Sketches and linocut lilies

It is lovely to receive a bouquet of flowers, even better when I have time to really concentrate on their colour and form by making pen or pencil and watercolour studies of them.  I file any usable sketches in ring binders so I can refer to them, sometimes years later, for reference or inspiration.

These sketches gave rise to more considered work in acrylic, watercolour, collage and lino print; with the latter I experimented further by printing on different painted backgrounds.

The flower petals were lightened with white acrylic,
with gold gel pen accentuating the stamens

A fine liner pen and silver gel pen were used on this print

A couple of early proof prints in my "Experiments" Moleskine -
on the left using fluid acrylic which wasn't successful as a printing medium;
on the right,  gouache and gum arabic print, collaged over a black gesso background

Background experiment

I have made several attempts to use randomly painted backgrounds on which to add floral subjects.  Not all have been successful, but I'm sure I will continue to explore this idea in the hope of the occasional good outcome.

This particular effort started out with some random gesso lino prints on watercolour paper, followed by loose washes of watercolour.  I also added a few dry brush strokes of pale gold acrylic ink, then defined the lilies with watercolour pencil, painting the image with a diluted gesso base before adding watercolour washes to the leaves and flowers.

Lilies - mixed media - approx 4.5" x 6"

More Moleskine collages

Another couple of experimental collages.  This time I used a couple of my sketches from live model sessions, cut these out and pasted them onto backgrounds of handprinted tissue (both 8" x 5").

Collage experiments

I have a couple of A5 watercolour Moleskine sketch books which I have used in the main for trying out new ideas, materials or techniques, at the same time noting the methods used.

The following two sketches, done quite a while ago, started with backgrounds collaged with lettering cut from magazines, gesso then used to partially obscure, acrylic paint, hand printed patterns and tissue collage.  My reference for the faces was taken from news articles, executed with pen, acrylic and collage.

The Art of the Fold - November

I never did find out what happened to the October challenge so I missed that one, but I enjoyed trying out this triangular book (Section 19 of "The Art of the Fold" book).

For my version I used a previously painted and lino-printed sheet of copy paper, cut down to approx. 12" square.  The lino-print wasn't very successful so I overlaid and patterned it with iridescent pink paste paint.  As the back of the paper was painted gold, I reversed the top and bottom folds of the cover to provide a bit of contrast and added a band to hold it closed.

The finished book measures just over 2" x 4".

Inktober with a difference

I have been playing around with a new fold structure.  The first image was a trial - I already had a scan of a design from a previous project which I printed onto ordinary copy paper on the computer.  I then tried the folds out on an acrylic painted background and used metallic and white gel pens to draw out the decoration.

I am sure there is room for more experimentation here.

Computer printed design on copy paper -  8.25" square

Acrylic ink on copy paper with gel pen decoration - 8.25" square

Inktober 10th and 11th

I enjoyed reproducing the graffiti - this was just part of a much larger artwork I photographed while out on my morning bike ride.

Fine liner and gel pens

Inktober 7th - 9th

Another page in my Cappuccino sketchbook.

Inktober 1st - 4th

A tentative start to Inktober.  At least it has encouraged me to get out my sketchbook on a more regular basis.

A5 Hahnemuhle Cappuccino sketchbook

Urban Sketchers 5th October

An excellent turnout today for our meeting at the Hall & Woodhouse public house in Wichelstowe, a satellite development to the south of Swindon.  Building started in 2008 and it is estimated that 4,500 new homes will have been completed over a period of 20 years.  Parts of the Berks and Wilts Canal running through the area have been restored, with plans to provide a vibrant canal side area.

The recently built pub was certainly interesting, with a narrow boat built into one wall, the interior lavishly decorated with canal and river paraphernalia and waterside views.

A section of the pub interior -
definitely a "boat house" ambiance

A few of the 20 plus sketchers

My view of the narrow boat which offers trips along the canal

Holiday sketches

A couple of sketches from a past holiday in Worcestershire.  They certainly bring back happy memories.

