Chiaroscuro In A Doorway

door

After a bit of a break for Xmas and too much good food and gallivanting, it’s head down for a bit more serious work. I’m carrying on with my series of small drawings from photos taken in the old church recently, using the simplest of materials, white conte crayon into an A4 Daler Rowney ‘Ebony’ sketchbook. I’m trying to explore atmospheric mark making and get out of my comfort zone, which is a fine pen into a little sketchbook. These drawings emphasise chiaroscuro and I hope they’ll eventually lead to some more finished work in manier noir style drawings or even some mezzotints. These interiors remind me a bit of German Expressionist film sets, one of my favourite periods of art and printmaking.

Wellies And Woods

chelray

This afternoon, Husb and I went for a family walk in the gorgeous Penllergare Woods, just north of Swansea. It’s a spectacular Victorian garden, established by the photography pioneer John Dillwyn Llewellyn, that is being restored to its former glory. He had the valley of the Afon (River) Llan landscaped in the ‘Picturesque‘ style.

twin trunks

I took some photos and did a quick scribble of two of my young nieces in their wellies. It was an overcast and occasionally drizzly afternoon and the sky looked bleached out.

waterfall

The river was very high because of the recent torrential rains and the waterfall was much more fierce than normal. Penllergare Woods is well worth a visit, there are miles of beautiful walks and a very nice tea room with home made cakes. It’s a trust run by volunteers and relies on the support of visitors to keep it going.

reflect

Little Lou Lou

loulou

Husb and I visited relatives today and met the latest little addition to the family, a naughty Tortie called Lou Lou. She’s about 5 months old, shorthaired and looks like there’s some Siamese in her. She’s very leggy with big ears and a long nose and huge saucer eyes all wrapped up in a brindled tortoiseshell fur coat. And of course she’s made of tightly wound elastic bands with an uncanny ability to run up curtains.  I scribbled into my little ‘Cat’s Meow Journal’ by Peter Pauper Press, it’s lovely to carry around with me, just the right size to be portable with a strong elastic band to hold it closed and a gorgeous cover of cat cartoons. The drawings were very quick, she doesn’t stay still for long.

 

Cats, Moon, Sonic Screwdriver

Xmas moon

It’s been a very drizzly day and there’s thick cloud this evening so there’s no sign of the Xmas Full Moon, so here’s a photo of the Xmas Eve nearly-full moon that we saw last night bouncing up over the rooftops opposite.

2015 Xmas

And first thing this morning, Sparta Puss and Ming The Merciless wouldn’t let us sleep a bit longer. They insisted on waking us up at 7am for their breakfast as usual. No chance of a holiday lie-in.

sonic screwdriver

My absolute favourite Xmas present – a River Song sonic screwdriver. I’ve wanted one for years and I’ve been hinting and finally the hints sunk in and Husb gave me this. I waved it around liberally during the Doctor Who Xmas Special this afternoon, flashing the lights and making sonic screwdriver noises at appropriate moments. Oh joy!!!!

Xmas Day

And finally, a quick daily scribble, Husb watching the TV. We haven’t set foot out of the door all day, just slobbed around, watching TV, cooking (I made a lemon-layered pudding from my favourite 1970s cookbook), eating (dear Mother-in-Law gave us a large box of cheeses – top prezzy) and pandering to the cats.

I hope everyone has had a nice relaxing holiday and had lovely presents.

And Now For Something Completely Different!

knitting

Or a change is as good as a rest. I’m arted out! I wanted to have a break so I started knitting. I’m making some fingerless mittens, very useful for someone who does a lot of outdoor scribbling in all weathers. You can find the pattern here, from another blogger, Crafty Little Sewnsew. I’m using some lovely natural wool from the gorgeous Trefriw Woollen Mill in North Wales, which uses water from the River Crafnant to drive the turbines to weave beautiful traditional Welsh tweed. It’s been operating for nearly 2 centuries, most of that time it’s been owned by the same family. Sparta Puss has been helping me. Not!

Nothing Fancy

stripped back

Another vista from the old church, a spooky corridor beyond a heavy door. It was a dark and rainy day when I took the photos, no artificial light and precious little natural light which added to the atmospherics of the place. I decided not to use a flash because I wanted the deep shadows and high contrast, the effect of chiaroscuro. I used the simplest materials – a small white conte crayon into a Daler Rowney spiral bound A4 Ebony sketchbook. Nothing fancy.

And A Cranny

cranny

Yesterday I drew a nook in the old church and today I drew a cranny. I was lucky enough to be able to take some photographs in an early 20th century church a couple of weeks ago and I’ve been drawing from them using white conte crayon into my Daler Rowney Ebony sketchbook. It’s pulling me away from my usual reliance on fine, detailed line and into intangibles, atmospheres and emotions. I’m so enjoying it and getting ideas for manier noir drawings and mezzotint etchings. I’ll be doing a lot more of these sketches I think, I’m finding it very stimulating.

A Nook?

corridor 1

Is it a nook or a cranny? Here’s another very quick sketch based on some digital photos I took last week in an old church that is up for sale. It’s surprising how many nooks and crannies there are in old buildings. From the outside, it doesn’t look like it’s been extended but inside, this strange little corridor was tucked away at the back of the building and doesn’t seem to serve any particular purpose. It’s only about a hundred years old so I’m guessing that an architect was involved, so I find it a bit odd that the weird little places dotted around the church were designed in the first place.

I sketched into my A4 Daler Rowney Ebony sketchbook with a piece of white conte crayon.

Deconstruct Reconstruct

deconstruct

A little while ago I made a group of cyanotype prints from some original sketchbook portraits of older women. Each was printed onto a piece of heavyweight Bockingford paper cut from a pattern for a Victorian corset. I assembled them originally in the sequence that would assemble the corset, tying each together with purple ribbon and hanging the sequence from the wall. I am submitting these for an exhibition in the New Year and the gallery wants to exhibit prints ‘off the wall’ so I have had to rethink how I put this together. I took it all apart and tied it to a clothes horse. The clothes dryer represents a traditional female role, the corset would have been dried or aired on something similar. The way I tied the pieces was significant. I tried tying the ribbon with bows but it seemed too soft so I tied it with tight knots which seemed more in keeping with my title of the piece, ‘Constrained’.

I’m continuing to develop this piece at The SPace, at 217, High Street, Swansea. It’s open next week, Monday to Wednesday 11.30 – 5.00 and Thursday, 11.30 – 4pm if you want to pop in and see it.

Hungry Scribbles

curry

It was the life drawing group’s annual Xmas curry last night at the excellent Vojon curry house. I had a Handi Lamb Polongwala with a Gobi Aloo – no rice or naan as I’m cutting back on refined carbs for a little while. I was still stuffed until lunchtime, a very late lunch too. Because there was a large group of us, we had to wait a while for our food, they cook everything fresh, so I did some quick scribbles to take my mind off the hunger pangs. The food was well worth waiting for though.

book cover

I used a Faber Castell Pitt drawing pen into my little Peter Pauper Press ‘Cat’s Meow Journal’. It’s a very sweet sketchbook, i really like it. Sparta Puss doesn’t seem too impressed though. She’s studiously ignoring it.