Making A Start ….

Starting A New Painting.

I’ve been scribbling in sketchbooks for decades but I hardly ever develop any artwork from these little drawings. I don’t know why, it’s a huge resource but until recently I forgot about the sketches almost as soon as I’d done them. So recently I decided to make a real effort to go back to my sketchbooks for ideas. I’ve done a few screenprints recently, based on some quick landscape scribbles, and I thought I’d have a go at a new painting, using a small sketch of a young relative I made a few months ago. I’m using a recycled stretched canvas with a “hard edge” experiment that I didn’t like, and Liquitex heavy body acrylic paint, a palette knife and Winsor and Newton brushes.

Raising Funds.

My family is raising money for Phil, a younger relative of mine, to have life-changing surgery in Spain. Phil is disabled by Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) and the operation he needs isn’t currently available in the UK. I know times are hard, but if you’re able to spare a bob or two, please click here find out more or to donate a small amount to Phil’s crowdfunding campaign. Thank you xxx

Raising funds for Phil, bottom left, to have life-changing surgery xxx

Trying Out A Change

I’m having a go at new templates for my website so I’ll be changing them a few times over the next couple of weeks to see how I get on with them. If there’s one you really like, or dislike, please let me know . Thanks x

Getting Nearer.

Carrying On With The Pastel Portrait.

I did some more work on the “celebrity” portrait I started recently, using my new-ish pastels from the Lake District. I don’t normally work from photos or do celebs, but I need a lot of practice to try out these as they’re much softer than I’m used to. The likeness is getting nearer but not there yet. It’s good to take a photo and upload it as I can see what needs to be done more clearly than when I look at the actual drawing.

Raising Funds.

My family is raising money for Phil, a younger relative of mine, to have life-changing surgery in Spain. Phil is disabled by Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) and the operation he needs isn’t currently available in the UK. I know times are hard, but if you’re able to spare a bob or two, please click here find out more or to donate a small amount to Phil’s crowdfunding campaign. Thank you xxx

Raising funds for Phil, bottom left, to have life-changing surgery xxx

Trying Out A Change

I’m having a go at new templates for my website so I’ll be changing them a few times over the next couple of weeks to see how I get on with them. If there’s one you really like, or dislike, please let me know . Thanks x

Under The Weather…

Drawing My Feet.

It’s been one of those days when I feel really under the weather – and the weather is miserable, grey and rainy. I didn’t get on with the pastel drawing I wanted to complete so I grabbed a few minutes to scribble my feet that are perched on top of my exercise ball in the living room. Not great art, but it’s good practice to sketch regularly, even a quick little continuous line drawing like this.

Raising Funds.

My family is raising money for Phil, a younger relative of mine, to have life-changing surgery in Spain. Phil is disabled by Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) and the operation he needs isn’t currently available in the UK. I know times are hard, but if you’re able to spare a bob or two, please click here find out more or to donate a small amount to Phil’s crowdfunding campaign. Thank you xxx

Raising funds for Phil, bottom left, to have life-changing surgery xxx

Trying Out A Change

I’m having a go at new templates for my website so I’ll be changing them a few times over the next couple of weeks to see how I get on with them. If there’s one you really like, or dislike, please let me know . Thanks x

Who Is It?

Half Way.

I don’t generally draw celebrities but I was trying out my new pastels and there wasn’t anyone in the house so I grabbed a photo off the Internet and started scribbling their likeness. Here’s the halfway point – can you see who it is yet?

Raising Funds.

My family is raising money for Phil, a younger relative of mine, to have life-changing surgery in Spain. Phil is disabled by Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) and the operation he needs isn’t currently available in the UK. I know times are hard, but if you’re able to spare a bob or two, please click here find out more or to donate a small amount to Phil’s crowdfunding campaign. Thank you xxx

Raising funds for Phil, bottom left, to have life-changing surgery xxx

Trying Out A Change

I’m having a go at new templates for my website so I’ll be changing them a few times over the next couple of weeks to see how I get on with them. If there’s one you really like, or dislike, please let me know . Thanks x

The Chinese Model In Timelapse

A Detail From The Green Lady.

I’ve been trawling through my YouTube channel and thought I’d post one of the short timelapse films that Husb makes while I work. Here I am copying Tretchikoff’s “The Green Lady” or “Chinese Girl”. It took ages, so much detail in the dress, although the head was fairly straightforward. Here’s me painting her in less than a minute and a half! I wish!

Painting Monika Sing-Lee.

Raising Funds.

My family is raising money for Phil, a younger relative of mine, to have life-changing surgery in Spain. Phil is disabled by Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) and the operation he needs isn’t currently available in the UK. I know times are hard, but if you’re able to spare a bob or two, please click here find out more or to donate a small amount to Phil’s crowdfunding campaign. Thank you xxx

Raising funds for Phil, bottom left, to have life-changing surgery xxx

Trying Out A Change

I’m having a go at new templates for my website so I’ll be changing them a few times over the next couple of weeks to see how I get on with them. If there’s one you really like, or dislike, please let me know . Thanks x

And A Little Bit Pear Shaped: 4

Another Try With The Watercolour Pencils Onto The Screen.

Towards the end of the day I spent up The Workers Gallery in Ynyshir last week, I had a fourth, final, attempt at doing a monotype with a silkscreen and Daler Rowney acrylic screenprint medium. My experiments with Inktense blocks were a miserable failure (here) so I switched to watercolour pencils. First, I printed a portrait sketch with a dark blue pencil (here) which was okay. So I decided to overlay this with another attempt, using other colours to put some flowery bits in the background. The result is alright, but no more than that. So, more experimenting I think.

Not Bad, But Not Good Either.

Raising Funds.

