Scribbling Iceland

I spent a few days in Iceland recently and although I took a sketchbook and some pastels with me, it was too cold to draw. Even just 30 seconds or so without my gloves and my fingers stopped working. So now I’m back home and back in the swing of all the arty shenanigans goingContinue reading “Scribbling Iceland”

Pulling The Columbian

I had a very busy Sunday pulling some woodcut prints down at Swansea Print Workshop. I used the beautiful old Columbian press, an antique dating from the 1850s, when Queen Victoria was on the British throne. How many prints have been pulled off this press? How many hands have pulled the lever? It’s not onlyContinue reading “Pulling The Columbian”

Three Male Nudes

  Just back from life drawing at Swansea Print Workshop. It’s late now and I’m tired. I did three versions of the same pose in an hour. The first, a straightforward scribbly line with a Faber Castell Pitt drawing pen, size F, into a Daler Rowney A3 cartridge sketchpad.   Then I did another lineContinue reading “Three Male Nudes”

Monstrous Mural And The Lizard Den

Today I joined some fellow artists to take over the keys for a new artspace in Swansea’s High Street, an area of urban regeneration. It’s a second, temporary, setting for Swansea Print Workshop and we have it for three months, to do experimental work, to exhibit, to interact with the community and to collaborate. It’sContinue reading “Monstrous Mural And The Lizard Den”

Quick Kitty Scribbles

A couple of quick kitty scribbles done in Faber Castell Pitt drawing pens and charcoal into a little A6 sketchbook. Ming The Merciless is one of my favourite models. She’s an elderly one-eyed rescued cat who is nice as pie until she sees the cat basket because that only means one thing, a visit toContinue reading “Quick Kitty Scribbles”

Paper Geekery

I spent a happy hour fondling beautiful papers and sniffing oil pigments and pulling on my favourite antique printing press. I was doing some trials on four lovely Japanese papers. This is an Atsukushi White, just 39 gsm. Above is the back of the paper on the woodcut block just after I’d put it throughContinue reading “Paper Geekery”

50 Shades Of Brown

Yesterday, Husb and I went to the launch of the latest exhibition, Of Site And Song, at the lovely Workers Gallery in Ynyshir. This gorgeous venue recently celebrated its first birthday. It used to be the village library but it was closed down because of austerity cutbacks and artists Gayle Rogers and Chris Williams reopenedContinue reading “50 Shades Of Brown”

The Robe Reflected

This is an old one of mine, from when I was going through a watercolour period at the weekly life drawing group at Swansea Print Workshop. This model has beautiful robes and we often try a pose or two with them on. The reflected figure in the large mirrors formed a composition that I reallyContinue reading “The Robe Reflected”

Plum Cake And A Nude

Just back from life drawing at Swansea Print Workshop. I hadn’t drawn this model before, she’s new but I got the hang of her reasonably well. Sometimes it takes ages to get used to a new model, sometimes things just fall in place. The portrait and figure took about 50 minutes then I did theContinue reading “Plum Cake And A Nude”