NINE YEARS OF SERVICE FOR THE CHURCH!

Nine years ago this week, the Heralds of the Gospel were raised to the category of an International Association of the Faithful of Pontifical Right. Congratulations to Heralds and Companions worldwide on this happy occasion!

If you are interested in finding out more about this very interesting young Order in the Catholic Church, visit their UK blog at : http://heraldsgospelsinengland.blogspot.com/

Art Challenges

With each new drawing, I now like to set myself a challenge. This time it is to try and get the shading to look more realistic- and that is quite a challenge. It is tempting to rush and shade the whole drawing at once but if that was to happen, then ones picture would be a complete mess (it happened to me before)!

This picture is for a friend on the fantastic Devient Art website. This is my account. I am drawing a picture of both Morgana and Merlin from the BBC's TV series Merlin.

Let the tournament begin...

Finally, I have finished it! I am pleased with this picture but there was a stage where I thought that I had ruined it and I nearly threw it away. The armour was a challenge as it was hard to get the shading without it looking smudged... but there we go.

Uther Pendragon

Here is the picture that I previously mentioned. Although this was quite challenging, I managed to finish it a few moments ago. I have to admit that I am rather proud of this picture of Uther Pendragon (Anthony Head).

The only problem now is that I have no idea what I want to draw next.....hmm.....well I shall have to think about that.

My lastest drawing- Prince Arthur (again)....

This picture took me about 2 days (I finished it last night). I really wanted to use the same picture as my watercolour, in order to see which I preferred. Thinking about it, I love being able to brighten things up but (at the moment) I am unable to achieve any detail. Therefore I think that I really like drawing in pencil.

The hardest part would have to the chain mail but with practice, I'm sure that I could fix that.

I have to admit that I am incredibly pleased with this compared to my previous drawings as it looks a bit more realistic.

My next picture is coming along and should be finished over the weekend. Once again it is on the same type of watercolour paper as this one but a lot smaller (and a lot more challenging)!

“Open your eyes, then open them again”- Terry Pratchett

I love this quote from Terry Pratchett's Tiffany Aching series becuase it is just so true. It has now become my favourite game to play on the bus on the way to college. Surprisingingly, the best place to play it, is in a place that you think you know so well.

How to play it:

Difficulty- Easy
How many players: 1-5 (perfect for in the car.)

1. Say to yourself "Open your eyes, then open them again".


2. Blink and then look around you what do you see?


3. Fields, roads, a wall ? Boring things?... Look again....


4. Now really look at it. What colours can you see? Did you see that buzzard in the top of that tree? The deer hiding in the hedge?
   

It is about looking at everyday objects and really looking at them. Eventually after you have played it for a while, you automatically notice details you would never imagine to be there. It is really amazing and need not be limited to a sunny day, you might be surprised (as I was) to find out how beautiful a pavement can be in wet weather!

Merlin portrait

I know everyone says that they feel older and that time flies but I want to look back on this year and feel that I have achieved something. So, I am trying to get into the habit of doing something creative on a weekend. This was from 2 weeks ago. I'm a little behind with my third painting, so I have to finish it by Thursday in order to keep up!

Erudition and Resistance- Standing up for life.

Living counter culturally in small and apparently boring ways is an extremely powerful way of life.

If in every town, once a month for one hour, every Catholic Lay person, Religious, Priests, Bishops and everyone in the area, stood outside a local abortion clinic and prayed the Rosary- what a radical change would come about! No one could overlook the issue and seeing a thousand people praying outside a place of death would force everyone who saw them or heard about them, to get off the fence and make a choice on what they believed on this profound moral issue.

But a handful of ordinary individuals doing the same thing are much more easily mocked and ignored and so change doesn't take place or until God, perhaps getting fed up with inaction decides to intervene. I can't help thinking that I'd rather be one of a big group being obedient to God, than waiting for God to intervene- which would be a lot more frightening and asking why we didn't act ourselves.

Making Butter- A simple way

I think that this little article was from the Daily Mail (a few years ago).