Dahlia's and Doodling

Doodle Business:
The Doodologist is fast approaching the last stage of business planning, although I am open for business, I still have some hoops to jump through. I visited the bank last week and had a meeting to set up a business account. It was slightly nerve wracking, but mainly exciting and more importantly they said yes! So I now have a shiny business bank account, with a cheque book and card that is emblazoned with 'The Doodologist'. I shall admit to being more than a little excited about seeing that. In regards to the business planning and inner workings, I shall be able to blog more about that sometime in August. I am working with a charity called the Prince's Trust to help me set up the business, from coming up with a sound business idea to then implementing it. Fingers crossed that in August I will have proved that this is a viable business and I will be matched with my own special business mentor. There is also a chance of getting a loan or grant, but really it is the help/advice that is the most appealing thing. More on this in August! (If you would like to join in and cross your fingers, legs, eyes etc, that would be most appreciated).

So at the moment I am working on some cool (very cool) commissions, which I will blog about as and when I can. I am also working on some ideas, so that I have some things to take to 'art and craft fair' type places. I asked the question to the folks that 'like' my The Doodologist facebook page, this question:

If The Doodologist was at an art fair type place, what would YOU like to see me selling?

Any ideas welcome, from doodle character suggestions to products like greeting cards, mugs etc. I am going to art fair type places for a few reasons, those include generating some cash, generating interest in commissions and generating publicity in general. I have never done anything like an Art Fair before, so I am genuinely in need of some help and advice. I have set myself the goal of doing my first one in September, which I am sure will creep up on me very fast!



Photo time:
If you are a regular reader of this blog, then you will have noticed that as well as doodling, I also love photography. So I was wondering if you think that some of the photographs are good enough to do high quality prints of and take them with to the art fair like places too? If so, any type of photographs tickle your fancy in particular? At the moment I am taking advantage of the intermittent lovely weather and the rather nice flowers in my garden. It is nice having photographic muses that don't try and run off.



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Google Plus: I have added another social network to my growing collection, so if you are hanging out over there, be sure to add me +Claire . It is very early days over there at the moment, but I am finding it a refreshing change from facebook and twitter. Not that I will be dropping either FB or Twitter any time soon, it is just different.



Thanks for reading xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Doodling ding dongs and some photographs

Life Drawing :
Not wanting to become complacent as I strive to find my own drawing style, I decided to sign up for a life drawing class. I have had no formal arty training since back in ye olde times of high school, many moons ago now. So I was rather nervous about it all, but nothing ventured, nothing gained etc



What did I learn?
Well firstly, that I am not good at life drawing, but I didn't expect to be. My main aim was to draw a recognisable human figure and not giggle at the naked person, which I was successful in achieving. Secondly,
it is surprising how quickly you get used to the model being naked. The only thing that surprised me, was that is was a naked dude, as for some reason, I thought it would be a woman. The model 'Arthur' was obviously a professional, as he disrobed with ease and had an air of being totally relaxed and comfortable, which rubbed off on everyone else. I didn't even have time to concentrate on the dangly bits, hence the reason why all the drawings are Ken Doll esque.

Measure, measure, measure and measure some more! 
Ever seen an artist, in real life, TV or movies, squinting and holding up their paintbrush in the general direction of their muse? Now I know what they are up to!
This is a good explanation of some of what I learnt 'Measuring like an artist' 

Tick Tock:
For measuring angles the tutor gave us a tip to tilt the pencil ( or paintbrush) and follow the angle, then visualise a clock face and think about what time the angle would be on. This makes it easier to then translate the angle onto your drawing. I have yet to put this into practice, so will see how that works out for me.

This introductory course was run by Dot-Art Check out their Website, Facebook, and Twitter (especially if you are based in the North West of England).

Summary:
Hopefully time and money will allow me to attend some more classes, as I can already see how this will improve my general doodling abilities (plus they had REALLY tasty sandwiches).
It did make me feel slightly sorry that I never went to a proper doodle school, but I can honestly say that I wouldn't doodle like I do now, if I had gone. From what the other people in the class said, you don't actual learn that much anyway (so there!).
What it has shown me, is the things I need to work on, to make the doodles, that I do, even better. Working out the right angles and proportions for an Octopus, riding a bicycle, into space, that kind of thing. With my style of doodles, sometimes a lot of work goes into drawing/sketching out realistic(ish) versions of animals/people etc and then turning them into cartoon form. I am looking forward to seeing how this new knowledge impacts the next lot of doodles.

Bonus: I got to meet up with Sophie Green and see her awesome artwork up close and personal. I could have bombarded her all day with questions, but she had some amazing work to do and I didn't want to be a pest! Check out her Website, Facebook and Twitter.


Gardening and stuff:
After the life drawing class I got the opportunity to meet up with someone that I have been following for the longest time on twitter @JenniferWelch . We have been trying to meet up for an age and finally managed it!

I got to go up to the secret rooftop garden living on the FACT building, what a beautiful place! I am hoping I get to sneak back there and take some photographs. The garden is called 'The Mediated Garden', more on this in a moment.
After a chat and poke around the garden, we popped downstairs for a glass of wine (well I did, it was free) and took in the rather fascinating exhibition 'Semiconductor: Worlds in the making' . It was definitely a day of indulging in cultural brain treats and meeting fascinating people.

I have seen a lot of similarities in gardening and doodling of late, for me they both hold a feeling of freedom, without having to travel anywhere at all. The Mediated Garden is not just a garden, it is a piece of artwork, asking the kind of questions about public space and what it feels like to see something beautiful that you are NOT allowed to play in.

Check out the website, facebook, twitter and flickr stream.

It was great to chat with Jenn, such a cool way to end an already arty farty day. Although not sure how I feel about the pigeon (or seagull) that decided to poop on me as I was saying goodbye, surely a sign of luck? right?

Jenn also gifted me with a Tomato plant,  Jalapeno Pepper, bean plants and a marrow (or squash), apparently my brain can't remember more than two things. These plants then accompanied on my train ride home, much to the amusement of the train conductor and my fellow train passengers.

Photographs:

After chatting with Jenn, I felt the need to spend some time in the garden, documenting some of the lovely plants and veg growing.

Also got round to editing some other photographs too, these are of my niece Arwen, from a visit a few months back.



So endeth my waffle for this post, if you have any tips about Life Drawing, drawing in general etc or gardening please dump them in the comment box! Thanks muchly xx