Both these were done on site, the first in the grounds of a stately home we visited; the second, a tiny sketch as we neared the end of a 5 mile walk through estate farmland.  My journal entry for that day records "We had a worryingly close encounter with three cows and their respective calves, but managed to escape unscathed".

The Ice House at Croome Park - pen and watercolour

Pirton Church - pen and watercolour

Piano hinge book

I finally managed to attempt the September challenge of the Facebook group "Crafting Handmade Books".  This was the piano hinge book on page 142 of The Art of the Fold.

I cut down some pages from an old atlas to use for this and, as the pages were rather wide, I folded them in at the fore edge - this compensates for the thickness of the spine.

Atlas pages and bamboo skewers
Finished size approx. 6.5" x 8"

Experimental backgrounds

I am continuing to re-visit old work as I am still finding it difficult to fit in much in the way of new sketches or paintings.

These were from some of my early attempts at painted papers, which were mainly intended for use in artists' books. On a couple of leftover scraps, I tried out some small floral sketches, using negative glazing in the background to accentuate the image.  These papers started off with wax crayon scribbles, overlaid with varigated washes of acrylic ink.

Wax crayon and acrylic ink, both approximately 6" x 4"

September's Urban Sketch

I managed to grab a couple of hours on Saturday to join our local Urban Sketchers group at St. Augustine's Church, Even Swindon.

The church was built in the early 1900's and is closely surrounded by housing, so a good view of the outside of the building was difficult to find.

Inside, my photo does not do justice to the magnificent, semi-circular apse.  The images of Christ, Mary Magdalene and St. Augustine were painted in the late 1980s, with a stunning background of gold leaf.  I was very rusty after a couple of months without keeping up my drawing practice and my attempt to get this aspect down on paper failed miserably, so I found a viewpoint in the narrow strip of garden bounding one side of the building.

Pen, watercolour with touches of oil pastel
5" x 8"

Sketches from the past ..

Continuing with my delve into work from the past .....

This was a postcard size watercolour painting of a
scene on the Norfolk Broads

An imaginary book cover illustration for one of
our art group's competitions

A scene from the Italianate style village of Portmeirion, North Wales, where we
were lucky enough to rent a cottage for a few days many years ago.  This village
was the backdrop for the television series "The Prisoner".

Three colour landscapes

Several years ago, my local art group set the evening's two hour workshop members the task of producing a landscape with just three colours.

Instead of going for just one image, I decided to try the idea out on a very small scale (about 3.5" x 2.5") and produced four experimental paintings.  The subjects were imaginary and were only intended as exploratory colour sketches - an interesting exercise.  I am not sure if I used the same three colours for all the sketches (I can only find one original in my old files, but my notes indicate that I used Rose Madder Genuine, Cobalt Orange and Cobalt Blue on Saunders cold pressed 300lb watercolour paper - the first image shown below).

Birthday fold book

With a dear friend's birthday coming up, I had to make room for a bit of time in the studio for this fold book (my current favourite structure).

Handprinted using ink, acrylic and gesso on both sides of
an A4 sheet of printer paper (finished size approx. 4" x 5")

Sketches from the archives

Japanese Garden at the Botanic Gardens in Wales

The Cobb, Lyme Regis, Dorset

Flowers from Jean

Floral sketches

At this time of the year our garden is over-run with Japanese anemones and I have sketched them many times in the past.

Images from the archives

Summer House, Chirk Castle, Wales
A small plein air sketch 

Another pen and wash sketch from a photo taken on holiday

Sketches from the archives

Due to family illness and increased care responsibilities, my opportunity for art activities has been curtailed for the time being.  However, whenever I get a chance I will endeavour to add a few sketches from previous years.

Clampitt Falls

Paignton Harbour

The Court House, Castle Combe, Wiltshire