tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19371717986035847042024-03-13T01:19:36.913+00:00Perfectible Spark'Able to be perfected or brought to a stage of perfection'Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02165563358713093793noreply@blogger.comBlogger230125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1937171798603584704.post-84349182050646439022017-10-03T15:16:00.000+01:002017-10-03T15:16:27.823+01:00St Paul's Square, BirmimghamMore progress on my linocut of<a href="https://www.stpaulsjq.church/" target="_blank"> St Paul's church, Birmingham</a>.<div>
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I printed a layer of pale green, then an orange...<br /><div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgugz44UEJ4jcEfGCInxs_3KGALPEWSkvwXcsoh47rKRw-rt8syxJF_r6Jh9ju5eU_lpaYwUlIxtthP0tdCq6o37ptMa_Z-fBeLwudz6RPwHl-KoLnRH7OxtOjMwa8rGLW4NOfXnHji2_M/s1600/DSCN7155.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgugz44UEJ4jcEfGCInxs_3KGALPEWSkvwXcsoh47rKRw-rt8syxJF_r6Jh9ju5eU_lpaYwUlIxtthP0tdCq6o37ptMa_Z-fBeLwudz6RPwHl-KoLnRH7OxtOjMwa8rGLW4NOfXnHji2_M/s400/DSCN7155.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Then cut some more detail into the trees and leaves and printed a richer, darker green over the orange.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8i6LcdWieu5bkfWo83hHlTpLIwAEpT1W89bVvuzujoCkLdxiVTcMJXZ8L-cIMoyjvaIMeFnnxU78dTnsR4vRaLYfwuWfb0TSLcJ5lojfbHwRYo6YligGKzW0StVMW6gm2Z1bJGuwUmEo/s1600/DSCN7166.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8i6LcdWieu5bkfWo83hHlTpLIwAEpT1W89bVvuzujoCkLdxiVTcMJXZ8L-cIMoyjvaIMeFnnxU78dTnsR4vRaLYfwuWfb0TSLcJ5lojfbHwRYo6YligGKzW0StVMW6gm2Z1bJGuwUmEo/s400/DSCN7166.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Cut some more detail and printed a darker red/orange then cut for one last time, taking out most of the plate leaving only the trees and the windows of the church itself which would appear darkest in this print. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf80ZTiPTiyArTEQ-Bd92HNm_aGrPnR_MnvtNUXHPLejRuOVVV4OnseMAVGvW8bT7IZ8fvwntc7Jt2jOpdHy4wL0Im4fYa9j0v-G06sCoo2AreKjkh1Mv6KVDt8AfKtmByYLS7i2M0vqc/s1600/DSCN7169.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf80ZTiPTiyArTEQ-Bd92HNm_aGrPnR_MnvtNUXHPLejRuOVVV4OnseMAVGvW8bT7IZ8fvwntc7Jt2jOpdHy4wL0Im4fYa9j0v-G06sCoo2AreKjkh1Mv6KVDt8AfKtmByYLS7i2M0vqc/s400/DSCN7169.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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I then inked up the plate with a dark reddish black/brown...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMoGWHxDRgXWZVGBaq_S1GEUPYE1zpvv5KrHzrBKsOIlJ6Mshdy6xajsBIDqCiZq3C1QnyMFmsdns3GXEN8iq94FMiy6nMZrVqerDIowDGz2k3WWK4ed7Y7ORIL-Ju0bLOGiasC_pJ7ew/s1600/DSCN7170.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMoGWHxDRgXWZVGBaq_S1GEUPYE1zpvv5KrHzrBKsOIlJ6Mshdy6xajsBIDqCiZq3C1QnyMFmsdns3GXEN8iq94FMiy6nMZrVqerDIowDGz2k3WWK4ed7Y7ORIL-Ju0bLOGiasC_pJ7ew/s400/DSCN7170.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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And printed this final layer of ink over all the previous layers to arrive at my final print.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaYRoGqw6pGMGml2N7194ShyphenhyphenvXZn0NkqmsU6LPT3kuPeJSxPsbwwX3nh25mRu0A3J-lCMDEaaKEXlCkDhkq2Z-SVGf9x7JPSnWM0AxF553qFu16nqTegN5OR0MQ5XSE3CiMB2zTtUlO-s/s1600/DSCN7172.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaYRoGqw6pGMGml2N7194ShyphenhyphenvXZn0NkqmsU6LPT3kuPeJSxPsbwwX3nh25mRu0A3J-lCMDEaaKEXlCkDhkq2Z-SVGf9x7JPSnWM0AxF553qFu16nqTegN5OR0MQ5XSE3CiMB2zTtUlO-s/s400/DSCN7172.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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I've mixed feelings about the final result. I chipped away too much of the foreground tree, which could have done with being simpler and with less fiddling about. I had my pen and ink head on when rendering this tree and it has lost definition on the right hand side as a result. There are places I like, and patchy areas which are the result of the ink drying out during printing and lack of pressure during the hand pressing process. <br />
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But I like the receding trees on the right hand side of the print, and the rendering of the church itself and the tree immediately in front of that. These are things I can build on, I think.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiALjJnZgKTk4KyW_ZO2YgvC_X9lc5kyJ3v1hJ0KItqcF677td7MeNYAkQHZk23ohnLoY5Ty2hVwvPhSzH0tIOLLDO4MV25E_5TEkPSfGezHpoc2ylqXzXPorE4fvajPmghyphenhyphenVhlMFO9nbQ/s1600/DSCN7175.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiALjJnZgKTk4KyW_ZO2YgvC_X9lc5kyJ3v1hJ0KItqcF677td7MeNYAkQHZk23ohnLoY5Ty2hVwvPhSzH0tIOLLDO4MV25E_5TEkPSfGezHpoc2ylqXzXPorE4fvajPmghyphenhyphenVhlMFO9nbQ/s640/DSCN7175.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02165563358713093793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1937171798603584704.post-10714544663006560272017-09-30T17:40:00.001+01:002017-09-30T17:40:22.914+01:00MetropolisI've had a lovely surprise today. I was en route from my 'day job' over to Birmingham, just about to tuck into a cheese and onion toastie when I got a 'ping' on my mobile, a missed call that turned out to be the <a href="http://www.rbsa.org.uk/" target="_blank">RBSA</a> letting me know that my linocut 'Urban Meadow' had sold. A really lovely surprise and a confidence booster, something which I seem to need as much as other people require caffeine.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI7mTLCnCtU7o8-hfKU8xkp7s5KQ6FMIaLu7klyffFya5WFhiEOt3grcnYO7cVtS6SHkPZcDIe49Dn7Jris_kaI69lJWECRe7ned1wdyCqa1Rpx6Ss9X9rWde_FB3GRjAwZ2c18KhfkDk/s1600/DSCN6638.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1227" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI7mTLCnCtU7o8-hfKU8xkp7s5KQ6FMIaLu7klyffFya5WFhiEOt3grcnYO7cVtS6SHkPZcDIe49Dn7Jris_kaI69lJWECRe7ned1wdyCqa1Rpx6Ss9X9rWde_FB3GRjAwZ2c18KhfkDk/s400/DSCN6638.JPG" width="306" /></a></div>
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It was part of an exhibition called <a href="http://www.rbsa.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/metropolis-2017-sponsored-by-maguire-jackson-1/" target="_blank">Metropolis</a> which finishes today. I went along to see it on Thursday and really enjoyed the mix of styles and interpretations of the theme. There were some lovely figurative watercolours and oils, some very skillful and moody black and white pencil drawings, some interesting abstracts, sculptures in stone, a lovely display of textile work arranged beautifully on the top floor of the gallery, as well as some beautiful prints, which I'm particularly interested in at the moment as I have spent most of this year learning the art of the linocut. There was a very nice woodcut by <a href="http://www.rbsa.org.uk/members-associates/associates/view/31/Margot-Bell/" target="_blank">Margot Bell</a> of Canary Wharf which I spent a while looking at. My favourite however was probably the least 'urban' scene, it was a lovely acrylic painting of the ICC Birmingham from the Library Roof by <a href="http://www.paulahamiltonart.com/" target="_blank">Paula Hamilton</a>. I really like Paula Hamilton's work and always seek it out when I go to the RBSA as she often has something in the open exhibitions. I think she won the Prize exhibition a few years ago. Lovely colourful, sensitive, organic work which I find really uplifting to look at.</div>
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On my way across town to the station I walked through S<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Paul%27s_Square" target="_blank">t Paul's Square</a>. Many years ago as an unemployed twenty something I ate sandwiches and drank pop in the peace of this lovely old churchyard. Birmingham feels like a very different place these days. <a href="http://www.grandcentralbirmingham.com/" target="_blank">Grand Central</a>, where I mistakenly wandered in search of something from a store there, is a nightmare for me. <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000485/" target="_blank"> Fritz Lang</a> might have made something of a futuristic nightmare of it. It's certainly not my idea of fun. I like to see the sky without a frame around it and breath real air. </div>
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The trees in St Paul's Square were just turning autumnal and I took a few pictures on my phone. When I got home I couldn't get their beauty out of my head. A remnant of the old Birmingham before it had a multi-million pound roof put over it. And I began a new linocut inspired by it.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji1e5M1u45gSzRKCYI131W53VUjTXS2XZNXfxL0wrHfUlJS7dAraKC2rS4QJIBUUY6EiGNsqhgOXC-k9PMUSbi2pX0_kNBrQBk6gxt6bbMsDc9UJoBzkD8fE7LxMGmDq1uE2id-GOwjD8/s1600/DSCN7117.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji1e5M1u45gSzRKCYI131W53VUjTXS2XZNXfxL0wrHfUlJS7dAraKC2rS4QJIBUUY6EiGNsqhgOXC-k9PMUSbi2pX0_kNBrQBk6gxt6bbMsDc9UJoBzkD8fE7LxMGmDq1uE2id-GOwjD8/s400/DSCN7117.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixolOrhyphenhyphen1SRgUX3lQ3dBZdJD21UddKKUPFgwvOkk44k4dKoq3aau44EXy8bWoxZVf6u7_WiQvcuSlVmFlINpUg0dKKGts264KjgTBj-ATh62TZvToCNZRMxm_-PunHOqoGiw9h7lprFAw/s1600/DSCN7118.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1270" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixolOrhyphenhyphen1SRgUX3lQ3dBZdJD21UddKKUPFgwvOkk44k4dKoq3aau44EXy8bWoxZVf6u7_WiQvcuSlVmFlINpUg0dKKGts264KjgTBj-ATh62TZvToCNZRMxm_-PunHOqoGiw9h7lprFAw/s400/DSCN7118.JPG" width="317" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW5ngLaAXgv-r2GArR3LVgKiUxNC672xEY_jQgpc4H7_H1tu6kczKoD8Ln3zLK16jw0XRLyJkomc448kJVUK8v0XPY95CTMnUsJa3IZm_Yj9BJMXzPZH4Dqd753NiOeCzG6N7biskj0_s/s1600/DSCN7122.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1295" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW5ngLaAXgv-r2GArR3LVgKiUxNC672xEY_jQgpc4H7_H1tu6kczKoD8Ln3zLK16jw0XRLyJkomc448kJVUK8v0XPY95CTMnUsJa3IZm_Yj9BJMXzPZH4Dqd753NiOeCzG6N7biskj0_s/s400/DSCN7122.JPG" width="323" /></a></div>
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It's another reduction linocut, an edition of 8. I'm aiming to make it 'painterly', and started by inking part of the plate so that the paper elsewhere is clean for when I start to apply the '<a href="https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=autumnal&rlz=1C1CHBD_en-GBGB744GB744&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjYxd3Fq83WAhWBA8AKHawJBkMQ_AUICigB&biw=1366&bih=662" target="_blank">autumnal</a>' colour.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUpIyqNNyclUGShSDCYuaFObf4HG2fC5lm7hpR2FTMbBcCABAMNrukbzEZfBd_L53Odzms9j-8lxemwOu0Agup5j4nbgXwJ8q9JAWYBAXStSv6QL2qrt6C2V5DfL4HRuPcyEOQh2nbqG8/s1600/DSCN7126.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUpIyqNNyclUGShSDCYuaFObf4HG2fC5lm7hpR2FTMbBcCABAMNrukbzEZfBd_L53Odzms9j-8lxemwOu0Agup5j4nbgXwJ8q9JAWYBAXStSv6QL2qrt6C2V5DfL4HRuPcyEOQh2nbqG8/s400/DSCN7126.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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The second inking is again only in the top part of the paper, and the church starts to come into view. Next I'm going to add some green areas - still yet un-autumnal leaves and the grass in the middle ground.</div>
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It's a 6 inch by 8 inch print on A4 Fabriano paper. I'm aware that my linocuts are not as polished as other artists' work, this is partly due to the hand pressing. I press all of my linocuts with the back of a spoon and a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baren" target="_blank">bamboo baren</a>, and also the side of my hand. I have still to buy a press, but I'm restricted by the amount of space I work in. Maybe sometimes these restrictions can be a positive force for creativity. It pays sometimes to be restricted in some way as it gives the imagination something to struggle with. </div>
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I have got an idea however of how I can work larger, and hopefully I'll blog more about this later, when I actually get around to doing it!</div>
Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02165563358713093793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1937171798603584704.post-12536717795984905302017-08-22T22:33:00.000+01:002017-08-22T22:33:34.476+01:00Beach Near Ullapool Reduction Linocut PrintSo the day has gone quite well print wise and I managed to complete my print.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2aMhpbCF8gcZS4AXPWArpv_jiXE40QDnSYxrR3cTAy3rhv6daQT9mS_SdRieNXnzwKUAZVgx-jHKcBhReSIUOjenw-Vjoja1AfpFEYJ8ppnxMyxQ1v90Mw5byk4uUCgQzCLJQpWBoGh8/s1600/DSCN7010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1115" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2aMhpbCF8gcZS4AXPWArpv_jiXE40QDnSYxrR3cTAy3rhv6daQT9mS_SdRieNXnzwKUAZVgx-jHKcBhReSIUOjenw-Vjoja1AfpFEYJ8ppnxMyxQ1v90Mw5byk4uUCgQzCLJQpWBoGh8/s640/DSCN7010.JPG" width="444" /></a></div>
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I chipped away much of the lino connecting the pebbles to emphasise the crescents of orange seaweed, then printed in a rusty orange colour. I added extender to make the orange a little less opaque as I had done with the blue. I used torn paper to mask areas of the plate that I did not want to print in an effort to keep the print as clean as possible.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzNYYnR0diL_CMisVa4D2b_yc4WMXazQjfQNhbaMElbpmkRfe-AWi42ppcsW5T63G8V6MLfRroZlB6IsbAQ5oPjh8vEmZiANidct_f8lftkDjXZp2vnXiC64dBCu1_ABhUcEKbKWF6dYI/s1600/DSCN7011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzNYYnR0diL_CMisVa4D2b_yc4WMXazQjfQNhbaMElbpmkRfe-AWi42ppcsW5T63G8V6MLfRroZlB6IsbAQ5oPjh8vEmZiANidct_f8lftkDjXZp2vnXiC64dBCu1_ABhUcEKbKWF6dYI/s640/DSCN7011.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYMzawjJOvYkUkLMpLpFpXeVjEquqUiX1g3EfFulCToH0ej1ZByl_GJSQsG3KOZKxfcO862JTNUqZR1MrlsgdbSB-wtCQWqvfv9qeeefsUjm_xCLWIx0HDEAkNipoLefglm3LzTcf_Rl8/s1600/DSCN7013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYMzawjJOvYkUkLMpLpFpXeVjEquqUiX1g3EfFulCToH0ej1ZByl_GJSQsG3KOZKxfcO862JTNUqZR1MrlsgdbSB-wtCQWqvfv9qeeefsUjm_xCLWIx0HDEAkNipoLefglm3LzTcf_Rl8/s640/DSCN7013.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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Next I chipped more of the seaweed area so that when I printed the richer red colour patches of the lighter rust brown colour would show through. Once again I used a mask made from torn paper to preserve a crispness to the print. I really like the way I can 'draw' the pebble shapes and layer one slightly different sized pebble shape over another to give a feeling of depth and a more complex effect. It reminds me of certain effects I get with a dip pen and India ink. It's something I want to explore further in another linocut.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxnqAFYNRRZ5KoVNMt9OIy8MlLsnzKwIc5xRk-juOMWk9_YEjDjM52x6XlzGrioFSBMGCLBlMAk_5xjMMmh7aqpXF-XFVHMA5WnxHFmBNHy3XU9svoSHAWmxqAwNIqwEnk9ae3Jvzojk8/s1600/DSCN7019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxnqAFYNRRZ5KoVNMt9OIy8MlLsnzKwIc5xRk-juOMWk9_YEjDjM52x6XlzGrioFSBMGCLBlMAk_5xjMMmh7aqpXF-XFVHMA5WnxHFmBNHy3XU9svoSHAWmxqAwNIqwEnk9ae3Jvzojk8/s640/DSCN7019.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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Finally I cut even further into the red areas of the seaweed and printed a darker colour mixed from red and black again adding a little extender, once again using a simple paper mask to protect areas of the print I wanted to keep clean. I wanted to add some darker areas towards the bottom of the print to turn the bottom of the print into the foreground, as I had done in my <a href="http://perfectible-spark.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/bringing-cairn-forward-to-finish.html" target="_blank">Cairn print</a>. <br />
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Many linocuts I have looked at over the past few months, although lovely, have a very flat graphic appearance and although I appreciate the graphic nature of this medium, and one which comes more naturally to me than a more painterly approach, I would also like to try to do something more painterly with the linocut. <br />
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One thing I have really enjoyed while exploring the creation of linocuts is using colour more in my work. I have always been someone who draws more than someone who paints, and I feel that with the linocut I have found an approach that allows me to use colour in a graphic way. And maybe push the use of colour further away from the graphic towards the painterly through use of pattern and revelation of one layer beneath another.Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02165563358713093793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1937171798603584704.post-27052538386775179392017-08-21T22:36:00.001+01:002017-08-21T22:36:56.341+01:00Scottish Beach Near Ullapool - It's a little bit mauveSome progress on the linocut I began last Friday. It's based on the same set of photographs I used for my Cairn linocut, but this one is half the size as the Cairn print. It measures 4 inches by 6 inches. I buy my lino on-line from Ebay. The lino comes in a variety of sizes but so far I've stuck to two: 4 by 6 inches and 6 by 8 inches (to print on A5 and A4). I would like to venture larger than A4 but worry that I won't have the stamina to hand press anything larger.<br />
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Anyway, beginnings...<br />
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I made an initial sketch, traced the sketch and transferred it onto the lino. I chipped out a few initial marks and started off my edition of 12 in a pale cream colour. <br />
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Then I started to cut more detail into my plate...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMrDgL64XCdyhphvVZPzpkqamhGS-ae5Kx2_vt9bRiSrnudl9mpMSnfhrtKeOWCVo5BRE9FiPWdYEhJ4uszI_ICWGqcUm5PaO6hpAanPvWrbFlqUus_q8iS9oQrVkvwHH8TEu8u6wtI1M/s1600/DSCN6998.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMrDgL64XCdyhphvVZPzpkqamhGS-ae5Kx2_vt9bRiSrnudl9mpMSnfhrtKeOWCVo5BRE9FiPWdYEhJ4uszI_ICWGqcUm5PaO6hpAanPvWrbFlqUus_q8iS9oQrVkvwHH8TEu8u6wtI1M/s640/DSCN6998.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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I printed in a kind of mauve colour which I mixed from about 5 of my inks. I'm not very technical or systematic when it comes to mixing colours, I should be really. If I was more organised I would have mixed enough to print the entire 12, as it was I cocked up and ended printing 6 in one shade then (after an intermission of a number of hours and a day out) 6 in a shade that didn't quite match.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkpzDFmF6Zj-BdGk00e19vE25eZwVkaGf5IgWfU3d1mYLUi_faZmVyeW_UVbQpUxjMH7LY3cRm59etZJufl5xUfgEYWIAcF6-z_8G0wGx-BdfsPnTmw6pl1JLAumN6BhwEoDVg9hS1uJs/s1600/DSCN6994.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkpzDFmF6Zj-BdGk00e19vE25eZwVkaGf5IgWfU3d1mYLUi_faZmVyeW_UVbQpUxjMH7LY3cRm59etZJufl5xUfgEYWIAcF6-z_8G0wGx-BdfsPnTmw6pl1JLAumN6BhwEoDVg9hS1uJs/s640/DSCN6994.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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But what was worse, in my rush to get the 12 prints done I messed up the texture of the ink and the little white caravans nestling just beneath the far trees disappeared in a gloop of mauve.</div>
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Because I don't like throwing anything away I have tried to rescue my oh too blobby prints (there are 2 of them) by sponging white ink over the disappearing caravans and then printing my next layer of colour over this, giving a kind of misty distance appearance. I also printed another 4 prints onto Daler-Rowney Murano Pastel Paper, which is a cream colour, because after mixing the second batch of mauve I found I had misjudged the amount needed to print off 6 images and had lots left over. So my initial 12 prints has now increased to 16.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU6FqXKLfmg4iKNm8fOJkxLc5u7cbt2cfN6ofscIVDLJaTRbKwnx-AeeZoSQ32Q5uOeUlama7LIvhMhfpIpGlcxmuR6DViXRll89033SlKuUNPAH-Rp4bVXMP_s7_YwXib9m_w_ry_yak/s1600/DSCN6999.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU6FqXKLfmg4iKNm8fOJkxLc5u7cbt2cfN6ofscIVDLJaTRbKwnx-AeeZoSQ32Q5uOeUlama7LIvhMhfpIpGlcxmuR6DViXRll89033SlKuUNPAH-Rp4bVXMP_s7_YwXib9m_w_ry_yak/s640/DSCN6999.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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I was a bit perplexed about what colour to print next, but decided that I wanted to add the green of the distant hills. So I mixed a lightish green and masked off the area around it, as I will be wanting to print another colour here later and so can't cut away any lino there yet. I made the mask quickly by tearing some paper to the shape I wanted. The torn edge suits my way of working as it won't give a hard edge to the colour once it is applied and will look more organic and painterly.</div>
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Then I chipped away the hills and went through the same process again to apply a darker green for shrubs.</div>
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Now I want to give some definition to the beach area, the repeated crescents of the seaweed in the foreground. But I can't print the reddish colour of the seaweed yet, because I still need to add some kind of subtle definition to the pebbles and the distant hills. I have made the pebbles way darker than I had intended. I really saw this print initially as something much simpler than it is turning out to be. I sort of planned for there to be a light expanse of shingle then the contrasting deep red of the seaweed. And only about 3 layers altogether. </div>
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But I'm learning that with printmaking, even on the domestic scale I am practising, you can't really plan anything and rigidly stick to it. To succeed you have to be flexible with what the print will allow you do to do. The process is boss.</div>
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So I added a blue thinned out with a generous amount of extender, because I didn't want the blue to be too in your face. And I wanted the blue to draw the whole composition together, from far distant hills to the pebbles which you are just about to step onto. </div>
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NEXT STEPS: Hopefully I will finish this little print tomorrow. I plan to chip out the remaining pebbles leaving just the shapes of receding seaweed. Then I'll mix up a rusty orange/red colour and roll it over the lino plate and pull my 16 prints.</div>
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Then I'll chip out a few more spots in the red seaweed area to add texture to the seaweed and then mix up a darker red colour and print this over my 16 prints.</div>
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I'm toying with the idea of chipping out a few more pebbly parts at the very bottom of the print and printing this with a very dark red/black to transform the bottom of the print into foreground. But I'm not sure if I will do this yet, or if this will just be overkill.</div>
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Although it's been a gloomy day it was muggy and humid this evening. I like sitting outside at the end of the day. I water my plants and deny the snails their feast by peeling them off the sunflowers and rolling them under the gates at the top of our garden. I know it's futile, but it gives me a feeling of control, false though it is.</div>
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I'm sure I saw bats this evening. I have seen them before, 3 years ago, zipping around the top of our Poplar tree at dusk. Then a few weeks ago and now this evening, just for about 10 minutes or so, this crazy little creature flying frenetically about, whirling in the air in circles of varying circumference, disappearing into the dark of the poplar, pointed crescent wings fluttering as it flew. Its frantic movements in the air reminded me of the way a butterfly moves, not like a bird at all. The dimming sky behind it, the darkness of the garden with the solar lights glimmering below. I think it was a bat, I'm not certain though. But if it was, to think, bats in the heart of the Black Country. What a wonderful, unexpected thing.</div>
