One From The Archives 14: Jaunty

I never know who I will be drawing when I turn up for my weekly life drawing session. The models can be in their seventies or twenties, male or female. Because of this they each present different challenges and opportunities. Older models bring a lot of experience which is often visible on their skin orContinue reading “One From The Archives 14: Jaunty”

One From The Archives 13: The Gathering

  Sleep. Dream. Nightmare. This is an etching of one of the female models I work with and is developed from a nude study drawn with Renaissance materials, inspired by artwork I did for a television series about da Vinci.  One of my initial drawings can be seen below. For the etching, I worked onContinue reading “One From The Archives 13: The Gathering”

One From The Archives 12: Eve Imagines Big Apple Crumble

This is one of a short series of female nudes I did, based loosely on the concept of Eve and apples. It is a full-colour monotype, which is a unique artwork that uses a process beloved by the Impressionists, especially Degas and Monet.  A full explanation of the technique can be found here. As with all of myContinue reading “One From The Archives 12: Eve Imagines Big Apple Crumble”

One From The Archives 11: Rinascere #6 and The Flower

Variations on the themes of tattoos and flowers.  I love working with this model.  Older women are often invisible in our society.  She is an elder and voluptuous and larger-than-life and covered with tattoos. Some of them are carnivorous plants engulfing insects across her body. She is confident in her own skin and first featured inContinue reading “One From The Archives 11: Rinascere #6 and The Flower”

Sunshine Prints

I did a whole load of cyanotypes yesterday for an exhibition and I had some pieces of paper and chemicals left over so, waste not want not, I coated the paper scraps and stored them away in a folder in a dark cupboard. Today, I shrank my negatives digitally and printed them out on acetate.Continue reading “Sunshine Prints”

One From The Archives 10: Fan Girl

Here you can see the original (below) and the finished painting (above).  I usually have no idea how I will be using the original life drawing when I first get it down on paper. At that point it is often just a case of describing what I see in front of me using line andContinue reading “One From The Archives 10: Fan Girl”

One From The Archives 9: The Cushion

Surrounded by symbolism, the interplay of shadows describes the form of the nude. This is an etching of one of the female models I work with and is developed from a nude study drawn with Renaissance materials, inspired by artwork I did for a television series about da Vinci. This type of etching allows meContinue reading “One From The Archives 9: The Cushion”

One From The Archives 8: The Mirrors

I like this style because it allows me to pick out the most essential aspects of a scene.  The drawing style I use most is the ‘continuous line’ method, where I keep the pen on the paper without taking a break and restarting in another part of the drawing. I also hardly look at theContinue reading “One From The Archives 8: The Mirrors”

One From The Archives 7: Rinascere #7

The pose a model strikes can lend a lot to a piece of work. It is one of the reasons I work from life as much as I do. When I look at this, I see a person who is relaxed and confident as she sits in contemplation of her future. I might be readingContinue reading “One From The Archives 7: Rinascere #7”

One From The Archives 6: Straight Ahead

I like to work with a range of models and this middle aged woman is one of my favourites. She exudes confidence and is so comfortable in her own skin. I draw from life weekly at Swansea Print Workshop, working with professional artists and models. This underpins my artistic practice and inspires me to develop theContinue reading “One From The Archives 6: Straight Ahead”