EDM #186 - something I have always wanted. A long and rambling post about typewriters and coincidences.

Oh dear - drew the keys far too small!

There's a little story behind this one. Not that interesting or exciting a story, but a story nonetheless.

I have always loved typewriters. Not the writing part of things - I've never had the aspirations to be a writer that a lot of people have, not even when I was younger - but the machines themselves. Just like I obsess over old sewing machines and cameras, although I do actually like sewing and taking photos.

When I started secondary school, I was excited when I saw a whole room full of typewriters and found out that when you reached sixth year (which would probably be junior year of high school in the US) you were given typing lessons. I couldn't wait. Unfortunately, they phased out the typewriters before I was old enough, in favour of a room full of computers (RM Nimbus) which we were never allowed to use.

I always wanted a typewriter of my own, but we didn't have a lot of money, so instead my aunt gave me hers on long-term loan. I loved it. It was a Silver Reed portable and the ink was all but dried up, but I taught myself to type on it, and did a lot of my GCSE coursework on it.

Recently I've started wishing for a typewriter again, and even went so far as to research (on ebay mostly) which one I wanted. The machine of choice was a Smith Corona Calypso, because it was tiny, cute, a pretty colour, and looked like it might actually be usable. I managed to find an auction for one today, but got outbid at the last minute. I was so disappointed. But my disappointment was short-lived.

I had to go on a little trip to Islington for some calligraphy ink this afternoon (more on that later), and accidentally got off the bus a stop too early. On the way to the art shop, I walked past a junk shop I'd never seen before, and there, sitting outside on a knackered old table was a royal blue Smith Corona Calypso! Couldn't believe my eyes - what a huge coincidence. Sure it wouldn't be working, I fished an envelope out of my bag, stuck it in the typewriter and hit a few keys, and it was almost perfect. The price tag said £14, but I managed to get the seller to let me have it for £10. Less than half what the ebay one would have cost me if you take into account the postage costs. The A key is sticky and the shift lock doesn't work. I love it. Almost as much as my Olympus Trip 35.

If you're still reading after all that, here are some photos of the newest addition to our household.

Need to clean those keys a bit!

I haven't been drawing much over the past few days because I've been so busy with my last assignments for the year, which are due in next week, and also because I've been practicing my calligraphy. I haven't done it for ages and I'm so rusty it's depressing. But it's something I'm determined to get better at. No point posting my pages and pages of the same letter groups over and over - I don't think anyone would be interested in that! But I might show off my new coloured inks at some point. I've just discovered the joys of filling a fountain pen with ink instead of using a cartridge - the difference is amazing.

Oh and here's a bookmark I crocheted while watching TV last night. Bonus points if you recognise the book - even more bonus points if you recognise the artist.

Something different.

This is kind of straying from my usual quick scribbles. I sat down yesterday to chat to my husband and his friend, there was a magazine cover in front of me, there was an open page of my scribbly book for making assignment notes, there was a B pencil. So I started doodling, but found I got more 'into' it than I had intended and ended up spending about half an hour drawing and actually trying to do a bit of shading. I have no idea how to draw fur, but now I want to learn. I kind of wish I'd done it on proper paper now instead of my squared pad.


Here's the magazine cover where I saw the picture of the fox. We see lots of foxes in London. They scavenge in bins for something to eat and are always very scraggly, sorry-looking things. This lovely furry fox looks nothing like our local ones!

An Easter tradition.

Mini egg nests!

My husband is 29 and he still hasn't grown out of them. His friend is coming round to play video games today so I thought I'd make them both something yummy. I doodled the mess in my kitchen while the chocolate was melting. Annoyingly, I realised too late that the pen was not the waterproof one I thought it was, and the ink ran into the paint, but it was only a little sketch so I'm not really bothered.

And here's the results!

I should add that I didn't eat a single square of that chocolate (Cadbury's Dairy Milk), which was very very difficult.

Edited to add instructions!