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<br />Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02165563358713093793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1937171798603584704.post-46105424708814259842017-08-15T20:41:00.000+01:002017-08-15T20:43:05.911+01:00Bringing the cairn forward to finish<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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So I managed to fulfil yesterday's plan and chip out the contents of the foreground pebbles, as well as knocking a few holes and swirls into the brown of the seaweed. I then mixed a rusty red colour and rolled this in the middle area of the linoplate. I made a rough mask by tearing some copy paper and placing it over the shingle and the sea to protect it when I pulled the print.<br />
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As usual, I placed the plate in my home made cardboard registration device and protected the outer area of the print paper by placing a cardboard frame around the linoplate while rolling out the ink.<br />
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For added protection (because I am quite messy and accident prone - more of which later) I also put a paper frame around the inked up plate before laying the paper onto the plate prior to rubbing it with a spoon. I use a stainless steel dessert spoon. I tried a wooden spoon but didn't like the feel of it. I usually rub once all over with the dessert soon, then once again pressing hard with my fist, then once again, more gently, with the spoon.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc5X0WjeV_L2SUz539TSrywrXfgdaJn28vGM5-a9nSaVaIP5-wa-hrZL0VIDA1HVcs1baJifPbJ2cS6oWbYlIBxCCDTsGWfXLVlAT_3uFkgXy_-LZO3EU2N1v4MWWyVJHjiw56ojBWb24/s1600/DSCN6931.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc5X0WjeV_L2SUz539TSrywrXfgdaJn28vGM5-a9nSaVaIP5-wa-hrZL0VIDA1HVcs1baJifPbJ2cS6oWbYlIBxCCDTsGWfXLVlAT_3uFkgXy_-LZO3EU2N1v4MWWyVJHjiw56ojBWb24/s640/DSCN6931.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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I left this to dry and dealt with a few other tasks for the day, like painting the fence so that one of our dormant sunflowers can at least bloom a sun shadow onto it...</div>
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By which time our resident fat pigeon had feasted on a handful of birdseed, the gnats were swirling in the early evening sunshine, and the ink had dried on my print.</div>
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For the final application of paint I decided that I didn't want to cut any more of the plate, as it was already quite flimsy, the hessian was showing through in places (too heavy handed, that's my problem). Instead I made a mask from copier paper and laid this over the area of the plate I didn't want to print. I made a couple of these as by the time I had printed 5 of my 10 prints the paper was quite soggy with paint. I added some crimson to the black and finished off my print.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0IiqAHZFyaezlDGmnFVAmoRqxH2x_lu-PJNZGrOpVqqNWxkWvJaaW1gYpeTFVCsXIRH0TJDEAwm8-U5SdYK2Hnnui_IFp3ViMlDh1Sfue8zqUOvtSezr_83hSanIs-L-dYI-4oSY36cY/s1600/DSCN6933.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0IiqAHZFyaezlDGmnFVAmoRqxH2x_lu-PJNZGrOpVqqNWxkWvJaaW1gYpeTFVCsXIRH0TJDEAwm8-U5SdYK2Hnnui_IFp3ViMlDh1Sfue8zqUOvtSezr_83hSanIs-L-dYI-4oSY36cY/s640/DSCN6933.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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I'm quite pleased with the results, though I think that perhaps the seaweed area could be subtler. Still, I had only 2 disasters - 1. I trod on one of the prints while it was drying on the floor (a bit of spoon pressing and you can barely see the impression made by the ridged sole of my slipper) and 2. (more annoying) as I was taking a photograph to post here I dropped the camera. Bouncing off the print it left 2 dimples in the white area around the image. Arrgghhh! </div>
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Years ago someone suggested that I have <a href="http://dyspraxiafoundation.org.uk/about-dyspraxia/" target="_blank">Dyspraxia</a>, as I have always been clumsy. As a child I was forever tripping over. I was terrible at anything that required co-ordination, especially hand and ball or one leg before the other.</div>
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But to tell the truth, it might be that I am really just a thoroughly clumsy so and so!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd4sZLXw3vzl5o86VkESqa39ECWak5y_8i2e0z-csv2RKw9MOAdHFLfwsoB7CxGTBOnEsSV8pNLdUD1GjlbBz8-7zRsBcETf0UV0fN9vpsapazmmvIbjdPwGpvu93TPIQougHp5ZOr1c0/s1600/DSCN6942.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1218" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd4sZLXw3vzl5o86VkESqa39ECWak5y_8i2e0z-csv2RKw9MOAdHFLfwsoB7CxGTBOnEsSV8pNLdUD1GjlbBz8-7zRsBcETf0UV0fN9vpsapazmmvIbjdPwGpvu93TPIQougHp5ZOr1c0/s640/DSCN6942.JPG" width="486" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47;">Quote of the day</span></h3>
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<b>'Words are more real when they are in books.' </b> </div>
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<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lewis-Stempel" target="_blank">John Lewis-Stempel</a></div>
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The Running Hare - The Secret Life of Farmland</div>
<br />Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02165563358713093793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1937171798603584704.post-56492135709232558252017-08-14T21:19:00.001+01:002017-08-14T21:19:32.950+01:00As long as the day is shortIt has seemed as if there were just not enough hours in today. Half past eight in the evening and it's dark already, the curtains closed, the light in the cupboard where I sit with my computer spotlighting the keyboard. It feels more like late October than mid August.<br />
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Outside the wind is dashing the sunflowers (which still have not opened, only one, a red velvet bloom). <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIttkWfCeu_yY9pK46ugt8FzieSEkPsg7GBGbUnM0WQMla5GaJmhKyPdWgmg0jxe_Eip1TuSsECG4nhc17xKdjDFYXhp9oN77reEt9iMhpwZN8HmQi5IgFzOn53nsuEJh3w6c8oEQKEss/s1600/IMG_3703.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIttkWfCeu_yY9pK46ugt8FzieSEkPsg7GBGbUnM0WQMla5GaJmhKyPdWgmg0jxe_Eip1TuSsECG4nhc17xKdjDFYXhp9oN77reEt9iMhpwZN8HmQi5IgFzOn53nsuEJh3w6c8oEQKEss/s400/IMG_3703.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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I had to make a split for its neighbour this evening as it had broken three quarters of the way up its 10 foot or so height. We have squirrels in the garden, and I fear they may be the culprits.<br />
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Last year the sunflowers, which I have grown from seed annually for about the last 8 years, bloomed late, in early September, when I was on holiday. I came home to a row of headless corpses. Mum had watched from the kitchen window as the squirrel swung from the stem of each flower until it detached the bloom and ran away with its prize, presumably to gobble it up in the obscurity of next door's gargantuan fir tree.<br />
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Three years ago I spent much of the summer drawing the sunflowers which grew big and strong. In those days, as I remember, the squirrels were nowhere to be seen.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuiQXSYnlakEjtKAHQCOcdvT_fcAmFmRme5x5KFHsX2lLCRn3GjAQ7ri3s2jHgbTzEJRh4qPgK5MN6sd9BwtHLZu-bRe2HgVjtfLhDtC-H95adktVpdItcVj-V_qT_0p4Rt86hVFJyIfs/s1600/sf1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuiQXSYnlakEjtKAHQCOcdvT_fcAmFmRme5x5KFHsX2lLCRn3GjAQ7ri3s2jHgbTzEJRh4qPgK5MN6sd9BwtHLZu-bRe2HgVjtfLhDtC-H95adktVpdItcVj-V_qT_0p4Rt86hVFJyIfs/s640/sf1.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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Today's progress began with finishing cutting the lino plate with more detail in the foreground pebbles and the retreating seaweed and to lighten the distant hills, to attempt to give the impression of distance between the cairn in the foreground and the further distance of the pebble beach.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw2jkYiiPjNChTdbnKkpFBsUL2vzNqTMj_VnFTEyERYU7-Qo2Kj_mqjtO3x6fr8P_52x-REye3eaPl4E6yY74t-QQEj0ZsNja-taaJkhIW9DME7uVupbtBysx82eK2C42_hvfw75pIXaI/s1600/DSCN6916.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1214" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw2jkYiiPjNChTdbnKkpFBsUL2vzNqTMj_VnFTEyERYU7-Qo2Kj_mqjtO3x6fr8P_52x-REye3eaPl4E6yY74t-QQEj0ZsNja-taaJkhIW9DME7uVupbtBysx82eK2C42_hvfw75pIXaI/s640/DSCN6916.JPG" width="483" /></a></div>
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I chose to print this in a dark brown, in my attempt to fulfil the brief I set myself last week of creating a composition which is enclosed in darker lines. Although to be honest, the design is running away with me somewhat and I'm in danger of not fulfilling my own brief.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBkYNyFXCHHiInJ1Hha58pxw8nn9-bu03_7V_9fBwyRLvxU9UpbD5Cie2VDqEO7CnevtU6-5jVrfDUvXWC1gmlvt3fOCBbUFO4FUwY4mMkA3AShos_pisUBr0bdvWebR93A2SDvM0ilvA/s1600/DSCN6919.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBkYNyFXCHHiInJ1Hha58pxw8nn9-bu03_7V_9fBwyRLvxU9UpbD5Cie2VDqEO7CnevtU6-5jVrfDUvXWC1gmlvt3fOCBbUFO4FUwY4mMkA3AShos_pisUBr0bdvWebR93A2SDvM0ilvA/s640/DSCN6919.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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Next I turned my attention to the far distance. I chipped away at the hills as I did not want to alter what I had printed there, and chipped a little detail into the green areas in front of the mountains. I printed a muted light green which I mixed from a variety of colours, including some magenta, to knock the greeness off the green. I didn't want it to scream out from the distance of my print.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjasUEaA93mw5jSexrc6vUlsIjqUF5r1xrKISAtuDRpwDUWkOMaBaMcFOTOwBEX5w_bz9-UjeRJAMUCexr8tSwfbINOz0KU20rT1B3_OHawPh6youG2EtkCGBKd0nNA8rpyJ8POpx8x5-s/s1600/DSCN6918.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjasUEaA93mw5jSexrc6vUlsIjqUF5r1xrKISAtuDRpwDUWkOMaBaMcFOTOwBEX5w_bz9-UjeRJAMUCexr8tSwfbINOz0KU20rT1B3_OHawPh6youG2EtkCGBKd0nNA8rpyJ8POpx8x5-s/s400/DSCN6918.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Finally for today I chipped more of the green areas and wiped all of the top area of the beach out, except for the little tufts of green seaweed, then printed again a darker green to add foliage to the distance. I used a piece of torn paper to mask the top part of the sea, as I didn't want any green in that area.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3J3AlH9hy3TypxyE9BSMQS-ONi8igbsTbiEtXTn7aPj0kZA9fvr_KMyQonDw-pIxK-tM7GmZCTe9npkcnulxHQmlEakOqWmm6kbwLb0b_qn-l16nsskaWxsosULFXP5fxsyQ7UJjC9Q8/s1600/DSCN6921.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3J3AlH9hy3TypxyE9BSMQS-ONi8igbsTbiEtXTn7aPj0kZA9fvr_KMyQonDw-pIxK-tM7GmZCTe9npkcnulxHQmlEakOqWmm6kbwLb0b_qn-l16nsskaWxsosULFXP5fxsyQ7UJjC9Q8/s640/DSCN6921.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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The task for tomorrow is to cut out all the pattern lines in the pebbles and to clean away everything surrounding the streaks of seaweed in the distance. I'll cut a few pebble and swirly seaweed shapes into the large darker areas, then I plan to print a rusty red/brown over everything that's left. Then I plan to cut away everything leaving just the bare bones of the cairn and surrounding pebbles in the foreground. I will print this black, or black with a hint of something or other, to bring the cairn out of the picture plane. </div>
