Pasted Tissue

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Chine Collé is a technique that applies a fine paper, such as tissue, between the ink and the paper on a print so that when the whole lot is put through a printing press, the chine collé sticks to the main sheet of paper, adding colour to the overall piece. The pieces of chine collé are placed onto the inked plate with the upper side covered in glue or paste – I use Pritt stick.

Drawing on the inked plate
Adding coloured sari paper and newsprint for chine colle
The final monotype

It takes a while to get used to a process after a break – I hadn’t done monotypes for a year or so – and after printing I realised that I had taken too much ink off the plate during the drawing process, I would have liked the head to have had more definition. I used a Somerset paper, well soaked, but I think I need to try a lighter paper with a smoother texture to get more ink off the plate. The Intaglio Printmaker’s Litho / Relief ink might also be a bit too stiff and tarry for this technique. More experimenting needed!

 

 

I am putting my series of drawings of ancient Welsh monuments on Artfinder.  If you want to buy one, you can see them by clicking on the image below or the Artfinder link at the top right of this page.

St Elvis

Menace And Monotype

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I’ve been working away at Swansea Print Workshop since I finished two evenings of sketching with the Coppertown Mari Lwyd last week. I decided to develop my drawings into print and chose a fairly simple reduction monotype technique, with chine collé, as my starting point. This is the first. There is usually a period of experimentation when you start a new series of prints, matching the ink and paper, getting the ink mix just right, getting the paper dampened to the correct degree – not too dry or too sloppy. I’m reasonably happy with it. I’m a bit obsessed with getting very solid blacks and this is much more grey than I would have planned, but I quite like it. The technique lends an air of menace to the image which I also like.

Starting to draw from my sketch onto the inked plate
Using various things for drawing – wooden skewers, cotton buds, scrim, rags……
Adding hand made sari paper chine colle before printing

From left to right: Starting to draw from my original sketch onto an inked perspex plate: using various implements for mark-making – wood skewers, cotton buds, rags: adding chine collé – hand made recycled sari papers. I used a Somerset paper and Intaglio Printmaker’s Litho / Relief ink mixed about 60:40 with Extender.

 

 

I am putting my series of drawings of ancient Welsh monuments on Artfinder.  If you want to buy one, you can see them by clicking on the image below or the Artfinder link at the top right of this page.

St Elvis

The Mari And The Libbers

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This is the last of my recent sketchbook drawings made over two evenings following the Mari Lwyd around pubs in North Gower. The last pub we went to (I won’t identify it) I hadn’t been into since way back in the 1970’s. It was one of the few pubs remaining in the area with a men-only bar and it wouldn’t serve women with pints so some of us from Swansea Women’s Liberation Group went up there, marched into the men-only bar, put our money on the bar and ordered a round of pints. The landlord was furious and threw us out, threatening to call the police. So we scarpered! But that was a long time ago and we had a lovely welcome on Friday night.

So now ……. what shall I do with these sketches? How should I develop them? I’ve been spending some time down at the fabulous Swansea Print Workshop, trying out a few things ……. but you’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see what I’m doing.

 

I am putting my series of drawings of ancient Welsh monuments on Artfinder.  If you want to buy one, you can see them by clicking on the image below or the Artfinder link at the top right of this page.

St Elvis

The Pagan Skull

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Another of my Mari Lwyd drawings from last week. The Mary Lwyd (Y Fari Lwyd in Welsh) is an old midwinter tradition in Wales where for centuries a puppet made from a horse’s skull, decorated with ribbons and bells was accompanied around villages with singers and poets, knocking on doors of houses and pubs, engaging in ribald banter with the occupants (usually in the Welsh language in the past) and hopefully being invited inside for spiced cider (Wassail) and cake. The tradition had almost died out, there was a lot of opposition from Christian churches and chapels because of its pagan origins (there are links to the ancient horse goddess Epona) but there is now a revival.

We visited 7 pubs over 2 evenings and this is one of the last of my drawings, growing in confidence with much stronger dynamic lines and an almost cartoon-like quality to the characterisation of the Mari. It wasn’t deliberate as it was too quick and frantic to spend a while thinking about it. I used black, white and sanguine conté crayons into my A4 spiral bound brown paper sketchbook.

 

 

I am putting my series of drawings of ancient Welsh monuments on Artfinder.  If you want to buy one, you can see them by clicking on the image below or the Artfinder link at the top right of this page.

