Wednesday tea drinking.

Wednesday tea drinking., originally uploaded by Donna Nicholson Arnott.

Had been getting my photo taken for an interview with We Are The Making. Then we had tea. :)

Scott's Guitar

Scott's Guitar, originally uploaded by Donna Nicholson-Arnott.

First real drawing on the iPad. Made during breaks at work today. Used SketchBookPro to make this, thanks go to Lynn Howarth for the app recommendation. It's funny, but since I've been drawing with this, I've found myself using more colour and smudging and blending more than I've done for a long time with real world pastels and stuff. I kind of wonder why.

this wall is thinking

this wall is thinking, originally uploaded by Donna Nicholson-Arnott.

I'm not sure I'll keep running this blog after all. I run out of time to post much to it, and I tend to prioritise flickr when I post anything nowadays. It might just be best to focus my energies there. This is from a blog type post I've been ruminating over and tagging like crazy on flick for the last couple of days...

Hello, my name is Donna, and actually I'm not very good at sharing. Most activity in the day to day requires sharing, in one way or another. I can do so much. And then I shut down. This is why I'm quiet when I'm quiet. Eventually I get lonely. Then I can share again. And I wonder, is everyone like this, more or less. Strange, stupid sort of see-saw pantomime.

It's been a odd couple of months. Something's altered inside my head. More day job resposibilities; but still variable and impermanent. A rash of full time work, then I've had a few weeks with very few hours' work (I have a no hours, no income sort of contract). The unsettledness this has created recently will need sorted; I have a plan for that.

However, the lack of day job shifts did give me time to tidy up and encouraged thought and reevaluation.
I met up with a couple of friends I hadn't seen for a while, and they gave me different perspectives on things too.

My studio had got messy and unkempt the last couple of months. A combination of activity and lack of activity, and absense. The actual desk work space had shrunk to about a foot square, and the wall above my desk had been looking pretty empty, disjointed and uninspiring.
I fixed it all.
Clearing out a box or two I bumped into some postcards I'd forgotten about, so I gave myself some pretty and interesting things to look at when I sat down at my desk; enjoyed snaking some of my favourites across the wall, with some of my own bits and bobs mixed in there too. There are things up there that I had on the wall in the King St Studio that I hadn't even unpacked. (Maybe I just never expected to be able to stay here; weird state of mind really). I ruthlessly (for me) organised the desk. And energetically moved some furniture around - swapped the red cabinet with the big weeping fig. Got more daylight in to the desk.

( But isn't it strange that except for Mackintosh I don't seem to have any postcards of drawers? It isn't that I had some and didn't put them up. I just don't have any. I've gone to drawing exhibitions and bought the catalogue, and no postcards. I love Schiele, and I don't have a little postcard to tack to my wall. That's weird. I'm going to end up printing something off!)

Dark Crystal CLouds of Winter

Blue Hair, Blue Thoughts; featured on a chilly wintery treasury on etsy.

line drawing sketch

line drawing sketch, originally uploaded by Donna Nicholson-Arnott.

Via Flickr:
Forgot I'd done this.
This was from the snow flurry from the start of december.
I was hurrying along the pavement, and started following the wheel tracks in the snow. Hmm. Phone out; video on.

Sorry about the shaky hurriedness, I was trying to get to work too. Watch you don't get seasick!

we will happy !

we will happy !, originally uploaded by Donna Nicholson-Arnott.

And I forgot to share this here...
Oops.


Featured in Cathy Cullis's mosaic Monday!

Amy Shackleton

What a great way to line draw.

Exhibition at Cafe Wander

Exhibition at Cafe Wander, originally uploaded by Donna Nicholson-Arnott.

Via Flickr:
Yes, ten of my (mostly continuous) line drawings showing at Cafe Wander in Glasgow. All of November and 'til the end of December.
If you're in the area, do please feel free to pop along for a look. :)

Blue Hair, Blue Thoughts.

