This week I drew a picture of a tiger. As a child I had many dark and forceful dreams about tigers. I don’t really know why, I think of them as powerful and majestic animals nowadays. There was a time when I was young when I was allowed to hold a young tiger cub at a circus. I remember very clearly how very heavy it was. I expected it to weigh maybe double the weight of our cat but it weighed a lot more. It also dug it’s nails into my lap and arm. I’m glad we no longer allow animals to be kept in circuses, but it really was a wonder to be that close to such a wonderful creature.
Anyway, here are my photos if the drawing…
Pencils
The pencils were done at an art group run by our local Mind charity. Then when I got home I inked it…
I also added some pencil and smudged it in with my fingers to give it some more shading. I quite like this effect.
Once my picture was complete I left it on the bed and my little feline friend, Leia, checked it over…
This week’s art is a bit different. Instead of drawing or painting I had a go at making a miniature aquascape. I’ve set up a lot of planted aquariums in the past but it’s been a long time since I made one…
This time though, I wanted to set up an eco-jar rather than an aquarium. Obviously I couldn’t keep fish in such a small space so my plan was to keep a small population of tadpole bladder snails (Physella acuta) which are very common in aquariums and ponds but also very beautiful. They’re great with algae and I can grow algae easily in a tiny planted eco-jar on a window sill.
I began by putting some John Innes No. 3 soil into the bottom of the 2 litre jar. Then I added a layer of black aquarium gravel on top.
Having proper loam-based soil really helps the plants and is part of the Walstead method for low tech planted freshwater tanks. The gravel keeps the humus inside the soil down at the bottom.
Then I filled it just over half way and let the water and soil settle for a day or so while I chose some plants. I went for easy to grow aquarium plants, hygrophilia and Micranthemoides…
I removed as much of the cotton around the roots and then planted these in the jar. I arranged them in the same way I would seat a subject in a portrait. Then I added some Salvinia which is a small floating plant. This, and the hygrophilia, are great for pulling nitrates out of the water column and fixing them in the plants.
Here’s what the final scape looked like…
At this stage it was only 2 days old and still had some floating humus which you can see at the top. I left it in the sun for a few days and added a small amount of algae to seed it. Once algae growth was going I bought some bladder snails (Physella acuta). They absolutely loved their new home…
This project is a work in progress as the jar needs to stabilise and find it’s equilibrium. Given how happy the snails were I expect we may have some snail eggs soon. I will have to check the glass.
Since then the plants have grown really fast. However, because my hands displace so much water, I can’t use nail scissors to trim them so I am going to have to get hold of some long handled scissors. It will be fun to learn a new skill. The snails continue to roam around in their jar very happily. I love having them. I think of them as ancient cousins of the octopus!
This week’s drawing was inspired by Martin and Susan Tyner‘s work to rescue and rehabilitate raptors in Utah in the US. They have a charity called Enoch Wildlife Rescue, and a wonderful YouTube channel of the same name. Since I found this channel I have been transfixed by Martin’s way with these huge birds of prey. He has a calmness about him which settles the eagles, hawks and owls he works with and spills over to calming me when I watch him in action!
I began with a sketch…
I smudged pencil onto it (accidentally – I can be a real “mess wizard” at times) and then used that as a ground for highlighting with a soft putty eraser. It turned out to be a really good way to help me “see” the form in my picture more easily.
I went on to ink the drawing and decided to keep my pencils as shading. This made my final photograph a little bit tricky since I didn’t want any of the pencil to shine and so change the tone in my final image. I managed to get a photo without any pencil shine after some faffing about.
Here’s my final picture (with writing added as I ran the image through photoshop)…
I had a go at painting a squid this week. Here’s how it went…
Basic structure in pencil
More details added
Completed drawing
I tend to use the same basic approach to painting as I do drawing, which is to draw/paint the bigger shapes first and the successively add small shapes. Below I’ve put on the basic overall wash and then add a few more detailed washes to add some darker pigment for shadows and darker skin colouration.
First wash of watercolour
Gradually I built up the washes until I was content with the final picture…
jo fox - adventures in art 