Freeing Up

07 mari

Just back from life drawing at Swansea Print Workshop. I try to get there every week for practice. I don’t go to produce a perfect drawing; it’s a chance to loosen up and try out different things. I’ve been working on some small, very detailed ink drawings lately and I felt like freeing myself up a bit. I worked on A3 paper with charcoal, carbon, oil bars and oil pastel, enjoying the feel of the materials on the paper and the movements of my arm and hand. I like getting into the physicality of drawing when I can.

Ghosts

06uglvghosta06uglvghostb06uglvghostcI’ve been making full-colour monotypes the past couple of weeks and the technique gives one intensely coloured print and one lighter, ghost, print. This is because after you’ve taken a full-colour print, you put the plate back through the press with another sheet of paper to mop up the ink remaining on the plate. Here are the three ‘ghost’ stages of the last piece I did. If you want to know more about the process, have a look at the Techie section on my website, here.

Husb and I are just back from the cinema; went to see Thor 2, The Dark World. We loved it! I was a bit strange when I was a little girl. All the other girls in school read girly comics, but I’d be devouring Marvel and DC imports – Thor was one of my favourites along with the X-Men, Silver Surfer and Doctor Strange.

OOH! AAH! Fireworks!

05 lad

Bonfire night! Husb and I went to the municipal firework display this evening. It was fantastic! Best one I’ve seen. Kudos to Swansea Council – a grand job. When it finished we crossed the road to the beach for the feral fireworks; thousands of teens and twenty-somethings packed onto the beach lighting bonfires and setting off fireworks in a very narrow strip of sand as the tide was fully in. Dangerous but a terrific atmosphere.

05 dad

The little kid in the top sketch was wearing a hat almost as big as his body. It had enormous flapping ears. The big Dad in the bottom drawing was dancing with his tiny daughter perched safely on his shoulders. There’s a long tradition of a fire festival at this time of year’ the Gaelic Samhain and the Celtic / Welsh Calan Gaeaf. Guy Fawkes night is relatively recent, only about 4 centuries old, The word bonfire is supposedly derived from ‘bone fire’. Apparently our ancient ancestors liked to burn people in big wicker men every winter. Not very nice at all. Bonfire night is great fun now though.

Reality And Virtuality.

03 uglv 2c

I’ve been at the Print Workshop grafting on some  full-colour monotypes for the new exhibition. Here’s the second one finished. I posted stages one and two yesterday; this is what it looks like after the final, Process Blue, layer. I’ve used Intaglio Printmakers relief/litho oil-based pigment onto BFK Rives 250gsm paper. Back in the summer, I wandered with Husb along the Lower Swansea Valley river path, sketching and photographing industrial ruins. I noticed that most of them had graffiti so I merged some drawings I’d done of characters around town with the buildings and created my own tag, #uglv. I’m posting updates onto that hashtag on Twitter. I like the idea of linking the traditional art of printmaking (the Impressionists used this monotype technique) with 21st century social media, so that the work has a life in reality and virtuality.

Two Down, One To Go…

02 uglv2

Back at Swansea Print Workshop for a long shift to do another 3-colour reduction monotype in time for the new exhibition in a couple of weeks. Above is the first layer in Process Yellow and below, the monotype after the second, Process Red, layer has been printed.

02 uglv2b

Tomorrow I’ll post the final print, after the third layer in Process Blue. If you want to find out more about this technique, I show the process on my website here.  And now I’m absolutely cream-crackered after being on my feet almost constantly for 10 hours. Time to chill out in front of the telly 😀

Squished Man

01 ben

Went to life drawing at Swansea Print Workshop last night and our model did a great recliner pose. I love drawing foreshortening because I really like weird stuff. Our model, Ben, looks squished in my drawing but I kept checking and measuring so it’s reasonably accurate. Just weird. I used my Samsung Galaxy tablet with a free Magic Marker app.

PHEW!

uglv 5

I was back at Swansea Print Workshop this evening to put the final layer of ink onto my monotype – the Process Blue. It’s this final stage that either pulls the whole thing together or results in me sobbing inwardly and resolving to get a job filling shelves in a supermarket instead of ever doing this stupid art thing ever again! But I’m very happy with the final print. And also with the ghost below. I don’t normally like the ghosts but this is quite a strong one. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, there’s an explanation of the technique on my website here.

uglv 6

The piece is based on drawings and research I did into the industrial past in the Lower Swansea Valley and drawings I did of people round the city. If you’re wandering about the graffiti in the piece, come and visit on #uglv on Twitter.

Working Like The Clappers

30 uglv1

Did a really long session at Swansea Print Workshop as there’s nothing like a deadline to make you work like the clappers. I’m working on two full-colour monotypes at the moment. Each print has three separate layers overlaid. The first is Process Yellow, then Process Red and finally Process Blue. Today I managed to do the yellow and red layers. Back tomorrow to do the final one.

30 uglv2

This process results in one full colour print and one ‘ghost’ which is made by putting the plate through the press again with a second piece of paper which mops up the final traces of ink.

30 uglv330 uglv4

Tomorrow, the final layer which will either pull the whole thing together or reduce me to tears. I love printmaking – living on the edge!

 

Pomp And Sandi

29 SandiHusb and I just got back from our local theatre. We went to see Sandi Toksvig who is one of the funniest people I’ve ever heard. She had the entire theatre in hysterics for way over 2 hours and I ended up sore from laughing so much. Brilliant. I love her. The Grand Theatre is a wonderful Victorian pile, full of pomp and stucco, fat cherubs and naked angels floating in clouds of gold leaf and crystal chandeliers. The place was packed to the rafters to see Sandi and it was great to soak in the atmosphere in such a beautiful space.

I did a quick scribble where we sat in the Grand Circle (which isn’t any grander in my opinion than the other circle) taking in a few of the audience and a bit of the stucco work in the background. I used Faber Castrell Pitt pens sizes S, F, M and B into my clothbound A5 sketchbook, prepared with ripped brown packing paper stuck in with Pritt stick. It’s got to be Pritt, I haven’t found anything else as good.

Heavy is the head…

One of the funniest writers in Wales. This spoof of Welsh public life is not only hilarious but also very close to the truth…….     Heavy is the head….