This one was a submission to a doodling challenge on the Doodlers Doing Doodles team on etsy. You can vote for mine (or someone else's, of course) on this web site...

http://www.acepolls.com/polls/1233759-which-is-your-favorite-interpretation-of-the-theme-hair

A Little Conversation...

A Little Conversation..., originally uploaded by Donna Nicholson-Arnott.

Via Flickr:
...this one's with Jim at the Old Mearns Gallery,
2a Howie Buildings,
Mearns Road,
Clarkston,
Glasgow,
G76 7ET

:)

handful of skies

handful of skies, originally uploaded by Donna Nicholson-Arnott.

Via Flickr:
Made for the Team We Draw October Challenge, The City.
The city is different from the suburbs in a number of ways, but the thing I notice most nowadays is the shape of the sky; it's a narrow irregular wedge in the city, and it's different on every street.
(I think this project might grow some more...)

I'd taken some shots of these drawings on friday, to post them on etsy. But it was late, and I used the anglepoise for light, and didn't think they worked. So the next day I took these in the daylight.
(Coinciding with flickr's downtime.)

I've been toying with user settings on the camera, to try and cut down some of the pp time. I shifted the colour balance a little further towards green, and dropped the saturation. (Then I forgot I'd had the white balance set for fluorescent light the night before, and that's given it the lovely lilacyblue hue, which I left because I quite liked it.)

Featured in another coffee themed treasury!

Fallen

Fallen, originally uploaded by Donna Nicholson-Arnott.

Via Flickr:
Props in use at atyn last week; I thought the model really worked those wings, channelling fallen angel in every pose.

He Wears Motley, actually wearing motley.

He Wears Motley, actually wearing motley., originally uploaded by Donna Nicholson-Arnott.

Via Flickr:
I added some motley. It was about time actually, and it really sings in the low light. :)

Some date

Some date, originally uploaded by Donna Nicholson-Arnott.

Via Flickr:
Drawn for the We Draw august team challenge on etsy.com.
I can honestly say I would not have made this one without the challenge. Really, I'm not even remotely sure where this came from in my head.
But there she is, sad little mule-clown. Waiting. Waiting; waiting for that long-overdue Harlequin. I hope he doesn't become irrecoverable...

Alison and Hugh.

Alison and Hugh., originally uploaded by Donna Nicholson-Arnott.

Via Flickr:
This is the final piece for the commission I mentioned before. I made some sketches at the wedding, and worked them into this composition back at the drawing board. I also had a version with Alison and Hugh facing each other, but it looked a bit too fussy and overworked. I like them side by side. Shoulder to shoulder, and all that.

Clare, who was giving the drawing as a gift to the couple, seemed very happy indeed with the final work, which is just magic. :)

(This is one continuous line.)

ox eye daisies

ox eye daisies, originally uploaded by Donna Nicholson-Arnott.

Via Flickr:
A deviation from my usual people obsessed monochrome work. Made for the We Draw July team challenge, the topic of which was 'In the Garden'. I love ox eye daisies, and there's a big blousy patch of them in the back drying green area where I live. I love how long they're around for in summertime, I love the way they look in late summer rain. I love their scaled up unashamed daisiness.

I used fw inks, and coloured pencils on canford card.

Featured in a coffee related treasury on etsy!

shy anglepoise

shy anglepoise, originally uploaded by Donna Nicholson-Arnott.

My submission to the somewhat abortive June Challenge for Team We Draw on etsy.com. Hey ho.

Theme was gestus. I didn't want to use people, I draw people all the time.

Not a great drawing, and obviously inspired by the anlgepoise animation.

Lurid Reclining Man

Lurid Reclining Man, originally uploaded by Donna Nicholson-Arnott.

Via Flickr:
I'm working on a kind of fiddly precise commission at the moment (I'll share it with you when it's done), and it was nice to throw some ink around on tuesday. Scratchy with the white and orange pencils too. :)