I am carrying on with the 10 minute sketches of heads of older women, this is the seventh and I’m relaxing into it. I’ve chosen to focus on women of advanced age because it’s a group of people that doesn’t seem to appear much in visual cultural references. Of course, there are iconic older women, like the actress Helen Mirren and the late Mother Theresa but in the general imagery around us, advertising, magazine covers, television and films, older women don’t feature much. Even when they do, they’re often Photoshopped to look much younger. It’s no wonder that so many women feel the pressure to have facelifts and botox in order to remain visible. So in my own small way I’m saying, “Hey, look here. Here are some older women. And they’re fab.”
It’s useful as a technical exercise; by limiting myself to 10 minutes I have to focus on the essence of the image and not concentrate on too much detail. This helps me to be much looser than if I was doing a formal portrait with more time on my hands. Because I’m working into a sketchbook, I’m not so precious about the drawing either, I’m far more willing to experiment.
I’m working into a hardbacked A4 sketchbook that I’ve prepared with pieces of randomly ripped brown wrapping paper, glued with Pritt stick. I do a brief outline sketch with a pale graphite stick, then put in the highlights and lowlights with white and black conté crayon, then I have a final scribble with a dark graphite stick.
A short video showing the process of printing a drypoint with a recycled pasta making machine. It’s easy. The video is just over 4 minutes long and features my cat as well.
I’m really getting into doing these 10 minute practice studies from photos of elderly women. It’s a big departure for me to work from photos as I love drawing from life so much. I can develop a different style with these drawings though as it isn’t imperative for me to get an absolute likeness, so I can improvise and experiment and really let go. It’s like a musician jamming I guess.
I’m working on an A4 size, into a hardbacked sketchbook prepared with randomly ripped brown wrapping paper stuck in with Pritt (it’s the best I find). I sketch roughly in a light graphite stick then pick out the highlights and lowlights with white and black conté crayon and finally scribble over the ‘detail’ lines with a dark graphite stick.
I really appreciate the beauty in these faces, they have lived a life and tell a story, yet are largely invisible in our culture. What a shame.
I’m getting really enthused with these 10 minute sketches from Googled images of elderly women. I started just as a quick bit of practice but after 4 or 5 I find myself really getting into it. There are so many beautiful older faces to choose from and it dawned on me that for me this is a feminist issue, this is an age group that is usually invisible, ignored, marginalised in our youth obsessed culture. So I’m going to carry on drawing them. I don’t know who they are, there is rarely any information about the people in the photos but it doesn’t matter; I think the important thing for me is to focus on them and draw them and make them visible through my art. I might not do one every day because I am working on other art projects as well, but I think I’ll make this a long term thing.
I’m drawing into my A4 hardbound sketchbook, prepared with brown wrapping paper, ripped and stuck randomly, to give me a midtone to work on top of, with graphite and conté crayon. This woman had an extraordinarily lined face, covered in patterns from her life’s experiences. As I was drawing, the scribbly markmaking became quite psychedelic. I want to fill the whole sketchbook with these elder women and then maybe do something with them digitally, because otherwise it’s just about impossible to display a sketchbook without taking it apart.
I’m really enjoying the 10 minute head sketches from photos I’ve been doing recently. As well as helping me to practice accurate speed sketching, my chosen subject, elderly women, is fascinating. I look forward each evening to exploring the heads I find on Google, they are so full of character and experience. This elder woman has extraordinary eyes, so full of life. She is beautiful.
I drew her with graphite, white and black conté crayon into my hardbacked A4 sketchbook that I prepared with ripped brown parcel paper, stuck in with Pritt stick. I always use Pritt because it doesn’t buckle the paper and it stays stuck. Cheaper versions don’t. The brown paper gives me a mid-tone ground over which I apply highlights and lowlights which is quite dramatic. It also gives a good texture when I rub my conté over it.
Carrying on with the quick head sketches, I Googled another photo of an elderly woman and did a 10 minute timed sketch. I drew into my A4 hardbound sketchbook with a graphite stick and white conte crayon. I had prepared a lot of the sketchbook’s pages with brown wrapping paper stuck in with Pritt stick. As we age, the difference in looks between men and women becomes less obvious. I love to draw older people, their faces reflect the experience of a lifetime. I hate the way our culture is so obsessed with youth that many people have their faces stretched with cosmetic surgery, deleting the story of their life. Such a shame.
