Quick Scribbles

03 beachWent for a good walk today, taking in a couple of parks and the beach and we stopped at the little cafe on the promenade where I did a scribble into my small spotty sketchbook. Then took a walk around the city centre where I scribbled a few people standing at a traffic crossing.

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They’re not great works of art, but doing these quick sketches is a regular part of my practice. I think it’s important to draw every day even if it’s just for a few minutes. Drawing quickly in public helps to focus on the most important features and trains me to get the details down quickly.

Up The Mountains

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Here are some more quick impressionistic landscape sketches that I did during my recent printmaking residency in Rawalpindi. We were travelling through the mountains outside Islamabad. I averaged about 6 minutes a sketch, using Daler Rowney soft pastels into my Khadi sketchbook.

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The residency was supported by Wales Arts International and Arts Council Wales

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Back To Normal

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Just got back from the life drawing session at Swansea Print Workshop. I’ve been home from Pakistan for 5 days and need to re establish my regular routine. I have worked with this model for some years now; tonight I decided to focus on doing a portrait. I saved it frequently to show the development of the drawing.

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I drew this with my Samsung Galaxy Tablet Note 8 using the free Markers app.

The Last Drawing.

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This is the very last drawing I did on my Pakistan residency. I drew this elderly lady as she slept on the plane journey on the way back from Kuwait, into my little A6 sketchbook using a Faber Castell Pitt drawing pen size S.

The residency was supported by Wales Arts International and Arts Council Wales.

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The Ghost And The Fishermen

april 29 ghostI produced two new monotypes during my recent residency in Pakistan. The technique also gives a ghost image as well as a full-colour one. Impressionists such as Degas and Monet used to work over their ghost monotypes with pastels and if it’s good enough for them…… Here’s the ghost of ‘Footfall At Taxila’. I applied a little Daler-Rowney soft pastel (artist’s quality) to bring out the lowlights and to slightly enhance the colour on the socks, trainers and kemeez. I also added a light emphasis to the edge of the rocky outcrop to delineate it from the background landscape. It’s not a complete reworking, just a little tweak.

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Just before we left Pakistan, friends took us to Rawal lake and we watched the sun setting, listened to the muezzins calling to prayer and sipped lemongrass tea as these two fishermen quietly went about their business. Idyllic. I’m back home now and missing it.

This residency was supported by Wales Arts International and Arts Council Wales.

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Ethical Photo Use?

A cautionary tale – how safe are the images that artists post?

paperstew's avatarSticks, Stones, and Paper Stew Blog

white_flat-book_©Gale Everett

Every once in a while I check Google for my name and see what come up. I browse through multiple pages and click links that I’ve not seen posted before. Friday, I ran across a class taught at the Virginia Arts of the Book Center using one of my images for advertising a class. Wow, I have to admit I was shocked to see use of my work in this manner.  Ok, a little background:  this image is being pinned all over Pinterest along with other book creations I’ve made. Bookmaking is not a full time job, but something I like to do every once in a while. I created a tutorial because I had received a nice request from someone in the UK. The end book was photographed in my studio but I FAILED to place a © on the image. My studio name is on the photo along…

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Last Night In Islamabad

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We went to a literary festival in Islamabad on our last evening and as usual, I had a scribble. I used my Samsung Galaxy Tablet Note 8 and saved the drawing regularly to show the different stages, using a free Markers app. This lady was sitting in front of us.

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My residency in the Zaira Zaka Print Studio in Rawalpindi is now over and I arrived home last night. It’s cold and wet. Nothing new there, then.

This residency has been supported by Wales Arts International and Arts Council Wales.

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Coming Home……

Bani Gala

So here I am at Kuwait Airport, having a cuppa tea on my way home from my printmaking residency in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. It seems like just a few days ago that I was sitting here on the way over,but it was almost a month. The time I spent there was so intense, so packed that it shot by.

Jet lag, a visit to the ancient monuments at Taxila; working day and night in the Zaira Zaka printmaking studio with my fellow artists Hannah Lawson, Zaira Ahmed Zaka and Atif Khan; the exhibition launch at the fabulous Satrang Gallery in Islamabad; the hectic weekend in Lahore for my birthday; a full schedule of meeting with artists and gallery owners when we came back from Crazy Lahore.

I made a lot of new work; 4 editions of drypoint etchings, 4 Monotypes and 40 drawings so far. I need a holiday!

This is a pastel drawing I did shortly before we left, at sunset at Lake Rawal in the Bani Gala area of Islamabad. I used Daler Rowney soft pastels into my Khadi sketchbook.

This residency has been supported by Wales Arts International and Arts Council Wales

 

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Even More Lahore

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Lahore is probably the craziest city I’ve ever been in, makes London and New York look provincial. The traffic is relentless but I was up early on Sunday morning and I sat in the hotel foyer, looking out of the window at silence. No traffic, no people, no mayhem. So I had a quick scribble. Like I always do.

Just one more day to go on my printmaking residency in Rawalpindi, flying home tomorrow. It’s gone so fast. It’s been supported by Wales Arts International and Arts Council Wales.

rose acw

More From Lahore

elephant 1Here’s a little sketch I did in Lahore at the weekend. We’d gone to visit the old part of the city and ended up at Cooco’s Den, a famous restaurant in the red light district. It’s at the top of an old brothel and is decorated with masses of carvings, old and new, stained glass and artefacts. It’s one of a kind. I sketched just a tiny fragment of the place, a large wooden elephant, carved and standing in amongst the old hammered beams. I’m thinking of turning it into a drypoint. Drawn into my little spotty A6 sketchbook with Faber Castell Pitt pens, sizes S and F.

 

This residency has been supported by Wales Arts International and Arts Council Wales.

rose acw