I’ve finished carving my little lino block of a Mari Lwyd and I’m ready to print it, which I can do at Swansea Print Workshop all day tomorrow (Thursday 20th). It’s the last day of the Leftovers VIII international exhibition of miniature prints from Wingtip Press in Idaho, USA. I’ll be there from 10.30 to 4.30 so please pop in and have a look if you’re in town.
I’m carving a block of grey vinyl this evening as I’ve decided to make a New Year’s greeting card, based on the Mari Lwyd, a pagan Welsh ritual based on a horse skull. It’s quite small so I should be able to get it cut and printed quickly. Working on this scale is nice, I can perch it on my lap and listen to the telly while I’m carving. Can’t get too distracted, though, because my cutting tools are razor sharp.
The image is based on a drawing of the Mari Abertawe I did en plein air a while back. The Mari Lwyd comes out to play at this time of year through to mid January.
Sitting in the dark, watching TV, scribbling the cat quickly on my Samsung Galaxy Note 8 tablet using a free Markers app. Been visiting relatives most of the day and am stuffed full of home made mince pies. Mmmmmmm …. seasonal food.
It’s that time of year again. The house disappears under a ton of wrapping paper, shards of ribbon, bits of last year’s Xmas cards, recycled as gift tags and, satisfyingly, fancy carrier bags loaded with prezzies. I drew with an app called Markers onto my Samsung Galaxy Note 8 tablet.
Down at Swansea Print Workshop earlier, printing an edition of a two colour reduction block print, cut from soft vinyl and printed up onto Japanese Hosho paper using Cranfield Caligo Safe-Wash ink using a roller (brayer) from Intaglio Printmaker in London.
I had a lovely surprise today. Local stained glass artist Deanne Mangold, of Class Glass Wales, came to visit with a glass panel for me based on one of my drawings of ancient standing stones. Deanne had seen some of my drawings at an exhibition, Yr Helfa / The Hunt and wanted to translate one or two into stained glass. And here’s the result. I love it, it’s gorgeous.
The original drawing was done in the field, literally a field behind the garage in Dinas, North Pembrokeshire, where there’s a magnificent ancient stone monument. If you want to see more of my drawings en plein air of Neolithic and Bronze Age sites in Wales, please visit my Artfinder gallery.
I’m winding down a bit for the holiday season and spending more time with friends and family and socialising and really enjoying cooking for people. We had some lovely young relatives around this evening and after a humungous meal, we tucked into a hot steamed sponge pudding, made with butter and golden syrup and served with lashings of custard.
So a few more quick scribbles from a local café, Waterstones, which is on the first floor so I could look down into the street and draw people going about their Xmas shopping. It was getting dark and it had been raining so the roads and pavements were wet and shiny. This chap was squatting down next to a bench, chatting, and stayed long enough for me to get some of the reflections in.
It’s harder to sketch people on the move, with just a few seconds to get the essence of the figure onto the paper. I drew with a ballpoint pen into my tiny fabric covered sketchbook, it’s about 5 inches by 3 inches. Although the scribbles were very quick, they help to refine my eye and practise drawing movement and proportion.
Husb and I stopped for a cuppa in Waterstones café yesterday, having a break from the mid-winter gloom. We sat in the window overlooking the street where Woolworths used to be which is now Poundland, it’s a good vantage point for drawing people going about their business. It was getting dark and everywhere was wet so people came and went very quickly. It’s a good exercise to draw quickly, if you only have a few seconds you have to get the main features down and there’s no time to be distracted by details.
Everyone’s in big, baggy winter clothes at the moment, but when the rain eases off, the big fluffy hoods come down.
Had a busy day in town today and stopped off for a nice cuppa in the café in Waterstones bookshop .… lovely. Husb had Millionaire’s Shortbread with his tea. It was one of the best he had ever tasted. Lots of the people there read their new books while they drink their tea. I had to have a scribble, didn’t I?
scribblah 