We have a terrific art gallery in Swansea, Galerie Simpson, which not only shows fabulous art exhibitions but also hosts excellent events. Husb and I went to one today, a talk and Q&A session by Welsh punk musician and author, Rhys Mwyn. Fascinating stuff. I had a quick scribble, as I always do. It’s hard to draw a moving person and Rhys was very animated. I find that I have to get the first few critical lines down as quickly as possible, the forehead and nose and then wait until the person moves back into that position and sketch in a bit more. And again. And again. Eventually I end up with an approximation of the person. It isn’t exact but I think it captures essence and movement in a way that a formal pose never would.
Sometimes it’s getting late and I haven’t done any drawing so I look around for something quick to do. I try to draw every day because that’s what underpins my practice as an artist, rather like a singer practicing their scales every day. If I’m stuck, I turn to the Internet and google images of people, choose one and time myself- a strict 6 minutes to scribble a reasonable drawing. I like to choose elders because their faces are so interesting, so expressive. They have history and stories flickering across their faces. I drew this with a graphite stick into my A5 black hardbound sketchbook.
We have one of our young nephews on a sleepover and I scribbled him as he watched a film. He’s at that in betweeny age, just leaving boyhood but not quite adolescent, so he has this little skinny, gangly, Bambi body with a large head wobbling on top. His face is starting to fill out too. Very hard to draw though, I’ve only just started to get used to little children’s alien faces and this is half way between a kid and an adult. Weird.
The tabletop pasta maker had it’s first trial as a mobile printing press today. RESULT!!!!! It worked beautifully. It’s taken ages to renovate because we had stored it in a really damp cupboard and it was badly rusted, but WD40, patience and elbow grease did the job.
Here’s how I recycled it…………….
Cutting paper drypoint plate to size
Drawing onto paper drypoint plate with drawing pen
Scratching the lines into the plate surface with a drypoint tool
Cutting Bockingford paper to size
Soaking the paper, about an hour will do
Wipe away the ink drawing, don’t use a wet cloth, just slightly damp!
Cutting press blankets from felted wool to just fir into the press
First, I cut a piece of Intaglio Printmaker’s paper drypoint etching plate and then I redrew a little drawing of a hare onto it, from one of my sketchbooks, using a Faber Castell Pitt drawing pen, size S. Thirdly, I scratched over the linework with my drypoint tool, just breaking the surface of the plastic coating. Then I cut and soaked some small pieces of Bockingford before removing the pen drawing with a very lightly dampened piece of cotton wool. Finally I cut some pieces of felted wool to be used as tiny blankets for the pasta press.
Inking up the drypoint plate ………..
Using special drypoint ink , an oil-based one from Intaglio Printmakers
Softening the ink on a recycled marble inking slab
Using a rubber squeegee to apply ink to plate
Using an old business card, or recylcle a credit card, to remove excess ink
Don’t remove too much ink, it’s easy to rub too hard
Clean the edges with a rag and check the back too
Drain the paper – I used ‘toaster’ tongs – repurposed what I had in the kitchen
Blotting with kitchen roll and a cheap roller (brayer)
I put a blob of Intaglio Printmaker’s Drypoint Mix oil–based etching ink onto my inking block (a recycled bit of marble from an old fireplace) and picked some up with a mini rubber squeegee. I squeegeed the ink across the little drypoint plate then removed the excess, firstly with the edge of an old business card and then with a piece of tissue paper, taking care not to take too much off. Finally I wiped the edges with a rag, cleaned my hands and blotted a piece of the soaked Bockingford paper.
Making a blanket sandwich …….
First layer, one of the felt blankets
Second layer, a clean piece of tissue
Third layer, the blotted Bockingford paper
Fourth layer, the inked plate, face down
Fifth layer, another piece of clean tissue
Sixth layer, the second felt blanket
On top of one of the first blanket I laid a clean piece of tissue paper, then the blotted Bockingford and then placed the drypoint plate, inky side down, then another layer of tissue and finally the second blanket.
Taking the print ……..
Grip the blanket sandwich firmly so none of the pieces move
Feed it into the machine and turn the handle
Carefully peel away the layers of the blanket sandwich and here’s your little drypoint print.
I picked up the blanket sandwich very carefully and firmly, making sure none of the layers slipped and rested the bottom edge onto the rollers in the pasta press. I turned the handle with one hand while keeping a tight grip on the blanket sandwich with the other. Once it was through, I peeled away the layers and voila! A teeny little etching.
These paper drypoint plates make an edition of 10 or so etchings before wearing out. I think I might try some hand colouring on these little hares, with my Winsor & Newton Artist’s Watercolours.
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