If anyone would like to make these, they are very very easy. You need:

1. Good quality chocolate. A 200g bar is a good size.

2. Cornflakes

3. Mini eggs. I used Cadburys, but I'm sure there are other varieties available.

4. Paper cupcake cases

Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a saucepan of hot water. Don't let it burn! You could do it in the microwave but I've never worked out how to do this without the chocolate burning.

Transfer the melted chocolate into a bigger bowl. It needs to be quite deep. Add cornflakes, a few cupfuls at a time, and mix it round really well till all the cornflakes are coated with chocolate. Keep adding cornflakes till the mixture is nice and thick. Crush the cornflakes with your mixing spoon as you go.

Put a heaped teaspoonful of the cornflake mixture into each cupcake case, and press two mini eggs into the centre so it forms a nest shape.

Put them in the fridge to set - an hour or so should be plenty - and then enjoy them with a cup of tea.

Bet they don't last long!

It is harder to draw people than it is to paint trees.

I would dearly love to be able to sketch people on the train or in a shop and actually make the sketch look like the people. But I find drawing people incredibly difficult. In my life drawing classes, my drawings often end up faceless because I think they look better with no face than with a badly drawn, ugly one! But it's time I learned, and the only way I will learn is by practicing.

I did a few sketches from photos in my magazine. Here's one of an exceptionally lovely-looking boy in a Dolce & Gabbana ad. Do you think the sketch looks like the photo? I can't decide. The eyes are totally wrong because I wasn't paying attention, and I had to imagine what his ear looked like because the page cut it off. His face also isn't chiselled enough. But it's a start, right?

Oh and thank you very very much to everyone for their advice yesterday about the separating watercolours. I really appreciate the time you take (not just yesterday but whenever) to leave me a comment with advice or constructive criticism or just to say hello :-)

A carrot and a question.

I'm back on weightwatchers again, having put on a bit of weight over the past year. Eventually I would love to be able to go running again. Even if I was never able to do another marathon (I ran the Edinburgh marathon in May 2007 and loved it even though I got horribly injured) it would be nice just to run five miles maybe three or four times a week. But since I really just can't run at the moment, and even walking more than a couple of miles can be painful due to my stupid arthritic ankle, I am going to have to eat a lot more of these and a lot less cake.

:(

Here's a question for the watercolour experts. I am currently using Winsor & Newton Cotman paints. The plan is to replace them with artist quality paints very soon. But in the meantime I'm noticing a few things that mildly annoy me, and one of them is this:


See how in the palette the colours have separated? I had a mix of cadmium yellow pale, cadmium red and ultramarine, it was a slightly purplish grey, but you can see where I've left it alone for a minute and it's separated back out into its three components. Is this a common characteristic of watercolours? Or is it just because student quality paint contains more filler and less pigment? It bugs me a bit having to constantly keep swirling the brush around in washes to keep them mixed! If anyone can shed any light on this I would be very happy to hear your comments.

Trees are apparently hard to paint.

So I read somewhere that I can't remember. And I'm trying to convince myself that that's true, and it's not just me being inept.

Here are some trees I painted tonight. They are a bit too blobby to actually look like trees.

Another thing that is very hard is mixing greens. I used lemon yellow, cobalt blue, ultramarine, burnt umber and a bit of viridian for this little painting. I remember quite a lot of the colour mixing theory we did in my watercolour class at the start of the year, but actually putting it into practice is a different story. Still at least I had more luck with the scanner tonight, and I do like my little fence.

Stephen the chicken - a friend for Neil. Make your own!

Neil was lonely so I made him a little friend - this is Stephen the brown chicken! He's a little more hyperactive than Neil - he can't stop flapping his wings with excitement!

A few people asked for a pattern for Neil, so I wrote one up. It's very easy. If you make a chicken, please send me a photo (angeltreats at gmail dot com), I would love to see what you made. Please be warned, I have never written a crochet pattern before, so if anything is unclear let me know.

::PATTERN::

sc = single crochet
ch = chain
st = stitch (i.e. the stitch on the round below that you are working into)
sc2tog = single crochet 2 stitches together (i.e. decrease)

Place a marker (a bit of scrap yarn will do) at the beginning of every round. Work in spirals and don't join the rounds.

