I grabbed the twigs I picked up from the path on my recent walk at Ilston and some square Khadi paper that I’d “attacked” with some of my home-made walnut ink. I also have a bottle of Indian ink that had dried out over the years but I added some water and left it to soak for a few weeks and it revived. I emptied my head of thoughts, dipped a twig into the ink and let my hand draw. These simple faces started to emerge. I’m not sure where to take them now, if at all. I’ll sleep on it.
And for this week’s #Caturday, here’s Sparta Puss in Violet and Orange. She’s been very naughty today, leaned across my lap and licked my ice cream, tried to murder me on the stairs (lurking), pooped on the throw that covers her cushion. So today has been a Naughty Tortie Caturday.
Here is a short film (made by Husb) of a drawing I did on my recent residency in Germany during the first day in Berlin, before we went to the Atelier Werenzhain.
I love adult education. So much fun. I was working with a small group this afternoon in a community garden. I demonstrated the effects you can get with some pieces of plants, acrylic paint and Gelli-Plates. By doing a demo, I get to play with the materials too. Lovely Jubbly.
Way back in 2007 I was lucky to travel to Pakistan for a two-week visit with friends from Wales, Denmark and Pakistan. It was a fantastic journey, the country is so geographically and culturally varied, the people kind and friendly. I sketched as I normally do and when I came back to Wales I worked from my sketchbook to create monotypes of the places I had seen. This is Besham, we passed through the area on our journey up the Karakoram Highway. My original sketch is below.
Here’s a selection of sketches I first posted in March 2012, although they weren’t all drawn then. I began blogging in July 2011 to post my sketchbook drawings, so I was picking out examples going back years. These are drawings en plein air. I seemed to do a lot more back then. I think I got out of the habit of going out and about so much during the Covid lockdowns.
It’s #Caturday and this is a local handsome boi who pops around for a visit every few weeks. He stops by for a chat (he’s very vocal) and receives some snacks before going on his way again. He seems very well cared for, I think he’s just a bit of a wanderer who likes to hang out with people.
I have a block of 20 sheets of heavy textured Khadi hand-made Indian paper. I’ve had it around the place for a few years now, not sure what to do with it. I took a similar block with me on my recent residency in Germany and started drawing onto it with twigs dipped in ink. So that’s what I’m doing with this block of paper.
This time, I’m also using a fairly large soft brush dipped in my home-made walnut ink. I’m holding the thought of my recent walk, with Husb, from Ilston to Parkmill which took us though woods and along the heavily shaded river bank, which was nice because it was a very hot and sunny day. The sunshine glowed through the heavy tree canopy.
Husb and I went for a walk recently, from Ilston to Parkmill on the Gower Peninsula, a very atmospheric route through woods and along the tree-lined river. I didn’t do any sketching on the walk, I focused on soaking up the mood of my surroundings. I held on to those feelings today and, working with Khadi handmade paper, Indian ink and my own home-made walnut ink, I made marks quickly and without direction. I’m trying to keep the randomness and openness that I worked with during my residency in Germany last month.
The mini-festival that Husb and I went to over the weekend is part of the annual Swansea Bay Live events characterised by the logo “Joio / Enjoy”, put on by Swansea Council during holiday times. I had a few scribbles while I was listening to the excellent local band Disco Panther.
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