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At least this is the plan.Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02165563358713093793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1937171798603584704.post-19601514113968923332017-08-10T22:21:00.000+01:002017-08-10T22:23:42.091+01:00A browner shade of grey<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Managed to do a little more work on my Cairn on Scottish Beach linocut today. After printing the <a href="http://perfectible-spark.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/cairn-on-scottish-beach.html" target="_blank">initial buff coloured layer</a> of the print on Tuesday I began chipping away into the detail of the design.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-QsoEHFCf-H9ZnQW8QKUwEf8Yy8rGskzqpNsgP8nlZ7Gy82Qud2bh37unUJttYFAfYDHRXBbcUGRf1Er29VsrL4lKP42szIT2Gb9cIxqal5lv0RqjNPDJGVU7YvYpEmDB-VYtDjvw9lo/s1600/DSCN6911.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-QsoEHFCf-H9ZnQW8QKUwEf8Yy8rGskzqpNsgP8nlZ7Gy82Qud2bh37unUJttYFAfYDHRXBbcUGRf1Er29VsrL4lKP42szIT2Gb9cIxqal5lv0RqjNPDJGVU7YvYpEmDB-VYtDjvw9lo/s320/DSCN6911.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Working from the 2 photographs I am using as the base for my composition.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeCy-xJgh0rStwrE51ZnQc8qu2dU59jQWkV9aQVCNhTb261vrCdEsd-boYvCq10FnCM0pk-qxIsE4zDxX4IrCzl93pS6TX3GgIB-uMxGMbGvg4m4scGkJp6Ez1wrQBwfHEIRLpL08GpVw/s1600/DSCN6909.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeCy-xJgh0rStwrE51ZnQc8qu2dU59jQWkV9aQVCNhTb261vrCdEsd-boYvCq10FnCM0pk-qxIsE4zDxX4IrCzl93pS6TX3GgIB-uMxGMbGvg4m4scGkJp6Ez1wrQBwfHEIRLpL08GpVw/s320/DSCN6909.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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This evening I printed the second layer of colour of my 10 prints. </div>
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I mixed up a slightly browner version of the grey I used for the initial layer of colour. </div>
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I had to mix up 2 lots of colour as the <a href="https://www.cassart.co.uk/craft/printing/block_print/schmincke_aqua_linoldruck_35ml.htm" target="_blank">water based pigment I use</a> dries out very quickly. I added some <a href="https://www.jacksonsart.com/schmincke-linoprint-medium-35ml-extender-was-glaze" target="_blank">extender</a> to try to make the pigment retain it's sticky yet liquid consistency, otherwise after rubbing with a spoon, my hand, and the spoon again, all I get is a pale freckly misty image. Which can be quite nice and impressionistic, but in this case it's not really what I want. I want to be able to see the pigment on the page. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQg4HyUG9kSctcgYyZdKAvT2FjykDykBmQNG0Ux7kAtRywJ5_jPNHU9BE0_KIhbV5IU3U-3pxORU1aWWhyphenhyphenbDiucz7PE9DSF3jDnhdAfqiyksSv8_p47a3_zrekm7kfKPg163TXJvkJto4/s1600/DSCN6914.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQg4HyUG9kSctcgYyZdKAvT2FjykDykBmQNG0Ux7kAtRywJ5_jPNHU9BE0_KIhbV5IU3U-3pxORU1aWWhyphenhyphenbDiucz7PE9DSF3jDnhdAfqiyksSv8_p47a3_zrekm7kfKPg163TXJvkJto4/s400/DSCN6914.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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Tomorrow I'm hoping to begin cutting the lino again. I'm not really decided which colour to add yet though, I know I want some very muted green in the distance, but I also want to define the strong rust brown of the seaweed crescents on the pebble beach. Hopefully I will be feeling more decisive tomorrow.</div>
<br />Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02165563358713093793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1937171798603584704.post-53324608215031481242017-08-08T20:36:00.001+01:002017-08-08T20:36:26.739+01:00Cairn on Scottish BeachSo I set myself a task for today to create a new linocut that uses line around the coloured areas, or at least that a dark outline would play a key part in the composition.<br />
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Maybe I selected the wrong subject for my composition last night, but anyway, it took me a long time to get started this morning, maybe it was the rain today and that it felt more like late October than flaming August, but I found a whole lot of things to faff about with this morning, including going through my box of maps and booklets from past travels...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4P9H8PZTqa0Q6sz8M8WIF19EdIAwhtBdAnYxtPnrGvVMZC7Aj7HI1lb2nqYXJuYZy7VkMpcG7jZUR4ZlWN_vI1D1LHC_PSwkyMZTcQdvpm2eXb50WNGuGrAy7I8cl81CG0EJEQGPrPaU/s1600/DSCN6893.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4P9H8PZTqa0Q6sz8M8WIF19EdIAwhtBdAnYxtPnrGvVMZC7Aj7HI1lb2nqYXJuYZy7VkMpcG7jZUR4ZlWN_vI1D1LHC_PSwkyMZTcQdvpm2eXb50WNGuGrAy7I8cl81CG0EJEQGPrPaU/s320/DSCN6893.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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...which left me feeling oddly bereft and wanting to escape my life. <br />
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Well I had to do the next best thing and escape into a picture. A little time travel back 3 years to a holiday to <a href="http://www.ullapool.com/" target="_blank">Ullapool</a> and a lovely pebble beach which we always seemed to stop at on our way back from our daily travels. It was always just before dusk and the beach was always deserted. At least in my memory it was. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQwCoVhV-riNuKNSgkxKS73HRjKzk3LO-RtqAMKNwSwtoxj4NFnTD88QhHnDLvs8-logGBgPHoeEKcuPN2BIhIjqhPKVSuRu3hU8KsC0ZBGljDA6z_9JBbiXsxUo7vMCBIfCSr4x3wUUM/s1600/DSCN6896.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQwCoVhV-riNuKNSgkxKS73HRjKzk3LO-RtqAMKNwSwtoxj4NFnTD88QhHnDLvs8-logGBgPHoeEKcuPN2BIhIjqhPKVSuRu3hU8KsC0ZBGljDA6z_9JBbiXsxUo7vMCBIfCSr4x3wUUM/s320/DSCN6896.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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I had never seen a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cairn" target="_blank">cairn</a> before travelling to Scotland. I remember seeing hundreds of them beside the road travelling up from <a href="https://www.visitfortwilliam.co.uk/" target="_blank">Fort William</a> to Ullapool on our first visit there in 2009. We stopped in a parking area and joined the Japanese tourists marvelling at these strange otherworldly structures.</div>
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Since then I've got a little more used to finding them in far flung places. We've built tiny ones of our own, but they were mere squibs compared to some of the fantastic Gothic heights others have achieved. The cairn in the photograph was one of these 'found sculptures' long dismantled by the elements I now imagine. And all the more poignant for that fact.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjU__ZfoJAPoDN4H14LSsWurXGl28s1Y_FPgBwuRtKvf8c9UmzPmRF62t_2XlkKiudHo2rpCbDIR_Df58s9pzPAxrinvXoh5nBQVa90EFHksO7m8soBbvtVvyJkaOoT7Sxszms59hnA3A/s1600/DSCN6897.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjU__ZfoJAPoDN4H14LSsWurXGl28s1Y_FPgBwuRtKvf8c9UmzPmRF62t_2XlkKiudHo2rpCbDIR_Df58s9pzPAxrinvXoh5nBQVa90EFHksO7m8soBbvtVvyJkaOoT7Sxszms59hnA3A/s320/DSCN6897.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Anyway I eventually managed to quit my faffing about and sketch my composition then trace it ready to transfer to the grey lino block.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-z5TZ8qI0MdktikX8gc22zF_hVtyU9tQnOVmSF0PG6glPMUlQB2Yv6-p0rWURJH5AlPT-eesDvWnzuLkBmh6cZY0O3hYI3lsk7uLCFNPVqScX13-_9-42V2BsppCE-irh8nZb0hKkTRI/s1600/DSCN6899.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-z5TZ8qI0MdktikX8gc22zF_hVtyU9tQnOVmSF0PG6glPMUlQB2Yv6-p0rWURJH5AlPT-eesDvWnzuLkBmh6cZY0O3hYI3lsk7uLCFNPVqScX13-_9-42V2BsppCE-irh8nZb0hKkTRI/s320/DSCN6899.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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I usually keep my initial drawing very basic as I want to make my real drawing when carving the lino block. Otherwise I feel that I am just copying my own drawing and this kills any spontaneity in the process. I did draw a little on the block to clarify my design, and made a few notes as to how I wanted to start carving.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl4kw-0Pak7uEG3jjCdO29pyxqqAv-q4vJgkO5g-K_lflS_-t981SzsX-F7HO7qHlKuXzpnRtftvHufueWh0O8BTAjLoMpWIc1fsWPlNMQUsUzOu2-rDhOupeGz6cs_McovWh6B56-3f4/s1600/DSCN6902.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1231" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl4kw-0Pak7uEG3jjCdO29pyxqqAv-q4vJgkO5g-K_lflS_-t981SzsX-F7HO7qHlKuXzpnRtftvHufueWh0O8BTAjLoMpWIc1fsWPlNMQUsUzOu2-rDhOupeGz6cs_McovWh6B56-3f4/s320/DSCN6902.JPG" width="246" /></a></div>
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So I started carving, and eventually, pulled 10 initial prints from my block.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdGuRBJgZc4OBGIXnVOgW7tT-45uTwozhnmAqMTNgw47a5IDvnNVe7HI9INJSiH5iVnjnp2aWIn-s_sjjO6pZdBr18jTC6yKxZ8EKBQFpfcLJnZypsp0XgyCRu_JUpKoB4Dw9Fg3TIdBo/s1600/DSCN6901.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdGuRBJgZc4OBGIXnVOgW7tT-45uTwozhnmAqMTNgw47a5IDvnNVe7HI9INJSiH5iVnjnp2aWIn-s_sjjO6pZdBr18jTC6yKxZ8EKBQFpfcLJnZypsp0XgyCRu_JUpKoB4Dw9Fg3TIdBo/s320/DSCN6901.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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And now it begins to occur to me that making an outline a major part of this design might be more difficult that I had thought.Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02165563358713093793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1937171798603584704.post-9026054202988564662017-08-07T18:36:00.002+01:002017-08-07T18:36:47.246+01:00Flamborough Old Lighthouse<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I've taken photographs of lighthouses when on holiday for years now. I'm always drawn to a <a href="http://lighthousemuseum.org.uk/" target="_blank">lighthouse</a>, for many reasons. I used to have a romantic idea that a lighthouse keeper would be my dream job, it's an ivory tower with a purpose, and the view from the top is <a href="http://jamesrussellontheweb.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/ravilious-in-pictures-travelling-artist.html" target="_blank">usually glorious</a>.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxkpq5rgGJNcNKcQ3rDk5xbtNB4cYU4seHL3sSxpED3UWtSp5Aiguft6luKxd0omxAl_XrjUc-EnyGj9HUVIBbnjYAgkvHRr44mLbz7zBGLBuPbWAMCcGzmxYUoiOHeKrZWvK7yCH5hVI/s1600/DSCN6871.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxkpq5rgGJNcNKcQ3rDk5xbtNB4cYU4seHL3sSxpED3UWtSp5Aiguft6luKxd0omxAl_XrjUc-EnyGj9HUVIBbnjYAgkvHRr44mLbz7zBGLBuPbWAMCcGzmxYUoiOHeKrZWvK7yCH5hVI/s320/DSCN6871.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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I started making art based on my digital library of photographs the year before last, when I began selling <a href="http://www.ebay.co.uk/gds/So-whats-an-ACEO-For-the-art-collector-in-all-of-us-/10000000002346954/g.html" target="_blank">ACEO</a>s on <a href="http://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/itsypics" target="_blank">Ebay</a>. Old Flamborough Lighthouse was one of my subjects and I sold a couple of these pocket sized artworks on-line. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIYUkrwiOt7OLg9Ik6pZ2E2cvEVD8WqgiM4l8ap29gDRhvmYBhyAGZXoLtyfASIN_xADtc_BhzHJj1CjZWOwgmXcDKwiGFSpH3XuQjqK2FR6hV-IYa8W19nbaSqi-F8BPT8bgpuaxyJZk/s1600/Flamborough+Old+Lighthouse+26.1.15+colour+pencil.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1140" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIYUkrwiOt7OLg9Ik6pZ2E2cvEVD8WqgiM4l8ap29gDRhvmYBhyAGZXoLtyfASIN_xADtc_BhzHJj1CjZWOwgmXcDKwiGFSpH3XuQjqK2FR6hV-IYa8W19nbaSqi-F8BPT8bgpuaxyJZk/s320/Flamborough+Old+Lighthouse+26.1.15+colour+pencil.jpg" width="227" /></a></div>