Body - use white or brown yarn or whatever colour you want the body to be.

Round 1: 5 sc into magic loop (or you can do ch2, 5sc into second ch from hook if you don't know how to do magic loop)

Round 2: 2 sc into each st around

Round 3: [2 sc into same st, 1sc into next st] around

Round 4: [2 sc into same st, 1 sc into next 2 st] around

Round 5: [2 sc into same st, 1 sc into next 3 st] around

Rounds 6-12: sc around

Round 13: [sc2tog, 1 sc into next 3 st] around

Round 14: [sc2tog, 1sc into next 2st] around

Stuff body

Round 15: [sc2tog, 1st into next st] around

Pop in another bit of stuffing if you can. Sew up the hole and weave in ends.

Wings (make 2 in same colour as body

Ch 7

Row 1: Skip first ch, sc into next 6 st, ch 1

Row 2: Skip first ch, sc into next 6 st, ch1

Row 3: ch 3, sc into 4th ch from hook. [ch3, sc into next st] to end.

Finish off and weave in ends.

Comb (the thing that looks like the chicken's hairstyle!) - use red yarn.

Ch 7

Sc into 2nd ch from hook, ch3, sc into same st. [sc into next st, ch 3, sc into same st] to end. Finish off.

Making up

Sew the wings to the sides of the body, near the top. Sew comb to the top of the head. I have used yellow felt for the feet and beak, and seed beads for eyes, and I used superglue to attach them. You could embroider the face if you prefer.

And that's it! I hope you enjoy making your own little chicken friend :-)

Life drawing - fun with charcoal.

Last night's class was all about light and shade. The room was slightly dimmer than usual and the teacher used two bright lamps to create strong areas of light and shade on the model, Leo.



I did this first one with charcoal pencils, which I hadn't used much before but I really like them. For someone like me who gets herself covered from head to toe with charcoal when using the uncompressed sticks, they're a great idea!

This next one was a bit different. While we were drawing, the teacher prepared a piece of paper for each of us by covering it with charcoal and then brushing the surface with a household paintbrush to create an even tone. Then we were to "draw" the basic shape of the model using a putty rubber to remove the charcoal and leave light areas, and then add the detail back in with more charcoal. The vertical lines are from scratches on the drawing board underneath.



I loved this technique. It's easier to start drawing when the paper isn't bright white, for some reason. I love the drawing (and I don't say that about my work very often) but I think it's more because I enjoyed doing it so much than because I like the end result. When we'd finished, the teacher picked out my drawing to talk about and said some very nice things about it :-) Throughout school, I don't think I ever had an art teacher say anything nice about something I had done. I felt like a five year old being given a gold star, I was so pleased! And I did get myself covered in charcoal, including my trousers and the entire left side of my face.

Here's a bonus sketch of our Elvis. This only took a minute, I was on my way out to class, but he looked so cute I had to grab an envelope and do a quick doodle.

BADGERBADGERBADGERBADGER

MUSHROOM MUSHROOM

Does anyone else remember this travesty that did the rounds of the internet a few years ago? Ever since I painted this mushroom I've had this song stuck in my head and it's driving me nuts :( I'm currently listening to some really bad Spanish pop music on the radio in the hope that it'll get rid of the badgers. It's not working, and apparently every single Spanish pop song goes on about the soul. You touch my soul, I like your soul, your soul is beautiful...

Anyway, this mushroom was an exercise in colour mixing from my Alywn Crawshaw book. The colours used were alizarin crimson, yellow ochre and ultramarine. I overworked it a bit but I kind of like it anyway.

Make Something Cool Everyday

Nancy at Dabbled is running the Make Something Cool Everyday challenge. The idea is that every day in April you create something - just like Thing A Day. I miss Thing A Day so I think I'll have to play along with this! Look at the cool button she made.

Today all I have created is a quick sketch of the view outside my window in purple felt tip pen, but I'm going to have another go at the watercolours after dinner.