Been hacking away at a lump of old plywood for a couple of days and took a first proof of it today. I used Daler Rowney block printing medium mixed with Daler Rowney lamp black Georgian oil paint and took the print using a Japanese baren onto Fabriano Accademica 120 gsm paper. I can’t get a dense black using a baren but it’s ok for a first proof. Now I can see where I need to do more hacking before I take it off to Swansea Print Workshop for a proper tryout on our old Columbian press.
The only way to get good at anything is to keep at it and practice. I know that’s stating the bleedin’ obvious but so many people don’t seem to get it.
Here are some of the life drawings I did last week. I did these four, which are a bit naff and one I was pleased with (posted last week). The point is that I had to keep at it to get a decent one. There’s no use sitting around moaning about not being able to draw if people are not willing to put in the time and effort to practice. Oooh I sound like a schoolmarm LOL 😀
I try and spend a few minutes scribbling each day. If there isn’t a specific topic to interest me, I’ll wander along to the large windows at the east side of our studio block and do some speed sketching at around 4-5pm when people are making their way home. It’s good practice because I have to capture the figures in seconds, focussing on what’s absolutely vital about each individual. You have to think on your feet.
I’ve been hacking away at my lump of old plywood today. I darkened the outline drawing I did yesterday with a greasy charcoaly thing from Daler Rowney – I should be more technical I know, but I lost the box it came in – and then I hacked the white bits out of it. I’m still hacking but I’m hoping to do a first proof next week.
The Swansea Print Workshop annual members’ exhibition previews next Tuesday (13th November) from 6.30 pm with a classic Welsh tea – Welsh Cakes, Bara Brith, lashings of tea and some wine too. Please join us if you’re anywhere near Swansea. The exhibition runs until December 20th and there will be loads of stuff to buy for Xmas pressies and cards too.
Went to life drawing tonight and had a hard time for the first couple of hours but turned up trumps on the last pose. I really like the drawing I did – I was so fed up I stopped caring and it seemed to work. Because of where I was sitting there was a fair bit of foreshortening but I took liberties and exaggerated it anyway. Egon Schiele did it all the time and if it’s good enough for Egon, it’s certainly good enough for me. Done in dip pen and Indian Ink with a sable brush and wash into an A3 spiral bound sketchbook – not a particularly good one TBH.
…..and I know how to use it :).
I’ve got a stack of plywood offcuts hanging around the studio so I thought I’d do some woodcuts from my sketches. I’ve decided to work on male nudes for the foreseeable future and I’ve just completed a series of three very large manier noir drawings, including one from the sketch above. So now I’m going to develop the three images into woodcuts as well. Here it is at the start, reversed and transferred onto plywood, ready to start hacking away. I usually use PVC signwriter’s foamboard or traditional lino for block printing, so it’s going to be a bit of a challenge using wood but I’ve got some cracking cutting tools and a top class sharpening strop so I’ll give it a go. I’ve also been reading up a lot on the German Expressionists, who loved their woodcuts, so I’m in illustrious company.
Feeling bleeuurrgghhh. Got a bit of a lurgi. I did a long teaching stint down at Print Workshop today then went to work at my studio, then grabbed some chips with Husb before going to an event at the Print Workshop then walked home feeling dog rough. So I’ve been wrapped in a blankie in front of the telly for the past couple of hours and that’s where I’m staying. And I didn’t do any scribbling today so here’s an oldie from one of my old sketchbooks. I went through a phase of drawing in pen into an A3 sketchpad, taking in the surroundings as well as the model in life drawing group.
Guy Fawkes Night!!!!! A great British tradition. Some say that Guy Fawkes is the only person ever to have entered the Houses of Parliament with honest intentions. Tonight we took a young relative to the municipal fireworks display just across the road from the sea. It was terrific, some of the best fireworks I’ve seen. It was a good chance to sketch in crowd too and there were loads of hats. Then afterwards, we strolled along the beach for a while. Over the last decade or so, crowds of mostly younger people flock onto the beach on Guy Fawkes night, setting off their own foreworks, lighting bonfires and partying. You hardly ever see people using the beach in the summer, but here we are on a very cold wintry night and there are thousands.
Did some sprog sitting over the weekend with a gaggle of small nieces and nephews, so I grabbed the chance to do some more scribbles of children’s heads. Weird little alien bonces are very hard to draw. The proportions are so difficult – they have impossibly huge eyes. I’ll get there …. one day ….. if I can stop them fidgeting so much. I suppose tying them to the chair isn’t allowed any more …… 😉
I’ve been working on some very large manier noir drawings, based on life drawings from my sketchbooks, The drawings are on paper about 120cms high, Fabriano Accademica, coated with acrylic gesso and rubbed all over with compressed charcoal. I thought I’d do a series of male nudes – there are loads in my sketchbooks so might as well use them. Here he is sketched out with a bit of white chalk and I’ve started to develop the tones by rubbing the charcoal away with wire wool and sandpaper. Another day or so should do it.
scribblah 