My family is raising money for Phil, a younger relative of mine, to have life-changing surgery in Spain. Phil is disabled by Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) and the operation he needs isn’t currently available in the UK. I know times are hard, but if you’re able to spare a bob or two, please click here find out more or to donate a small amount to Phil’s crowdfunding campaign. Thank you xxx

Raising funds for Phil, bottom left, to have life-changing surgery xxx

Trying Out A Change

I’m having a go at new templates for my website so I’ll be changing them a few times over the next couple of weeks to see how I get on with them. If there’s one you really like, or dislike, please let me know . Thanks x

A “How To” Film – Screenprint With A Naughty Cat!

A screenprint set up on a kitchen table.

Husb and I have made a short 3 minute film about how to set yourself up to do silkscreen printing on a kitchen table, or desk. The cat joined in. Of course she did! A lot of people ask me how to set up for printmaking at home, so this will be the first of a series of “How To” shorts. No doubt Sparta Puss will continue to “help”. She isn’t allowed on the table, you know!

Three minutes to set up for screenprint – with the cat!

Raising Funds.

My family is raising money for Phil, a younger relative of mine, to have life-changing surgery in Spain. Phil is disabled by Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) and the operation he needs isn’t currently available in the UK. I know times are hard, but if you’re able to spare a bob or two, please click here find out more or to donate a small amount to Phil’s crowdfunding campaign. Thank you xxx

Raising funds for Phil, bottom left, to have life-changing surgery xxx

Trying Out A Change

I’m having a go at new templates for my website so I’ll be changing them a few times over the next couple of weeks to see how I get on with them. If there’s one you really like, or dislike, please let me know . Thanks x

Still Pear Shaped: 3

I Switched To Pencils.

After disappointing results with the Inktense blocks*, I decided to switch to watercolour pencils. I’d done this monotype technique before and the results weren’t bad, so I thought I’d give it another go. I drew onto the screen mesh from an old portrait sketch, and then squeegeed Daler Rowney Screenprint Medium through it.

The result is okay, but a bit skewiff because I nudged the screen as I was printing. The image is reasonably strong though, better than I’d had with the Inktense blocks.

*I did these screenprint monotype experiments at The Workers Gallery, Ynyshir last weekend.

Raising Funds.

My family is raising money for Phil, a younger relative of mine, to have life-changing surgery in Spain. Phil is disabled by Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) and the operation he needs isn’t currently available in the UK. I know times are hard, but if you’re able to spare a bob or two, please click here find out more or to donate a small amount to Phil’s crowdfunding campaign. Thank you xxx

Raising funds for Phil, bottom left, to have life-changing surgery xxx

Trying Out A Change

I’m having a go at new templates for my website so I’ll be changing them a few times over the next couple of weeks to see how I get on with them. If there’s one you really like, or dislike, please let me know . Thanks x

Then It Carried On Being Pear Shaped: 2

Drawing Into Wetness.

Following on from yesterday’s tale of defeat*, I had a think about what might have gone wrong and wondered if the Inktense marks on the silkscreen just didn’t get wet enough to release their vibrant pigments onto the paper. So I made the mesh nice and wet and drew onto it with the Inktense blocks.

Ready To Try A Monotype.

It was a much stronger drawing than the previous one, which was quite pale. The water on the screen released the rich Inktense colours and I started to get excited. Would this one play ball and transfer to the paper successfully? I poured the Daler Rowney Silkscreen Medium onto the mesh at the top of the drawing and pulled the squeegee across it, to release the pigment onto the paper below ….

Printing From A Wet Screen.

And it ran all over the place! The colour was stronger than my first attempt, but the drawing just smudged itself across the paper. It’s not unattractive, but it isn’t anywhere near what I wanted. Back to the drawing board…again!

*I did these screenprint monotype experiments at The Workers Gallery, Ynyshir last weekend.

Raising Funds.

My family is raising money for Phil, a younger relative of mine, to have life-changing surgery in Spain. Phil is disabled by Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) and the operation he needs isn’t currently available in the UK. I know times are hard, but if you’re able to spare a bob or two, please click here find out more or to donate a small amount to Phil’s crowdfunding campaign. Thank you xxx

Raising funds for Phil, bottom left, to have life-changing surgery xxx

Trying Out A Change

I’m having a go at new templates for my website so I’ll be changing them a few times over the next couple of weeks to see how I get on with them. If there’s one you really like, or dislike, please let me know . Thanks x

Then It All Went Pear-Shaped: 1

Drawing with an Inktense block.

I spent last Sunday up The Workers Gallery in Ynyshir, doing some experiments with silkscreen monotype techniques. I wanted to see if Derwent Inktense blocks would work, using them to draw from a small sketch directly onto the screen mesh.

The Inktense sketch on the silk mesh.

Once I finished sketching, I put a piece of paper under the screen and poured some Daler Rowney Screenprint Medium onto the mesh, just above the sketch. I pulled it across the mesh with a squeegee to force the medium and, hopefully, the Inktense pigment through onto the paper. The result was massively disappointing – it’s an insipid ghost of the original image. Back to the drawing board.

Disappointment.

Raising Funds.

My family is raising money for Phil, a younger relative of mine, to have life-changing surgery in Spain. Phil is disabled by Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) and the operation he needs isn’t currently available in the UK. I know times are hard, but if you’re able to spare a bob or two, please click here find out more or to donate a small amount to Phil’s crowdfunding campaign. Thank you xxx

Raising funds for Phil, bottom left, to have life-changing surgery xxx

Trying Out A Change

I’m having a go at new templates for my website so I’ll be changing them a few times over the next couple of weeks to see how I get on with them. If there’s one you really like, or dislike, please let me know . Thanks x