A friend's cat

[Matt2584]

Hi folks,

Well, I'm a bit of a stranger, I haven't posted on here for quite some time now.

I haven't been drawing as much lately.

Last year during covid, I was able to meet some friends from Headway at the beach since the original meeting place was out of bounds at the time.

Around September/October last year, they went back to their meeting location but I couldn't go cos I haven't been vaccinated and refuse to get tested as well, so they didn't allow me back cos I could be at risk of spreading... apparently.

I understand why but anyhow, Friday mornings was free for me to do what I want.

I then ended up doing a craft group on a Friday and earlier this year a member of staff from Headway said it is now "safe" for the unvaccinated to join.... In my opinion it always was safe for all.

Well, that's all good but I can't go.

So I told them I will go whenever the craft group is canceled or something.

The other week was my first day back. I found there were more like me that weren't vaccinated and it was also good to see some people I hadn't seen for months.

One lady wanted me to draw her cat.

I finished the cat today. Not sure what his/Her name is yet.

[Hidden]

Hi MattLove your drawing of this cat fab,l found myself doing more art during lockdown bits of collage and stuff. Keep drawing it does help manage your mind,body,soul.

Adiewon

[Matt2584 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you Adie :).

Most definitely.

Once you start drawing, sometimes you can’t stop :).

[Hidden in reply to Matt2584]

Hya Matt yes l find once l begin to make art it can be an all day thing,to cope l keep taking long breaks and drinking lots of water. But for me it seems important that l make stuff that relates to anything that l need to express at this time loads of "bad ar no such thing l know" and stuff that's ok it all helps me cope on all levels.🙌

[Matt2584 in reply to Hidden]

A few years ago I used to spend roughly 2-3 hours on a drawing and afterwards my head would feel thick like it was full of cement and my eyes would feel heavy and I would need to go to bed.I learnt about frankincense essential oil and how it is very beneficial for brain injuries.

A few weeks of inhaling this and I didn’t get so fatigued so easily.

I’ve also changed my diet over the years which has helped a lot too.

But I don’t think I could spend nearly all day on a drawing though.

For me, if I did a drawing until I felt a bit tired, maybe a few hours and then stopped and then came back to it the next day all afresh, I could then see that certain parts of the drawing didn’t look right and I would have to erase and start again.

I usually spend an hour or 2 on a drawing until I’m thirsty and then go make a coffee and that’s it for the day until the next day or weekend haha.

That cat I did. I admit that it is good but I could have made it look better.

If I spent more time on it would look better.

But that is the thing with my art, I can’t be bothered sometimes haha.

What medium of art do you use?

You’ll have to post some of your art :).

[Hidden]

Hi Matt lforgot about frankincense years ago a friend of mine used to buy it in its natural form and l would burn it in my burner,but oil well l will buy some of that for sure. My bleed was in the head and it took nearly 2 years for the pain to go away then another year for the fog to clear.I draw not very well so practise on YouTube. l paint not acrylic,oil crayons and printing ink,mostly collage. I will try to post some, but my stuff is not pretty more outsider but l think l have one in mind,let's see. I also have to take care because l can get carried away then to sleep is difficult.

🙌

[Matt2584 in reply to Hidden]

So as I was saying, I used to just whiff the frankincense right from the bottle.But I then learnt about the cold air diffuser where you fill the tank with water, add a few drops of frankincense (or other essential oils), put the lid on and turn it on.

The diffuser mixes the oil and water and it comes out of the funnel as a mist so I am breathing it in as I sleep.

One of the things I’m cautious of though is that I have read before that diffusers can be the cause of house fires.

But with the diffuser I have it automatically shuts down after 3 hours :).

So it’s good for the frankincense and you can also put peppermint oil in which is handy to have if you have the cold or flu.

And also, just putting a drop of frankincense onto your palm, cupping your hands over your nose/mouth and breathing in helps too.

I’m ok at painting but not brilliant. I mainly stick to pencils.

With acrylic, say you mix a blue and red to make a purple and you paint some of your picture with the purple and then you stop for the day and you clear up any mess, including the mixed paint and then come back to it the next day but you have to mix up purple again… I find that I can never get the right shade again.

I suppose for things like that, you’ll have to make the mix in a jar so you could carry on using it?

I always like the look of oil paintings but you have to use turpentine to mix the oils, I’ve never tried it but I’ve heard about it though.

I’ve used oil pastels and there ok but I always favour pencils more as it’s less messy.

I quite like charcoal but again, it’s too messy.

What are you like with clay?

I love working with clay.

When I was in college we made that African-type masks.

They were supposed to fit your face but everyone else was making small masks about the size of a melon.

Mine turned out quite good and I did take it home with me but now I can’t find it, I dunno if I accidentally broke it.

It was cool.

I don’t know if you have ever heard of Powertex before.

Traditionally it is a fabric hardener so you could get some fabric, soak it in powertex and it will dry real stiff.

I go to a craft group and that is where I was introduced to powertex.

We make things using mixed media… basically out of rubbish haha.

Anyhow, I sometimes use clay when I am making things with powertex.

Powertex does not stick well to plastics and metals but things that are porous like wood and clay for instance sticks very well.

[Skulls]

You have a real talent. I keep looking at the cheap art sets and acrylic paints on the Aldi web site but haven’t scribbled anything for ages. I did buy some modelling clay at the suggestion of a visiting occupational therapist who was trying to help me get my dexterity back. My arms and hands were left weakened by paralysis after my hypoxic brain injury and I found using the clay helpful. I was going to make a face or head but didn’t get beyond the lips. I thought they were quite lifelike. I don’t know why I started there! Keep drawing - you are really good at it!

[Matt2584 in reply to Skulls]

Thank you very much :).

I used some clay the other week to make a small face that we stuck onto an old paintbrush and wrapped in fabric and covered with powertex (fabric hardener) and painted it.

Mine looks like an Arab complete with sword that I cut out of cardboard :).

I prefer to make faces out of clay if it was a bigger amount of clay so I had a larger area to work on.

Not so good with smaller spaces so my face looked more cartoon-like but that’s good enough to me :).

Arab paintbrush