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This started a bit of a series for me, and one I have revised since starting to explore creating linocuts.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvMi4sUSm1Z5yc3Xf3cx26A6SFjv1nV86VzBBTXNvi-9tE2q98ySiDurn3h0_IRdvZT57AnBzjpBXTaLiTer4Vo0bR7FhZEmJPcVpw5cUxgpTLSP4rk1zqtlMiuylNVXHBpA7KgYL_0NQ/s1600/DSCN6874.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvMi4sUSm1Z5yc3Xf3cx26A6SFjv1nV86VzBBTXNvi-9tE2q98ySiDurn3h0_IRdvZT57AnBzjpBXTaLiTer4Vo0bR7FhZEmJPcVpw5cUxgpTLSP4rk1zqtlMiuylNVXHBpA7KgYL_0NQ/s320/DSCN6874.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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My new reduction linocut based on photographs I took back in 2003 of<a href="http://www.britainexpress.com/attractions.htm?attraction=4593" target="_blank"> Old Flamborough Lighthouse</a> has taken me roughly 3 days to complete. That isn't 3 days continuous work, but on/off over the 3 days.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXmDuKvCV1kfGFg_8kyW86yMUbW7a7CK4daPWrkHsdPyPrXby8S3EZUpa81xJi2W7W5sDfgjWh0czF8DxnYBRWO27gjwlj-eCRVGidCJcIsKcEhX9WhNf0g4cXaZrmjgnH6SfPLycuWww/s1600/DSCN6876.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXmDuKvCV1kfGFg_8kyW86yMUbW7a7CK4daPWrkHsdPyPrXby8S3EZUpa81xJi2W7W5sDfgjWh0czF8DxnYBRWO27gjwlj-eCRVGidCJcIsKcEhX9WhNf0g4cXaZrmjgnH6SfPLycuWww/s320/DSCN6876.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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I am already thinking about my next linocut. I would like to produce something that resembles a pen drawing with washes of colour behind the line. So a black (or almost black) line around the colour areas will be a key part of my new design. Hopefully I'll start this tomorrow.Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02165563358713093793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1937171798603584704.post-91042161273765362642017-08-01T14:07:00.001+01:002017-08-01T14:07:45.093+01:00Meadowhead FinishedAfter a short break I finished Meadowhead this morning.<br />
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A couple of days ago I mixed up a dark reddish colour and rolled this over the bottom half of the lino plate. I wiped some of the pigment away from the miner's coat area as I didn't want it to disappear entirely into the darkness. This gave a more gentle feeling of something disappearing into shadow rather than a harsh linear delineation of the coat, which I didn't want.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz7SSfeT6wfmyGPu7iq1ivV9WhqtDKLE72Ny012FIIJcgx2yrCZIn_ZveQzyPSXm7fpj95gR-oGhW0YEsoKrpG72D5DWYqxrjuLz-hfAL_9D4FVJTe4e5TSTRCpFYcEqnUb_XcXglh9y0/s1600/DSCN6839.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz7SSfeT6wfmyGPu7iq1ivV9WhqtDKLE72Ny012FIIJcgx2yrCZIn_ZveQzyPSXm7fpj95gR-oGhW0YEsoKrpG72D5DWYqxrjuLz-hfAL_9D4FVJTe4e5TSTRCpFYcEqnUb_XcXglh9y0/s320/DSCN6839.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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This morning I dabbed a little blue on the plate over the edges of the butterfly wings and then printed from this. I used a small paintbrush to apply the ink to the plate.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzDM-fmVPKWrN6-izR5b2yxxUB-815aiItA9x-qSX0D0YOXxIukqZFk2bwqsapcP4r-FFy5huLXk-S7f6Itfb9EyMHGWM5TR_BCXcof526PuYjiITVXMZCoypLJE6vniZqV2xAGbLXrQ8/s1600/DSCN6843.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzDM-fmVPKWrN6-izR5b2yxxUB-815aiItA9x-qSX0D0YOXxIukqZFk2bwqsapcP4r-FFy5huLXk-S7f6Itfb9EyMHGWM5TR_BCXcof526PuYjiITVXMZCoypLJE6vniZqV2xAGbLXrQ8/s320/DSCN6843.JPG" width="204" /></a></div>
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Then I cut away some of the miner's coat and cut into the roots and the darkness around him to give a feeling of depth and layering then brushed over a blue with extender added to it in the area around the miner's head and the remaining defining lines of his jacket. I used a small square brush to apply blue onto the plate then printed from this. I really didn't want to get any blue on the upper meadow area of the print as I wanted the contrast to be as great as possible between subterranean darkness and brilliant sunny summer meadow.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin8fr03A1IwZPX7Sm1Qb-gjarvE43hnRG3kHId8V8tUy1Z87M2JBV4-Baz9LER19CLa8DumH6cZW3m_S-txxl7R6Timq-fRT0pS-a6PJW1_4r5Ef5E3r6wCBCw4b309Qn2aF1_EC5qidk/s1600/DSCN6849.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin8fr03A1IwZPX7Sm1Qb-gjarvE43hnRG3kHId8V8tUy1Z87M2JBV4-Baz9LER19CLa8DumH6cZW3m_S-txxl7R6Timq-fRT0pS-a6PJW1_4r5Ef5E3r6wCBCw4b309Qn2aF1_EC5qidk/s320/DSCN6849.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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The finished print, 'Meadowhead'.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivmecygfaXrhG6M4V_QzQ2mwgHs8kAlj_7psTr-7A4AzdchmFt_ZlzbHtxg6O3e_4ekx3HZ-RbePFC5ESgJ15dz6g4isXSw16dcdoA-z9z4PH6xntysknVBNmo_weecNCgqakUGFbUlEo/s1600/DSCN6847.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivmecygfaXrhG6M4V_QzQ2mwgHs8kAlj_7psTr-7A4AzdchmFt_ZlzbHtxg6O3e_4ekx3HZ-RbePFC5ESgJ15dz6g4isXSw16dcdoA-z9z4PH6xntysknVBNmo_weecNCgqakUGFbUlEo/s320/DSCN6847.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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I had quite a bit of the blue left when I had finished, so I added a little red and white to produce a kind of subtle grey. I printed 2 prints from what remained of my linoplate from this. Cut into it a little more to leave just the most basic of lines, and rollered a darker version of this pale grey pigment over the bottom half of the plate to produce this monochrome image.<br />
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When it is dry I will do 'something' else to it, not sure what yet, to give it some kind of completion. I think it will make a nice complementary pair to my main edition of 10 prints of the miner emerging into, or thinking about, his wildflower meadow.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDVik4UDTIUVD0MD_r4JU7I-EfZRnIHHVe_T7MieMDChFwRtlM6tsnpZ8isTahO7DISDfqSSOwSgqj02IL_FS6-whAFaPGx99mNXbOdoVr69U0_2ZLGew3JsshaqqGNaH-4IFbq2gf3OY/s1600/DSCN6865.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1131" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDVik4UDTIUVD0MD_r4JU7I-EfZRnIHHVe_T7MieMDChFwRtlM6tsnpZ8isTahO7DISDfqSSOwSgqj02IL_FS6-whAFaPGx99mNXbOdoVr69U0_2ZLGew3JsshaqqGNaH-4IFbq2gf3OY/s320/DSCN6865.JPG" width="226" /></a></div>
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<br />Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02165563358713093793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1937171798603584704.post-5653157788364175462017-07-28T15:53:00.000+01:002017-07-28T15:53:08.235+01:00Meadowhead Printing Day 3I've made considerable progress on Meadowhead today.<br />
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Here are some of the stages my print has gone through...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiYs9BQpQJ-Ktl26GyC8rbQkuvs_RF1LfghyZsA4k1DEo9GR4KzdBB72wNCkkNNsFKSoDTQrxdWaVmZ8c1H4-InA22wxAIrZW-cDSP5D-ol75NAWlz1dAviEU4-uNj0BBUqrucSVnuEmY/s1600/DSCN6816.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiYs9BQpQJ-Ktl26GyC8rbQkuvs_RF1LfghyZsA4k1DEo9GR4KzdBB72wNCkkNNsFKSoDTQrxdWaVmZ8c1H4-InA22wxAIrZW-cDSP5D-ol75NAWlz1dAviEU4-uNj0BBUqrucSVnuEmY/s320/DSCN6816.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Printed red, which immediately added drama to the composition. I want there to be a feeling of blood in the dark earth, blood of the earth and of the life within it.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif6k9TlXmrDJiiV9AZfTNngD37PLPUTpoSIduuQsX-167ahqn5taEweOI7L8REN4-u6QT_bw9ER6kOWszi_2bgVGREENQglACO9VGqk6RvaoUJyLB2DRk6G07WWivjtVkQeWOIH9MbF8c/s1600/DSCN6819.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif6k9TlXmrDJiiV9AZfTNngD37PLPUTpoSIduuQsX-167ahqn5taEweOI7L8REN4-u6QT_bw9ER6kOWszi_2bgVGREENQglACO9VGqk6RvaoUJyLB2DRk6G07WWivjtVkQeWOIH9MbF8c/s320/DSCN6819.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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The life force within the earth and the lives of those who go down inside it to mine what what has died and become precious within it, be that 'black diamond' or other substances mankind mines for profit.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvlpMpm1xF5huSNQbDOq0s7gxGtechluqN_zQ4aXv4f1gjcPgKxFAk-zEJ_NA8unEfwEqZPMoowD-hZIaIjj_GBw8Bw6jsXwiXqQ1ULreFPIOvxCJVtBn-QYfTqOa4f9ExRrhR2-Ch748/s1600/DSCN6823.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvlpMpm1xF5huSNQbDOq0s7gxGtechluqN_zQ4aXv4f1gjcPgKxFAk-zEJ_NA8unEfwEqZPMoowD-hZIaIjj_GBw8Bw6jsXwiXqQ1ULreFPIOvxCJVtBn-QYfTqOa4f9ExRrhR2-Ch748/s320/DSCN6823.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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To lighten the butterfly (I've modelled it very loosely on a Red Admiral, because I've been visited by a particularly frenetic one in my back garden these past 2 weeks) and to put a little more vibrant sunshine into the meadow, I printed an opaque yellow in areas of the top half of the print - I applied the ink to the plate using a brush because a roller would not give me the definition I required.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHtgfSTh1LO1YL5IXVXxcxS4QPLdCTHASJpQCxSbT-psibXGCHBUTclsU5xKCtgyjZvZfvK4BTO-HZViJOHrlEzPnOxcFSfzw54FoV5JBx_EQcLE8LjxlpFmb10a0DhuclwwtbteQh3g8/s1600/DSCN6824.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHtgfSTh1LO1YL5IXVXxcxS4QPLdCTHASJpQCxSbT-psibXGCHBUTclsU5xKCtgyjZvZfvK4BTO-HZViJOHrlEzPnOxcFSfzw54FoV5JBx_EQcLE8LjxlpFmb10a0DhuclwwtbteQh3g8/s320/DSCN6824.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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A more dramatic addition is the green I added both in the grasses above and down into the subterranean darkness where plant roots reach for nutrition and where the miner toils at his work.</div>
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Finally for today I have added a second darker red in the lower areas of the print, this gives more definition to the miner's features, also I have overprinted the lower green areas to darken the green/soil areas and to start pushing back a background area around the miner's face.</div>
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That's probably going to be it for today. Partly because the paper is saturated with ink - although the <a href="https://www.cassart.co.uk/craft/printing/block_print/schmincke_aqua_linoldruck_35ml.htm" target="_blank">ink</a> that I use is fast drying, it is still sticky with the layers I've printed today. I'm also tired. To be honest, cutting and printing repeatedly takes its toll on me, both physically and mentally. I know that sounds wimpy, but at this moment, although I really want to carry on with this print, in my head I've had enough of it!!! </div>
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Hopefully I'll be fresher in my head when the ink has dried on the paper. </div>
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Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02165563358713093793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1937171798603584704.post-50069904922701442062017-07-27T22:06:00.000+01:002017-07-27T22:06:07.715+01:00Lilac and WhiteI've made a little more progress on Meadowhead today. <br />
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I added lilac to the flower heads and continued this colour down over the miner's eyes as I want to start building up a feeling of shadow and solidity in the lower half of the picture. It's going to be mainly red to black in the bottom half, but I thought a few lilac lines around the eyes and forehead might give it a transitional zone where the daylight is breaking through the subterranean gloom.<br />
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I like the way the eyes are appearing peering up from the gloom.<br />
