All The Different Layers … Step 2

The second colour printed.

This is the next stage of the work I did at a weekend screen printing course a couple of weeks ago, with Scotland-based artist Kelly Stewart at Swansea Print Workshop. I printed a sort of teal colour for the sky above the little row of houses in Waun Wen Terrace. The original stencil was acrylic paint brushed onto clear plastic which was transferred to the screen with a photo-sensitive emulsion. I took the ink to the edges of the paper, rather than leave a border, because I like using the deckle edges.

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

All The Different Layers ….. Step 1

The first colour laid down.

I did a weekend screen printing course a couple of weeks ago, with Scotland-based artist Kelly Stewart at Swansea Print Workshop. We were working with layers of photosensitive screen stencils, based on original drawings. I used a little sketch I’d done a few months back when I was working on a community arts project in the Waun Wen area of the city, a very simple, quick scribble with a ballpoint pen into my A6 sketchbook.

The original sketch.

The first step was to print a background layer in a dusky pink, leaving a focal area of white for the houses in the terrace. The stencil for this layer was very simple brushstrokes of acrylic paint onto a sheet of plastic. It gave me a painterly texture which I prefer to the usual flat surface of screenprints.

The first photo-stencil.

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

Printing Press Porn! A Short Video.

The Columbian.

Here’s a short film of a stunner! The lovely Columbian printing press at Swansea Print Workshop. Easily my most favourite press in the world. I drool over it. Well, not literally. That would make it icky.  

Invented by American George Clymer around 1813, it took over from the Stanhope Press and allowed a whole newspaper page to be printed in one pull. It didn’t sell well in the USA so Clymer moved to Britain a few years later and established a very successful business manufacturing and supplying the Columbians across Britain and Europe. 

And here’s a quick ink sketch of the bald eagle on top of the Columbian ….

Here’s one I did earlier.

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

Time Lapse Film – Scribbling Pen Y Fan

Inktense drawing.

Here’s a short time-lapse film of me drawing Pen Y Fan en plein air using Derwent Inktense watercolour blocks and a portable watercolour brush. The view is from the Mynydd Illtud standing stone.

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

Face Across A Room – 4.

I’m scribbling, he’s talking.

Here’s another quick sketch when I was out and about. This time, I tried scribbling someone who was talking. It’s good practice as I have to cope with a face in constant motion. I used a ballpoint pen into my A5 leather-bound sketchbook.

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

Face Across A Room 3.

A Pensive Moment.

Another interesting face scribbled across a bar on Friday night, with a ballpoint pen into my A5 sketchbook. I love doing this, capturing these little still moments in people’s lives. Does that make me a voyeur?

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

Face Across A Room 2

Deep in thought.

Out on Friday night, saw an interesting face across the bar, had to have a scribble didn’t I? With a ballpoint pen into my leather-bound A5 sketchbook.

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

The Cat Loves A Dali ….

Sparta Puss “helping” to paint.

I began to copy Salvador Dali’s “Christ Of Saint John Of The Cross” back in the Autumn, in a Zoom tutorial with the painter Ed Sumner. I started painting along with Ed early in lockdown in Spring 2020 and made it my pandemic goal to improve my painting skills. I’ve learned loads by copying great artists. Sparta Puss seemed to enjoy it too.

Here’s the finished painting below and photos I took of the different stages as I worked on it. And a time lapse film featuring ….. Sparta Puss!

FINISHED!

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

Face Across A Room 1.

Sketching In The Bar.

I went to a quiz night at the Jam Jar bar the other evening. It was the first time I’ve done a digital quiz – it was hilarious. Of course, I had to have a scribble. I saw a very striking looking young woman across the bar, in a rival team , and sketched her with a ballpoint pen into my A5 sketchbook.

Raising Funds.

The quiz was part of a fundraising effort to get money together 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

Plants Are For Eating….

Different Drawing Styles.

I spent a day at Swansea’s Botanical Gardens in Singleton Park last week, part of a three day drawing and screenprint course held by Edinburgh-based artist Kelly Stewart. It was interesting to draw there, but I’ve got to be honest, plants just don’t float my boat unless they’re on a plate ready to eat 😀 Still, it’s good to get out of my comfort zone and I tried out some different drawing styles and materials.

A Chance To Own One Of My Artworks

I have some small screenprints for sale, inspired by my drawings of the antique taxidermy collection at Swansea Museum. I have given these vintage artifacts a modern twist by combining them with images of rubbish – old fruit nets, bubble wrap and plastic – highlighting the problem of human pollution and how it affects wildlife.

To buy my work on the Swansea Print Workshop site please click the image to the left.

20 percent of the cost of each screenprint sold goes to support Swansea Print Workshop, which receives no public funding.