Frou Frou

It's always harder for me to concentrate in summer, I love being out of doors, whether it's doing jobs in the garden or putting up the parasol and lazing about, reading and dosing. Relaxing in the back garden is one of my favourite things, despite the constant noise from the main road and neighbours.

Quiet is really an under appreciated luxury.


I haven't really made much progress on my drawing on my 2 free days (I had leave from my day job), even a chilly breezy day like today was too much temptation, and I spent a nice portion of it reading The Children's Book, which draws me deeper into its web.

A web of words, a web of lines.

My pen nibs have been getting on my nerves though. They keep clogging up, chewing up feathers of paper that block the flow of ink, or choking on ink that dries too quickly in the sticky warm air. It's one of those times I wish I could find some other way to work in ink, but nothing gives a crisp, sensitive line like a dip pen. Nothing else has that air of danger. (As the yellow streaks in this close-up illustrate - mistakes once made are there forever. I need to tone down the yellow gouache I've covered mine up with, hopefully it won't be so noticeable then)

CLIMBING THE TREE

I began my graffiti tree picture full of enthusiasm, undaunted by the immense white page stretching out before me, or by the fact that a tiny pen nib (like the kind I use) has got an awful lot of ground to cover here. The base of the tree went fine, I got lost in mapping out the bumps of the trunk, the lumpy texture of the very base of the tree where trunk begins to turn into root, taking it's nourishment from the hidden place beneath our feet (the way art and literature are made, the brain taking its invisible nourishment from all manner of ordinary things, turning them into something magical, if you're lucky). I dwelt so long at the base of that tree, enjoying the chance to recreate the plush moss that clung to the bark, that I was in danger of forgetting about the top of the tree, the leaves and branches, where the light is captured and turned into energy.

So I made a start with the branches, and this is where I came unstuck. Sitting on the bed where I had been working I found that I could hardly reach the top of the drawing board, let alone see to draw those leaves in! It tried crouching over it, propping it up against a wall, turning the drawing upside down and on its side, finally I made a little progress by plonking a cushion on the drawing and actually sitting on it, crouched over, so I could draw the top of the picture. Much back ache, wrist ache, numb ankles (and unhappy accidental spillages or dirty ink water) later, I have a fragment of my picture underway. But I've a feeling this is going to be a much more painful process than I had envisaged. So much for ambition. It certainly does lead you down some tricky avenues.