Micklethwaite: Field,Tree,House 1 & 2 + Bradford Selection

Sketch a day - Day 179/365

A calm, slow day. Ish. A big 2 hour walk with Tucker (don't worry, we were in lots of places where tree cover gave good shade and also we had several water breaks. He was ok. I was a sweaty heap, but he was fine).

We couldn't go to his training class this morning because Jane was working and at the moment he's very scared of the train station and buses. So I can't get him there on public transport.

Instead of training we had this long walk out. And we did bits of training on the way (lead walking, lead on and off at the park- practicing not running off, walking close, + lots of being brave around other dogs and crossing a scary bridge that frightens him. He did so well! I was really proud of him. He even wanted to say hello to a woman raising money for canal and rivers trust at 5 Rise Locks. I told her she was very honoured. She told me she is a dog whisperer. I believe her).

Tucker also had some ball time which is his favourite thing in the world. It was lovely to see him so happy. He's a complicated pooch and often finds life a bit stressful, so days like this when he's had a brilliant time make me very happy. Good boy, Tucker!

After that I wrote a long letter to a dear friend. I have been wanting to write to them for a fortnight, so that was great. Having a moment to stop and put down thoughts. Just great.

Then I cooked some tea for when Jane got home. I am trying to get back into being functionally veggie. Every part of my brain and heart knows that veggie/vegan is the only way forward. But meat dishes mean comfort and safety to me. I sometimes crave a roast dinner as if it were a hug. I have spent my life yo-yoing between being veggie and not. Anyway having had quite a few too many delicious lamb shawarma wraps of late (Bradford has so many brilliant shawarma wraps places) I am getting my veggie shit together again. Tonight I roasted some cauliflower with chilli, some butternut squash with harrissa, made a salad out of all the salad left in the fridge and saved some potatoes from going to seed and made potato salad. It was quite a feast. I love cooking when I have time and when I don't have to follow a recipe.

After that, I wanted to spend a proper amount of time on my drawing. Because it's all been quiet rushed of late. Anyway, I decided to try to draw the same view of a particularly amazing tree in Micklethwaite (it is so big. Absolutely beautiful) but attempt it in 2 different ways.

The first one is an India ink sketch with a brush which I then painted water colour into.

The 2nd one started with some spray(goache) paint sections which I let dry and then painted on top of (India ink with brush again). In the end I like both. For different reasons. I really like painting watercolour skies. It's one of my favourite things to paint. On the other hand, I like doing the spray paint. I like the way that it feels a bit like printing.

Screen printing was the only art at school I ever seemed to get. I feel really sad for my younger self. I can't imagine how I could have been so discouraged at school that I literally didn't draw anything between the ages of about 15 and 45ish (can't remember exactly how long I have been on this - teach myself to draw -journey now? Must be 10ish years???).

HOW could someone who loves art so much have thought it wasn't for me, that I was no good, etc etc? It really saddens me. Drawing isn't just for people who are ‘great’ at it. In just the same way as singing isn't just for folks who are ‘amazing’. Why do school educations too often turn people off instead of on? I mean, this is all rhetorical. Of course I know why this shit happens, but it makes me a bit sad.

Anyway, back to the point. The only bit of art I really loved and felt good /supported in was the screen printing lessons. I loved those sessions. I did a cheese plant. It took me ages.

Generally now, I don't have the patience for screen printing or lino or whatnot (as my lovely friend Buttsey knows. I am far too slap dash) but doing the spray paint around cut out bits of paper is quick but also creates some lovely lines which I get excited about.

Anyway, I dunno which I prefer. If I could ever work out how to turn on comments I would ask people to choose for me. But I can not work it out. I have tried so often to turn comments on and I can't get it to stick.

While I was waiting for various bits of the two drawings above to dry I did a sketch of the Bradford Selection launch. I used watered down India ink. I really love India ink. And I like the Grays you can get from watering it down.

I would bang on more about this but I just saw the time and it's almost tomorrow. Better publish before today ends.

And that's the news x