macro and close up flowers

images copyright: Vivien Blackburn 2007


My macro lenses haven't arrived yet but I took some close ups today anyway :) I was hoping to get some good pictures of the wild roses on the way home from work but it was just too windy to get a clear photo - I got a good selection of blurred ones which have been dumped :>( .


So I went out to the garden and took some pictures of some gorgeous fuchsias, a poppy and some roses against the light. The roses are a bit out of focus but I quite like the old fashioned look to their colouring.






I'll be able to work from some of these and others I took. I do like flowers with interesting centres.

I've got some timber to make some more stretchers for the long thin canvasses I need and I'm hoping my husband will make a start on them tomorrow so that I can finish the series of seascapes.


It's cold and rainy so I didn't even think about sketching by the canal on the way home :>(


Youngest cat is in disgrace. Twice recently he's made it in from outside with a mouse in his mouth, to play with and torture and we've managed to catch them and out them .....


...... he's evidently been in with one whilst we weren't looking ..... and let it go - he's VERY interested in underneath the cooker and I've told him he's not allowed out until it's FOUND!


this is pretty much how he's sitting waiting for it to reappear.

Comments

vivien said…
poor kitty my foot!!!!!


spoilt, wilful - a sadistic little torturer of mice - seeing him juggle them 3ft in the air, squeaking wildly, isn't a pretty sight :(

... but we love him!
6:02 pm
Robyn Sinclair said…
How can something so sweet be so cruel - they're all the same. I remember sitting sobbing over dying birds.

Fantastic shot of that first flower and the second photo could be a bridal bouquet. Thanks for the info on your macro lenses - I'm afraid they wouldn't fit my tiny camera.
10:12 am
Making A Mark said…
Now what he needs his the toy one filled with catnip!

Gorgeous flowers!
2:30 pm
Lindsay said…
The cat is in the dog house! Why don't they just eat them like wild cats! Merciful end to the little beasties. Have to say, though after waging war on mice in my house for several years, they don't have much sympathy from me either.
10:51 pm
vivien said…
he's GOT catnip mice and balls and all sorts! he prefers blood and squeaks I'm afraid :( though he does play with the toys as well.

Don't they look sheepish after going loopy over new catnip toys? :D

I think he's caught it - soft hearted husband let him out so it could have been a different one of course! but he'd got one and ran out with it (he knows they are taken away if he doesn't escape fast enough!)
2:05 pm
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Eye, Urban/Rural exhibition

Image
Vivien Blackburn's work in the Urban/Rural show We've just hung a group show at the The Eye Project, Urban/Rural show.  If you want to come and see it it's on for a month - well worth seeing, 11 lovely artists and some fabulous work. Those large canvasses are 40 inches square. There are rural landscapes, flowerscapes, intriguing textile work including a large knitted building, abstracts .... something for everyone. It's in the gallery below the cafe in the Adult Education Centre at the top of Wellington street, Leicester, opposite Fenwicks.  Meet the Arttists day is Saturday 1st April 10-2.  Come and have a chat with us?
Read more

Hedges silhouetted agains the snow, winter light: watercolour and Derwent tinted charcoal pencils in Stillmand and Birn Beta Hardback sketchbook

Image
 Detail  I have always liked the calligraphic tangle of the hedges when they are sihouetted against the sky.   Recent snowfall meant even more opportunities with amazing light and the landscape simplified and hidden by the snow, throwing hedges into relief. Above is a detail of a double page sketch in the lovely Stillman and Birn Beta A4 hardback sketchbook.  This paper is so forgiving and the watercolour works beautifully with it.  It allowed me to work through wet washes with charcoal pencil - something that tears many papers, leaving holes.  Some of the hedge is paint, some tinted charcoal. First snow, more on the way, winter light: silhouetted hedges in watercolour and Derwent tinted charcoal in a Stillman and Birn A4 beta hardback sketchbook The earlier warm golden glow of the low sun is covered by clouds, threatening more snow to come.   The spiky calligraphic marks of the hedge and the underlying form of the bank, w...
Read more

looking at non traditional composition and quiet vs busy areas in paintings

Image
Paul Klee I thought I'd look at non-traditional composition - where the rule of thirds isn't the key but the painting relies on different compositional methods. in response to an excellent series of posts on the various ways of looking at composition by Katherine (link at end). These alternative considerations or breaking of rules - but making it work - appeal to me more than too heavy a reliance on the rule of thirds. The painting above, by Paul Klee is a 'field' painting' - the composition is overall, the eye travels around enjoying the glowing colour that he creates by juxtaposing complementary colours, subtle greyed greens enhancing the oranges/reds/pinks. Most of the image is composed of the various greens, greeny browns and khakis, with accents of the warm colours. When working this way it's important that the balance is unequal and that the accent colours are placed carefully to keep the eye moving in the way the artist wants. A couple of the brighter...
Read more