machine.

On the 1st, I went to a fabulous concert by the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra with the conductor/violinist Salvatore Accardo playing Beethoven, Vivaldi & Rossini. Magical. I sketched a little but it was too dark and the music too good to do anything but listen.

Pen & ink in A6 sketchbook. © Sue Pownall 2011

Finally, another musical sketch from when I was the first to arrive to meet some friends, so drew the piano.

Pen & ink in A6 sketchbook. © Sue Pownall 2011

Hot, hot, hot

Small Boab tree, A5 sketchbook, ©Sue Pownall 2011

Summer has arrived in the Gulf, and according to my taxi driver - and they are the people who know - midday yesterday was 46°C. However, when I ventured out after 4pm it had cooled to 42°C, but that was still too hot to sketch outside, so I went to the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA). It is a beautiful building, and I have posted photos of it before like this one over on my other blog.

Beautiful architectural detail inside MIA.

I went specifically for the special exhibition  The Golden Age of Dutch Painting, which finishes 6th June, and it was amazing to stand less than a metre away from Rembrandt portraits and other great paintings. After I'd admired the paintings, I sat in the gloomy exhibition hall and sketched the other visitors viewing the paintings.

Viewing Dutch Masters, A5 sketchbook ©Sue Pownall 2011

Next, I investigated a couple of the exhibit rooms, heading first to the calligraphy, but then headed outside to warm up. Note: Aircon is set to freezing here, so you need jumpers inside. Mathaf: Arab museum of modern art, has an extension building near MIA, so I walked across the garden to it. Amazingly, the temperature had dropped outside and when I spotted a beautifully architectural Boab tree I had to quickly record it - quickly because it was now sunset, and the cool was relative, so I couldn't stay outside too long. I love the looseness of my painting above and I am so looking forward to getting to Cuba (94 days according to the counter above) with its Caribbean colours and vegetation.

Boab

The Al-Riwaq Art Space looks like an aircraft hanger outside and is disparate against the beautiful gardens and building of MIA, however it has a great internal space for the two exhibitions told/untold/retold and interventions, both finishing at the end of this month. I am not a fan of video installations, however Sadik Kwaish Alfraji's made me stop, sit down and watch it. Also, I finally saw the installation by Lamia Joreige, whose talk I went to back in March, which I also liked and understood more for having attended the talk.

MIA from Al-Riwaq Art Space.

 What a fabulous arty day, both for viewing and creating, I need more days like this in my life!

Sharjah Biennial

Friday prayers, Pen & ink, A5 sketchbook. ©Sue Pownall 2011

Reminded that Sharjah's Art Biennial was on and inspired to go by Omar Jaramillo's post Sharjah on his fabulous blog Omar Paint I booked a flight to UAE. I reached my hotel room as Friday prayers were taking place in the mosque opposite and I was amazed at how many people were listening to the cleric: he must be very good. Check out the photo below, which shows people stretched across the road in order to be at that particular mosque.

Click to enlarge and see cars driving around the Sharjah worshippers.

Initial lines of mosque

I grabbed my sketchbook for my 2nd sketch of the day as I wanted to capture the masses, even though I was looking down on them from the 14th floor. The small pic right shows how little of the mosque I drew in initially, hence the squiffy perspective when I tried to complete it later, as I concentrated on the rows of people and outlining parked cars. I took a few photos as I knew I did not have long to capture the scene, but managed to finish the people before prayers ended. I then drew the rest of the mosque. I intended to add watercolour later, but changed rooms due to the noisy (young children) in the adjoining room. I'm happy with it without the colour.

In true urban sketchers fashion, my first sketch of the day had been at Doha airport as I waited for my flight in Coffee Beanery. I was attracted to a family sitting across from me. It was only as I was sketching the lady on the right, as the last of the figures in the group, that I realised that she had a child asleep on her lap. Sketching really does allow us to see the world and live in it rather than just move through it oblivious to what is going on around us. After the family, a Qatari guy sat down with his OJ and newspaper, so I just had to sketch him too.

Coffee Beanery, Doha Airport ©Sue Pownall 2011

Being Friday, I had a rest after the mosque sketch and waited for the Sharjah museums to open at 4pm before I could I head out to explore. Sharjah is a very visitor-friendly city being small and easy to walk around, although the heat makes it difficult (Saturday morning was 36°c at 10am). Gaining a great guidebook to the Biennial at Sharjah Art Museum I wandered around a lot of the 10 Biennial sites absorbing the art. I am not a great fan of video installations, possibly because I am too impatient to watch for long, however throughout the sites were Judith Barry's Cairo stories, which were very watchable narratives. In the Sharjah Art museum, I was pleased to see that the Orientalist collection had not been removed for the event and got to see the wonderful lithographs of David Roberts and John Keppie's watercolours among others.

Arriving at the Heritage area, I was pleased but surprised to see the Heritage Days event (similar to the Muscat Festival) was still on. All posters and flags said it finished on the 18th and as it was the 22nd I expected it to be over. I tried to draw some of the people, but I gathered crowds watching me, as 1 of only 4 non-locals there perform - maybe I was on the program? When some musicians and dancers started to perform I abandoned the sketch and drew them instead, again with a vast crowd of onlookers. From the Heritage Days, I thought it was time to head back to the hotel and walked along the Corniche, which was quite pretty if you ignored the port on the other side of the creek, but there was a strong oil smell, so I crossed back into the city to wander through the streets. I got back to the hotel just before 8pm tired from the unaccustomed walking, pleased with my sketches and sated from the glut of art and culture.

Emirati musicians and dancers. Pen & ink, A5 sketchbook. ©Sue Pownall 2011

The following morning, I headed back out after a nice buffet breakfast to find the Calligraphy museum. I walked miles out of my way and was aided by a Yemeni young man to the museum. Unfortunately, unlike the Orientalists, all calligraphy had been removed for the duration of the Bieannial. I found an interesting old school, now a museum, and an old house (Bait Al Naboodah), which had belonged to a pearl merchant, to visit, and I also saw some more of the Biennial and the souqs. On setting out in the morning, I had intended to do some watercolours however, as mentioned above, it was too hot to stop for long even in the shade and I did not do any quick pen sketches either. I did take quite a few photos though, but will save them for another post.

Indoor Sketching

After Oman, Europe is COLD and sketching outside is impossible, at least for me. Combined with settling into a new city, in a new country, and a new job all at the same time, I have plenty of excuses not to draw, but I will!

During my first full week, I sketched the view from my temporary accommodation (I moved out today). This was the first time I had used a brush pen to add colour.

Whilst last Sunday I went to the Galleria Civica D'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea (GAM), where I sketched of an aluminium sculpture by the artist Marisa Merz. The New Year's resolution to concentrate on my preferred medium of pen & ink is, I think, off to a fairly good to start .

  Now, I am looking for some inspiration  for this week's IF theme, which is clumsy, and for which I have no ideas at all.