Prepping

I’ve been travelling around South West Wales with archaeologist Dewi Bowen and film maker Melvyn Williams, searching out ancient standing stones linked with the ancient Welsh legends in the book of the Mabinogion.

When I started I just took along a sketchbook and some pieces of paper without much idea of how to approach drawing these stones, but I soon realised that I needed to have a more complex background to draw on, drawing on white just wasn’t working for me. I tried out some paper I had marbled and that worked better but things didn’t really spark until I cut up a large drawing I’d done in walnut ink onto Fabriano paper. Then things clicked into place and I have been inspired not only by the subject matter but also by the materials I’m using, it’s a synthesis of both.

I’ve done so many drawings now over 11 day trips out across South Wales, that I soon ran out of the original recycled paper so I’ve been preparing more and I did some at the weekend. I started with a large sheet of paper that I had covered with compressed charcoal on a previous outing and then painted all over with white acrylic, watered down a fair bit. Once that dried, it didn’t take long, I started working into it with my home-made walnut ink, drawing a loaded brush across horizontally, enjoying the drippage.

When it dried, I put it on the floor and ripped it up into 15 pieces, which will keep me going for a few more drawing trips.

Dewi is researching his new book on Neolithic / Bronze Age monuments. His previous book on the stones of Ancient Siluria (South East Wales) can be found here. Melvyn is recording a documentary about our experiences. Some of Melvyn’s short films can be seen here. I’m currently working on a series of expressive drawings of ancestral sites and if you want to see some of my other artworks, please click here.