Dark Expressions

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There have been some very high tides for the last couple of days so Husb and I went down to the beach earlier this evening for a look. I took my little hand made Khadi paper sketchbook that I’d prepared with an Indian ink wash, rubbed on with a small natural sponge. I sat in the dark and captured an impression of the darkness and the rough sea with compressed charcoal that I used side on. When I got home I splashed some white ink onto it with a very stiff hog hair brush.

Drawing in the dark isn’t easy, I don’t think there’s any point in trying to do detailed drawings, it’s an ideal situation to just cut loose and get free and expressionistic.

New Life Drawing (Female Nude )

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Here’s the other life drawing I did at last night’s session at Swansea Print Workshop. I’m lucky that we have so many opportunities for life drawing in this city, it’s not available everywhere. It’s important for me to be able to practice anatomical drawing, I think it’s an absolutely vital part of my artwork and skills set.

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This is a new model, an older woman. I like to draw elder models, so much of interest that comes with age. I used my Samsung Galaxy Tablet Note 8 with the free Markers app.

New Model, New Head.

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Just back from life drawing at Swansea Print Workshop with a new digital portrait study. This is a new model and I haven’t drawn her before. This drawing took about 20 minutes on my Samsung Galaxy Tablet Note 8 using the free Markers app. Here’s a slideshow of the development of the drawing.

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Slobbing Out

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Here’s a sleepy cat from a sleepy me. Another one of those evenings when I am slobbing out on my comfy chair with Sparta Puss on the stool. So that’s my daily drawing done. I drew this on my Samsung Galaxy Tablet Note 8 using the free Markers app.

I Scream Ice Cream

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Just a quick one at the end of the evening, a speedy sketch I did at the local ice cream parlour, Joe’s, a landmark for generations of Swansea Jacks, one of the widespread Italian cafés that grew across Wales in the early 20th century.

The ice cream is sublime, possibly the best vanilla in the world.

Drawn with a Faber Castell Pitt drawing pen size F into my A5 Tate Gallery sketchbook.

Ugly, Lovely, Swansea

An artblog from collage artist Melanie Ezra which also features some stuff about me and our home town 🙂

Ugly, Lovely, Swansea.

Beach Dog

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On the beach. A dog. And its trained monkeys. This afternoon, in glorious Spring weather, walking with Husb and little nephew along the promenade in Swansea Bay. It was beautiful and sunny and I snapped this little group at the water’s edge and scribbled from the drawing this evening with graphite into my A5 Tate Gallery sketchbook.

Spring!!!!!!

Has sprung!

 

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Husb and I had a long walk around Swansea Bay earlier, it was glorious weather, crisp and sunny. The prom and beach were full of action, cycling, boarding, skating, running, jogging, walking, dog walking. We stopped for a pot of tea at Blackpill Lido and I scribbled this family at a nearby table, with Faber Castell Pitt drawing pens sizes S and F into my A5 Tate Gallery sketchbook.

Mindless Telly

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What a day. Terrific opening of the new printmaking show at Galerie Simpson earlier. Now I’m shattered and slumped in front of the telly. There isn’t a cat available for sketching, they’re refusing to hang out with the trained monkeys because they’re on the roof bothering magpies, so it’s Husb again. And now, The Voice. Totally lovely mindless telly 😀

Canine Couture

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I spent a lovely afternoon at Galerie Simpson, Swansea’s newest arthouse, helping with the new exhibition which opens tomorrow. And I spent a half hour drawing the delightful gallery puppies, Sonny and Betty, in their couture puppy jackets.

The new show features original prints by contemporary artists including Gavin Turk, Jamie Reid and Gary Hume alongside work from local artists at Swansea Print Workshop. I have a large male nude monotype in the show and there are beautiful etchings, collagraphs, silkscreen prints and lino cuts from 2 dozen Swansea Printmakers. The show opens tomorrow between 4 and 7pm at 222 High Street, Swansea and runs until Easter, opening Tuesday through to Saturday.

The puppies were drawn with graphite into my A5 Tate Gallery sketchbook. They wriggle a lot which made sketching quite difficult, but it’s good practice to try out different anatomy for a change.