Oh, and this was my Christmas card this year.

Belated Happy Christmas.
I never tire of drawing Christmas trees. This year we had a very fine specimen. This is the only drawing that has gone anyway near doing it justice.

Christmas cards

I've not posted recently because I've been working on my 2009 Christmas card design. I really liked this idea, but as I print them at home I don't think I could afford that big expanse of blue background. I tried messing around on the computer and came up with the second colour effect but though they look good onscreen the printout was rubbish so reluctantly I discarded the design in favour of one which I will reveal after I've posted the cards to  friends and family. Can anyone out there reccomend a good supplier of light printing card suitable for use in an ageing inkjet printer?

Autumn Trees

I've been working on a series of tree pictures. This is a study done from the car at lunchtime which was far more successful than the proper full size pictures

Still here

Its been a long time. I've been painting but not posting. Here are some watercolours of my cats kindly offering a series of short poses.Not sure why I've got underlining...Any ideas?

watercolour sketchbooks, Day 1

I'm doing an Open College of the Arts course and the final project is a series of pictures on a theme.  I've toyed with lots of ideas. At the moment I'm thinking I will give up the pencils for a week and just paint in my sketchbook. This is day one, cars in the carpark at work. It was cold outside so I sat in my car to do this (and it meant I didn't have to explain myself to my work colleagues)

Soweto Choir

Friend's fiance struck down by the flu so I was invited to see the Soweto Choir last night. I must admit I would never have gone to see them of my own accord but they were lovely, a real spectacle with the dance and colour and light.(and the music was great!) I took my sketchbook but it was too dark(and too visualy absorbing) to draw.

I looked at an image on the internet to draw this to keep the evening in my mind, then manipulated it with the computer to get the second image which I quite like.

life classes for cat lovers...........................

Sue was found abandoned in a cardboard box. She had a litter of kittens the night we bought her home and we kept one, the very excentric Barney.               This evening she has been doing the feline equivalent of life classes with a series of short poses..................

Studies from photo's for a pastel portrait for my colleague Claire who is leaving to get married and move back home.                                                       I love drawing horses, I used to get into trouble at school for drawing in class.  The final portrait is nothing like this I will post it on my website (www.calhoy.co.uk) when I have revealed it to Claire.....

I've been playing with collage to create metalic effect with paper torn from magazines. I don't know if they've realy worked but it was fun....

The Chickens have arrived

There are 4 of them, Rangers I think. One blonde one and three with lovely red/brown feathers. I don't know their names yet.

They are lovely to draw, a series of fairly long poses and they return to the same pose again if you wait. These preliminary sketches don't do them justice.

Very calming to sit with them and watch them dig, hop back and snack on their findings, clucking softly as they go.

Boscastle

We camped at the site that I camped with my parents years ago. I think it's still run by the same family. Just a field with toilets, showers and a beautiful view. This is one of my favourite places on earth.


I dragged the kids to Strangles beach which I remember fondly from my childhood. Maybe it was because the tide was in or the weather was grey but it wasn't as special as I recalled. Never mind, we walked there along the cliffs and back along the valley beside a stream which was lovely.



Lands End is quite a drive away but as we went to John O Groats last year we felt we had to complete the journey. John O Groats to Lands End in one year.... There are some fabulous cliffs and some people preparing to drop off them at the top.




We visited the Cobweb Inn in Boscastle for its fine atmosphere & ales (and it's pool table) Lisa drew me, drawing her,drawing me...





The ceiling is a mass of old bottles

I'm really excited about this drawing not because it's anything special but because I sat in the cafe and drew it with people there. It's a nice little cafe on Holywell Hill in St Albans which does a very fine coffee & pastry & has quite a trade on a Saturday morning. At times there was quite a queue and nobody bothered me sketching at my wobbly table.

Ah the art society exhibition is over and I've brought my pictures home again. Does anyone want to buy a moosehead? one careful owner....

The Bookshop at our local retail park is closing down & with it the cafe. This is sad as it's close to where I work and a good spot to relax with a coffee and my drawing book.

Sometimes if I get a lunchbreak I sit in the car with the radio on and draw. There aren't many views from the carpark that don't involve cars but the act of drawing is relaxing enough.

Moose heads

It looks like a stately home but they're papier mache. I'm taking one to the art society exhibition tomorrow night in the hope that he'll make my fortune. Not sure what the world will make of him.....

getting started

The problem with this lovely unsullied blog is that it's like a blank sketchbook. Full of possibilities. I can be anyone, I can re-invent myself for you. I'd like to be honest,to show you some of my very ordinary, muddily, life. I guess your ordinary life's like this too but in subtly different ways. I'm interested in ordinary things, I've pried into other peoples lives on line too, through their blogs . I'm not going to show you anything exciting or scandalous but I do like to draw things and maybe you might find them as interesting, as I have found other peoples drawings of their worlds.
I'm trying to be more brave about drawing in public so I went to the market today and hid under a tree to do this drawing. The painting was done when I got home. (I'm not that brave yet!)

RIP Godzilla

Today poor Godzilla our last chinchilla died. After nearly 20 years of chinchillas it feels realy strange not to hear the girls cackling with laughter and knawing anything they could reach. I'm sure Chinchillas were the models for Gremlins in their cute stage but average 17 years is a long lifespan for a grumpy rodent and sadly I think it's time to take a break for the moment.

Lisa Drawing