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I carved a little more out of the plate intending to add the red next, and then I realised that I had missed one of the flowers which should have also been printed lilac. So I re-printed another shade of lilac and also, while I was at it, added a little white on the butterfly wings. I added the colour to the plate using 2 small paintbrushes, one for lilac and one for white. I marked the back of the print lightly with 2 pencil circles to show where I would have to rub to transfer the ink from the plate, and then printed...<br />
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I make a few notes when I create reduction linocut prints to organise my thoughts as to what order I need to cut and print each colour layer in. As this print is building in quite a complex way (I'm really printing in 2 halves: green and red/black, above and below ground) so my notes are a bit more involved. And (like train timetables) subject to changes...<br />
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Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02165563358713093793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1937171798603584704.post-62027259278491855792017-07-26T22:33:00.000+01:002017-07-26T22:33:24.315+01:00MeadowheadIt's been over a year since I posted last, and during that time I've worked on my pen and ink drawings, exhibited some, been awarded a <a href="http://rbsa.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/portrait-prize-2017/" target="_blank">Prize</a> and sold a few. I've been very fortunate there. <div>
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I continued producing ACEOs (small playing card sized works of art) to sell on Ebay. I sold these via auction quite regularly for a while and it was a good experience as it helped me find a professional way of selling my art, something that took courage on my part, and also something that I should have attempted to do many years ago. <div>
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Earlier this year, I don't know why, but I dug out some lino cutting materials I bought about 3 years ago from a shop that isn't there anymore (where have all the art shops gone? To that shop heaven called 'on-line'). I made a linocut of artist Frida Kahlo and, taking courage from my the selling experience gained from selling my ACEOs and other small scale artworks, I posted it pretty much immediately on <a href="http://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/itsypics?_trksid=p2047675.l2559" target="_blank">Ebay</a> as an auction. It didn't sell, but I found that far from finding it a wrist breaking frustrating exercise of crumbling lino and sliced off fingers I actually enjoyed the process of cutting lino. It reminded me in many ways of making a pen and ink drawing, of chiselling out an imagined space in 2D. I quickly realised that after years of working pretty much exclusively in black and white in my dip pen and ink work, I now had a chance to expand graphically into using colour, something that I had not managed to do previously, despite various attempts at using other materials alongside India or acrylic ink applied with dip pen. </div>
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I very quickly began using colour in my linocuts, firstly simply printing the linocut plate in a single colour, then by applying a second colour to the single linocut plate and printing twice, using a registration device I made myself from corrugated cardboard (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=linoprinting" target="_blank">Youtube</a> is a great resource for linocut advice). I made my first reduction linocut print of La Corbiere Lighthouse. I enjoyed the process, though it is quite tiring as I hand press my prints, as I don't own a press and have very limited space to work in. I have made several reduction linocut prints since then (March 2017) and am now embarking on my first imaginative linocut composition, which I am calling Meadowhead.</div>
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The plate I'm using is small 4 inches x 6 inches (the same size as my Corbiere print). I print small as I hand press using a dessert spoon and I'm not sure I have the energy to print much larger prints this way. Though no doubt I will try before long.</div>
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The inspiration for the Meadowhead composition comes partly from my heart, partly from the imaginative sparks that occur when I'm tired and drowsing in the sun (I saw the image of a coal miner emerging into a field of wildflowers in a half-waking moment) and partly it is the result of my reading recently, John Lewis-Stempels <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Meadowland-private-life-English-field/dp/0552778990" target="_blank">Meadowland</a> and thinking about my family history, my great grandfather died in a mining accident in the Black Country at the beginning of the 20th century. We are what we do for a living, and sometimes what we do for a living does for us.</div>
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I sourced photographic images, some from the Internet, others are my own digital photographs of wildflowers taken recently.</div>
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I made sketches using the photographic material, then refined this using tracing paper. Though I really don't want to over plan as part of the joy of a linocut is treating the cutting as a drawing process, and the ink application as a painting process. </div>
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First application of colour after initial cutting, a pale yellow with green tinge to the top 'meadow' half of the linocut print.</div>
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Second application of colour of pale green.</div>
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Third application of yellow mixed with a little extender to increase transparency of the ink.</div>
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Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02165563358713093793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1937171798603584704.post-13408256906774593722016-04-14T12:56:00.000+01:002016-04-14T12:56:51.231+01:00Space Dogs!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I'm feeling anxious about my new drawing, I'm not convinced that I've grasped the whole shape of the tree in the picture yet, and am certain that I've bitten off far more than I can chew at portraying the millions of tiny blossom and the gauze of twiglets veiling the tree as if the tree is dancing in a veil of twigs and branches.<br />
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But then again that was the very thing that attracted me to this subject.<br />
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Listening to something while I work helps me concentrate. Today I've been listening to <a href="http://www.evechase.com/" target="_blank">Black Rabbit Hall </a>as an Ebook from <a href="https://www.facebook.com/rbdigital.oneclickdigital" target="_blank">One Click Digital</a>. I've got a free subscription to this wonderful service (I think it's wonderful anyway) via my library membership of <a href="http://www.wolverhampton.gov.uk/libraries" target="_blank">Wolverhampton Libraries</a>. I believe that many library services are offering this service, another of the myriad reasons to support your local library service by joining up right now! </div>
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That little pencil drawing at the bottom corner is an experimental ACEO. I'd noticed that lots of people sell drawings inspired by celebrities or cult TV programmes, movies etc... and I had a quick go at starting one last night. It doesn't look much like the person it's supposed to be though. When I was a teenager I was good at catching a likeness but I seem to have lost the nack. <br />
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Last year a lady in Belgium bought my ACEO Walking The Dog In Space. She is connected with a dogs charity and asked me if I would mind if she produced a small number of stamps for personal use using my design. I said okay and today these came through the post. I think they look really nice and they've really brightened my day. I love the Belgian postage stamps as well!Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02165563358713093793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1937171798603584704.post-65297463558038994042016-04-11T11:43:00.001+01:002016-04-11T11:44:50.208+01:00Seeing the trees for the trees<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I have almost finished my grafitti wall drawing. I'm still not pleased with the rendering of the trees in the middle distance but happiest with the rooftops in the far distance. I've got a little more work to do on this and will work in smaller bursts over the next few days, hopefully finishing it by the end of the week.<br />
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I've started a new drawing. But I've not printed off my source material this time, I'm working directly from my photo on my tablet. This has pros and cons. One pro is that I can pinch into detail on the photo and indulge my obsessive delight in rendering an endless mess of detail into infinitum. One con is that I can pinch into detail on the photo and indulge in my obsessive delight in rendering an endless mess of detail into infinitum.<br />
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An article in <a href="http://www.artistsandillustrators.co.uk/" target="_blank">Arists & Illustrators</a> last year mentioned that one of the drawbacks of working from photo's is that it tempts you (perhaps hypnotises would say it better) into rendering more than you would attempt to do if you are sitting directly in front of the subject. This is true. Sat infront of this <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Severn" target="_blank">riverside tree</a> with all those tiny white buds just on the verge of bursting into life I would never have been so mesmerised by the detail into actually attempting to render it. It's easy to get sidetracked into copying rather than capturing what it is about a thing that drew you to render it in whatever medium.<br />
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Too much detail = too little magic. <br />
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I ordered some new nibs last week as my stock is running low (due to my habit of accidentally banging them into jars or dropping them when I'm tired). I ordered some of my favourite <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Gillott" target="_blank">Gillott 290 </a>and also the fine Gillott 1290. When it came I was alarmed as the tip of the nib is turned up and, to my eye, slightly splayed. When I contacted the supplier I was told that the nib is designed to be turned up at the tip. I have been using it in my new drawing to render the tangle of fine branches at the bottom left of the picture, but I remain to be convinced that this is the shape this nib is intended to be. The results are scratchy and not as fine as I expected. I'll give it another try later and see how it progresses. <br />
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Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02165563358713093793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1937171798603584704.post-63072589912678101782016-04-05T11:04:00.001+01:002016-04-05T11:04:27.640+01:00It's in the trees<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I failed to meet my self-imposed deadline last week, to finish my new pen and ink drawing within a few days. Which was probably the best outcome for me, in some ways. I realised that the beauty and the appeal of pen and ink for me is to loose myself in the making of marks, the rendering of texture, chairescuro and solidity through intense mark making.<br />
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It does my eyes in. It kills my back. It's a pain in so many ways, but the obsessive nature of the process is the main point of my pen and ink drawing. (Probably because it is a large part of my own personality)<br />