St Elvis

Midwinter Mare

 

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For the second night, Husb and I went out with the Mari Lwyd, trawling around pubs on North Gower with the Gower Old Horse Wassail. Midwinter celebrations date from thousands of years ago and ones involving animal skulls are common across the world. Horses were particularly important to the British Celts, a symbol of power and fertility and it’s possible that the Mari Lwyd harks back to these traditions and also incorporates elements of Wassailing.

I drew quickly, tucked away in a corner, using white, black and sanguine conté crayons into my A4 brown paper sketchbook. I’d loosened up a bit by the second evening and drew with more confidence, trying to express the spirit of the event rather than focus on detail.

I am putting my series of drawings of ancient Welsh monuments on Artfinder.  If you want to buy one, you can see them by clicking on the image below or the Artfinder link at the top right of this page.

St Elvis

Blwyddyn Newydd Dda – Happy New Year

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The Mari Lwyd (the Grey Mare), is an ancient Welsh New Year’s tradition undergoing a revival. Husb and I have been out with our local Mari Lwyd, The Coppertown Mari, Mari Trecopr, for the past two nights as it, along with a band of merry singers, poets and mischief-makers, did a tour of some of the pubs of North Gower, part of the Gower Old Horse Wassail.

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The Mari Lwyd is a large puppet, made up of a decorated horse’s skull, ribbons, bells and shroud, operated by someone inside who traditionally behaves very mischievously. It looks really naughty in the photo. It is being operated here by David Pitt.

I did four drawings on the first night. The first three are quite tentative; I was getting used to the subject matter and it’s not easy to draw in rambunctious crowded pubs. By the fourth I was getting into my stride and getting into the spirit of the thing and it started taking on a life of its own.

So Blwyddyn Newydd Dda i chi – Happy New Year to you 😀

 

I am putting my series of drawings of ancient Welsh monuments on Artfinder.  If you want to buy one, you can see them by clicking on the image below or the Artfinder link at the top right of this page.

St Elvis

Walking It Off

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After 2 days of scoffing and lazing, no work, no art, husb and I shifted our behinds off the comfy settee, dragged ourselves out into the cold and started walking off the sluggishness of the holiday. I took my brown paper sketchbook and some conté crayons and did a quick sketch across Swansea Bay. It’s always a challenge to draw a large expanse, whether nature or a built environment, because there’s so much there but I try and focus on the basic detail, the bare essential of what’s in front of me and also to exploit the medium, trying to get some feeling, expression and interest from the way I use the crayons. I feel a little bit lighter now.

 

Have A Cool Yule

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It’s that time of year. Season’s greetings and all that. Here’s what Sparta Puss thinks of it. Drawn by Husb with snowflakes added by me. She looks happy, doesn’t she? The midwinter festival has been around in these parts since well before Christianity, originally known as Alban Arthan (the Light of Winter) to the Celts and Yule to the Nordic and Germanic peoples. So have a Cool Yule, Alban Arthan Dda, Nadolig Llawen, Merry Christmas one and all.

 

I am putting my series of drawings of ancient Welsh monuments on Artfinder.  If you want to buy one, you can see them by clicking on the image below or the Artfinder link at the top right of this page.

St Elvis

Frantic Felix

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The second of our little furry friends from the hotel we stayed at in Kyrenia recently. Husb and I called him Felix because he looks like the cat from the Felix food adverts. He was a persistent little tyke, mewing frantically when we passed him on the path and wrapping himself around our legs top stop us in our tracks until we pulled some leftovers from dinner out for him. I’ve sketched him onto St Cuthbert’s watercolour paper with a ‘B’ Derwent pencil from a digital photo. I’ll probably watercolour him next week, once the Xmas franticness is over.

 

I am putting my series of drawings of ancient Welsh monuments on Artfinder.  If you want to buy one, you can see them by clicking on the image below or the Artfinder link at the top right of this page.

St Elvis

Big Ginge

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Husb and I were surrounded by cats during our recent holiday in Northern Cyprus. There were three small separate well-fed colonies of kitties living on our hotel site, being doted on by staff and tourists. I thought I might draw them but to be honest, I wanted a bit of a break from drawing while I was away and they were a pretty manic bunch that didn’t stay still much so I took lots of photos to work from. I don’t generally use photographs but it gives me a chance to work to a much higher level of detail than normal. I’ve drawn the first, Big Ginge (of course we gave them names) onto a sheet of gummed St. Cuthbert watercolour paper with a B pencil. Once I’ve filled the sheet with cat drawings (it should take about 5), I’ll start to paint them in with watercolour.

I am putting my series of drawings of ancient Welsh monuments on Artfinder.  If you want to buy one, you can see them by clicking on the image below or the Artfinder link at the top right of this page.

St Elvis