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It's not a speedy process. It can be extremely frustrating. It can depress the hell out of me. <br />
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But it's as much as part of pen and ink for me as the paper and the ink itself. And the steel of the nib.<br />
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So here is my slower progress for week 2 of my challenge. <br />
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I will still finish the piece in a sprint rather than my many previous marathons but the speed of progress is not the purpose of the piece this time. Rather it is a product of shorter intense bursts of effort.<br />
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Short bursts which are necessary because my eyes and my body are not as young as they used to be!!! <br />
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I rather enjoyed rendering the rooftops and attempting to solve the puzzle of how do you render the miasma of tiny twigs and branches that fuzz the air between the viewer and those rooftops? <br />
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I do not have the technical ability to render every single branch, so I have to find a way of suggesting the effect of seeing the roftops through those trees. Areas right at the top of the picture (which is what I have been working on this morning) I am quite pleased with. But it's not a problem solved entirely. Far from it.<br />
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Another problem Is the foreground. I've messed up the light/dark contrast of the foreground trees (the middle ground of the drawing). I've given into my old weakness of trying to render too much. Those dead leaves (or whatever they are) hanging from the branches like limp seed pods. They are proving a real nuisance to render.<br />
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I hope I don't ruin the whole picture by messing up that area of it.<br />
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Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02165563358713093793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1937171798603584704.post-84186044783200301942016-03-29T16:56:00.002+01:002016-03-29T16:56:40.790+01:00Pen and ink challengeLast week I challenged myself to complete a small (a bit smaller than A4) pen and ink drawing based on one of my own photographs. Usually a pen and ink drawing takes me months to complete, but I challenged myself to complete my drawing in less than a week for a number of reasons, not least a recent disapointment (I had 2 of the watercolours I had been working on rejected for an open exhibition which I have exhibited at for more than 15 years). As I have mostly exhibited pen and ink drawings at this exhibition in the past, I decided to motivate myself to complete a new pen and ink drawing but to give my return a twist by attempting to complete it in what is for me, the blinking of an eye.<br />
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I posted my challenge on Facebook and Twitter and completed my drawing in about 2 days, with an extra day for tweeking. <br />
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I called my drawing 'Beside the Lake.'<br />
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After a weekend away (Happy Easter!!) I have decided to challenge myself again.<br />
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Another pen and ink drawing. A little bigger than Beside The Lake this time. <br />
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I have already begun a watercolour of this subject, which I've had hanging around in my 'in progress' pile for several months, this in progress watercolour is slightly different to my pen and ink drawing as it contains a couple of figures which I drew from memory. <br />
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The pen and ink drawing is based solely on a photograph which I took last February while I waited for my train to work.<br />
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I used a zoom on my point and shoot digital camera to crop the image I was interested in. A bit of grafitti on an old wall with some wintry trees behind and hints of houses seen through the trees.<br />
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I am using Acrylic Ink and dip pens. <br />
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I penciled in a quick sketch of my design based on my photograph.<br />
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And then I began to work on my drawing using dip pens and Acrylic Inks. I'm using sepia and black for this design.<br />
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I might use one coloured pencil in addition to the pen and ink. But I'll think more about that as I progress.<br />
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This is about 2 and something or other hours work. <br />
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Hopefully I will do some more this evening and a little tomorow morning. I'll post tomorow's progress on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/KayFletcherArtist" target="_blank">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/KayFletcherArt" target="_blank">Twitter</a>. <br />
Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02165563358713093793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1937171798603584704.post-88556536515275203382015-09-03T16:57:00.000+01:002015-09-03T16:57:22.652+01:00Memories of SkipnessIn June I had a lovely holiday in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skipness" target="_blank">Skipness</a>. Although the weather wasn't exactly perfection, Skipness is a special place and G and myself were very lucky to spend our week in a lovely cottage overlooking the isle of<a href="http://www.visitarran.com/" target="_blank"> Arran.</a> We visited Arran by car and <a href="http://www.gigha.org.uk/" target="_blank">Gigha</a> on foot that week, but the memory which stays with me most vividly is the drive to Skipness via a beautiful long and windy wyndy single track road.<br />
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I took a few photographs as G drove and have made a quick watercolour based on one of them.<br />
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Here are a couple of stages of a pen and watercolour painting I've made based on a photograph I took of Skipness bus stop. G & I sat on one of the picnic tables you can see in the distance. We managed to sit there a few minutes before being chased away by midges.<br />
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I've begun another watercolour of this same scene, sketched in with graphite pencil and coloured pencil this time. I'm not using watercolour pencil but <a href="http://www.pencils.co.uk/en/gb/4430/coloursoft-pencils" target="_blank">Derwent's Coloursoft pencil</a>, just 2 colours for the line as I don't want the lines to melt too much into the watercolour.<br />
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I'm working with real fear on these pieces, I'm quite pleased with the single track lane piece, but I'm terrified to work on it any more in case I ruin it. I've worked quite a lot on the Skipness Bus Stop watercolour, maybe too long. Resisting the temptation to work on when I should be leaving alone is one thing I need to work on. As is resisting the temptation to continue working when my mind and body have slipped into autopilot. <br />
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Autopilot is disaster, in art as well as so many other areas.Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02165563358713093793noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1937171798603584704.post-52201324312345780702015-08-24T12:52:00.000+01:002015-08-24T12:52:15.699+01:00Summer ProgressHere are a few new pieces I've been working on over summer.<br />
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I wanted to continue introducing colour into my work, and also to build compositions which include some imaginative element and possibly some people in them. I'm really inspired by art of the past here, and for 3 years or so since I visited a wonderful exhibition of <a href="http://www.comptonverney.org.uk/modules/events/event.aspx?e=144&title=gainsboroughs_landscapes_themes_and_variations" target="_blank">Gainsborough landscapes</a> at Compton Verney, I've been haunted, sometimes possessed, by the atmosphere of quietude and dusk in his landscape work.<br />
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I've been struggling with using this sense of wonder into my own work, and also to work at least partially from life, as most of my work until now has been made from photographs.<br />
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I've taken my tiny Moleskin or Derwent sketchbooks to work with me and drawn as and when I can, mainly while waiting for my train to and from work, or during my lunchbreak sitting in the sunshine listening to the radio (<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cricket/15665499" target="_blank">the Ashes</a> have been a big part of my summer, as they have been in many summers over the past 10 years).<br />
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From these sketches I have worked up a few pieces. The first were tiny pieces which I made directly from my sketches. In watercolour, pen and acrylic ink. Here are a couple of these, sketches and the pieces made from the sketches. <br />
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Wolverhampton Adult Education College </div>
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Sketchbook 11.7.13 </div>
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Wolverhampton Adult Education College </div>
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Drawing made from sketchbook July 2015</div>
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Photocopy of drawing draw over and coloured with acrylic ink</div>
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Commuter Sketch July 2015</div>
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Commuter Watercolor Drawing made from sketch July 2015</div>
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But I really wanted to emulate the great art that I love. I know it's not trendy, but I have to be honest. Looking at a <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=gainsborough+landscape&biw=1376&bih=676&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0CCAQsARqFQoTCJ7lpbfTwccCFclYGgod_VoGgw" target="_blank">Gainsborough landscape</a>, a <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=gainsborough+landscape&biw=1376&bih=676&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0CCAQsARqFQoTCJ7lpbfTwccCFclYGgod_VoGgw#tbm=isch&q=samuel+palmer" target="_blank">Samuel Palmer</a>, a <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=gainsborough+landscape&biw=1376&bih=676&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0CCAQsARqFQoTCJ7lpbfTwccCFclYGgod_VoGgw#tbm=isch&q=turner+landscape" target="_blank">Turner</a>, a <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=gainsborough+landscape&biw=1376&bih=676&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0CCAQsARqFQoTCJ7lpbfTwccCFclYGgod_VoGgw#tbm=isch&q=caspar+david+friedrich" target="_blank">Caspar David Friedrich</a>, fills me with such emotion that I really feel that now, life is too swift and too short to deny any longer that these are the artists I wish to emulate in my tiny way. I'm not post modern, I don't get anything at all from a great deal of contemporary 'fine art', it just leaves me feeling like I've read a magazine and dumped it in the recycle bin. I don't feel stained by it, coloured by it, altered by this art in any way. That is not to say that I denigrate it or disagree with it, but that I just does not touch me deeply.<br />
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Surprised </div>
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Watercolour (work in progress)</div>
Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02165563358713093793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1937171798603584704.post-926463237217719442015-05-19T20:31:00.000+01:002015-05-19T20:31:36.723+01:00FOLLOWING A LINE<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Until last year I worked mostly in dip pen and ink from my own photographs in a very plush, intense style. The more intense the more I liked it. These pieces took so long to do, plus I felt that I should be working more from life, so with these 2 combined aims in mind I spent a lot of last summer working directly from life in my garden drawing the flowers (mostly sunflowers) I had grown from seed or young plants from garden centres.<br />
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I have continued this practice and now it's more my instinct to see pattern and line and to follow the impulse of a line more than delve deeply into the textural rendering of a piece.<br />
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I did say at the end of last year that I would not buy as many plants or seeds as last year as growing them, protecting them, standing them back up after a gale force wind had knocked them over, was so time consuming.<br />
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But then instinct again has taken me by the nose and here are this year's fresh crop of nasturtium, which I have grown from seed (a new one for me)...<br />
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...and sweet peas and a carrier bag from Wilko (where I bought the seeds).<br />
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Inspired by the recent trend for adult colouring books I have toyed with the idea of producing a few images to colour in myself. I have produced a few of these, but I've not done anything commercial with them yet. I did have a play with a Ginkgo leaf yesterday, drawing it repeatedly and thinking how to arrange the shape imaginatively on the page.<br />
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The Ginkgo leaf fell out of a book where I'd pressed it. I can't remember where I picked it up from. If ever I read that there's a Ginkgo tree in a garden I have to find it. I love the delicate, fluttering leaves of the Ginko tree.<br />
<br />Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02165563358713093793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1937171798603584704.post-50746184786802967632015-04-08T11:27:00.003+01:002015-04-08T11:27:55.517+01:00PLEIN AIR ACEOS<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It's been lovely to get out into the garden and make a few studies again. I haven't drawn in the garden from life since last October, the sun was really warm yesterday, it felt like summer was on its way at last.<br />
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I've made studies of Mom's old stone cast animals and gnomes over the years, some of them are a little worse for wear, the tortoise above has lost its head but it's still recognisably a tortoise.<br />
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This time I'm disciplining myself to producing mainly ACEO sized studies, some I colour indoors after making the line drawing outside, but the 2 little ACEOs above are completed entirely plein air.Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02165563358713093793noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1937171798603584704.post-4082630062358977762015-03-25T11:56:00.002+00:002015-03-25T12:17:17.085+00:00ACEO sized drawings<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Four of the <a href="http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2050430.m570.l2632.R2.TR6.TRC1.A0.H0.Xaceo.TRS0&_nkw=aceo&ghostText=&_sacat=60435" target="_blank">ACEOs </a>I've sold through Ebay, where I'm selling small sized artworks via <a href="http://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/itsypics" target="_blank">Itsypics</a>.<br />
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The ACEOs are shown with their <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Certificate_of_authenticity" target="_blank">Certificates of Authenticity</a>, which I provide for each piece. The matchstick symbol on the front of the COA is a Logo I designed for my Itsypics sales, an 'i' for Itsypics. The flame stands for the spark of inspiration which I am eternally hopeful of.<br />
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A mixed media piece I've been working on (and off) since before Christmas. It's pen and acrylic ink with airbrushed acrylic ink for the larger coloured areas. A combination I still haven't got right yet.<br />
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I like the discipline of the ACEO size (3 1/2 x 2 1/2in) so much that I've begun to make a few ACEO sized drawings around the house. It's been too long since I drew from life, so this will bring 2 aspects of my work together hopefully. I intend to make a series of these drawings in every room of my home over the next few months and display them together as a complete piece.<br />
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The drawing above shows my Mum's slippers where she leaves them in the hall.<br />
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The drawing below shows Mum's tatty old shoes stuffed with wool and old Jay cloths, left again as she always leaves them, in the hall by the kitchen door.<br />
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Mom leaves things habitually anywhere and everywhere. She stuffs her shoes with wool because she says it makes them more comfortable.<br />
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<br />Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02165563358713093793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1937171798603584704.post-1161530021041940132015-03-03T19:44:00.000+00:002015-03-03T19:44:14.480+00:00RBSA OPEN ALL MEDIAI'm really happy to have 2 pictures accepted for the <a href="http://www.rbsa.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/open-all-media-exhibition-3/" target="_blank">RBSA Open All Media exhibition</a>.<br />
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G and me went along to see the exhibition on Sunday. It's a good exhibition as usual full of varied styles and subject matter. There were quite a few collages, many using photographic material, and a nice selection of abstract work. There was a huge pastel study of a lady in a bath by <a href="http://www.kershaw-portraits.co.uk/" target="_blank">Graham Kershaw,</a> larger than life size I would guess. A very audacious piece beautifully rendered. There were quite a few pastel pieces at this year's open and one of my favourites were a couple of landscapes by<a href="http://community.saa.co.uk/art/janettesummerfield" target="_blank"> Janette Summerfield</a> which I really liked. Artists who's work I'm familiar with from previous shows and who's work I also really enjoyed were J<a href="http://www.rbsa.org.uk/members-associates/members/view/53/June-Dudleston/" target="_blank">une Dudleston</a>'s painterly landscapes and <a href="http://millardandlancaster.co.uk/shreadhipkiss.html" target="_blank">Paul Hipkiss's </a>vivid linocuts. I also enjoyed <a href="http://www.robertperry-artist.co.uk/" target="_blank">Rob Perry's</a> intense painterly landscapes. <br />
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On handing in day the queue was longer than I'd ever known it before, so I'd guess that the RBSA had quite a few entries this year. The lady I was queuing behind showed me the piece she was handing in, a pretty cream coloured ceramic vase inspired by sea froth. Her piece made it into the exhibition too, Sea-Foam Vase by <a href="http://www.ktrobbinsceramics.com/" target="_blank">Katie Robbins</a>.<br />
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This Dwarf Iris is one of my ACEOs which I am currently selling on <a href="http://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/itsypics" target="_blank">Ebay</a>.Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02165563358713093793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1937171798603584704.post-45126329358438179702015-02-27T00:00:00.000+00:002015-02-27T00:00:07.405+00:00Artists & Illustrators Letter of the MonthAlthough I'm late posting about this I'm still thrilled that the letter I e-mailed to <a href="http://www.artistsillustrators.magazine.co.uk/?gclid=CLOewfmA_cMCFYLItAod_B4Avw" target="_blank">Artists & Illustrators Magazine</a> was chosen to be letter of the month.<br />
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It gives me a nice feeling of completeness to the project I set myself last year of the <a href="http://perfectible-spark.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/penned-petals_5.html" target="_blank">exhibition at Central Library, Wolverhampton</a>. A real confidence booster.Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02165563358713093793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1937171798603584704.post-57099047386448434192015-02-25T11:24:00.000+00:002015-02-25T11:24:22.091+00:00Studio ShotsAs well as the ACEOs I have been working on larger pieces and experimenting with using colour more in my work. I am using mostly <a href="http://www.daler-rowney.com/content/fw-artists-inks" target="_blank">FW Artists Acrylic Ink</a> or <a href="http://www.liquitex.com/home.aspx" target="_blank">Liquitex Acrylic Ink</a> with dip pen for these drawings and using coloured line. The drawings I am working on mostly at the moment are urban scenes which include trees or some natural form. I am also exploring an old favourite of mine, the use of words or letters in my artwork, usually in the form of grafitti, though I have an inclination also to include drawn versions of printed matter, posters etc.. The drawings in the photograph below are a simple landscape (bright and cheerful) and the tree beside <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2371533.stm" target="_blank">Tipton Baths</a> that I made a drawing of previously. This time I am using coloured line, and thinking about how else I want to use colour so as not to swamp the drawing.<br />
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I am trying really hard to divide my precious time between my creative work, my work on ACEOs (and other Itsypics projects I would like to tackle) and everything else. I am keeping a note of time I spend on each task, you can see it below, next to my precious old marble mouse which I've owned for about 15 years now and it's been invaluable to me.<br />
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What I look at when my eyes drift away from the computer screen (like now).<br />
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I visited the <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-reviews/11158594/Rembrandt-Late-Works-National-Gallery.html" target="_blank">Rembrandt</a> exhibition at the National last year and it was packed to capacity. Someone actually fainted when I was there and everyone had to wait until the man had recovered. Rebel Visions was an exhibition of <a href="http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/christopher-richard-wynne-nevinson-1697" target="_blank">CRW Nevison's</a> work of the First World War which I saw at the <a href="http://barber.org.uk/" target="_blank">Barber Institute</a> this January. The Barber Institute has a wonderful collection of art, including a beautiful Gainsborough. You can see many of the pictures in the Barber's collection on-line at the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/galleries/locations/the-barber-institute-of-fine-arts-4794" target="_blank">BBC Your Paintings website</a>.<br />
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<br />Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02165563358713093793noreply@blogger.com0