I rooted around in the garden for a selection of leaves for my recent adult education session on Gelli plate printing. The delicate leaves at the top are from a dwarf lilac, Flowerfesta Pink, that is still growing new leaves in mid-September. The ones at the bottom from the hardy evergreen ivy. Although sceptical about gel plates at first, I’m enjoying using them with botanical subjects.

I’m using a Gelli Arts plate with Liquitex heavy body acrylic paints. I used Dioxazine Purple, Pthalocyanine Blue and Hookers Green for the leaves (first layer) and Titanium White for the background (second layer).

The “oooohhh” Factor.

I really didn’t like gel-plate printing when I first tried it. I thought it was gimmicky and superficial. But I’m warming to it. It’s a very good technique to use in adult education as it’s very accessible to people who would normally avoid anything to do with art. Unfortunately, so many people had bad experiences in school that put them off art for life. With some practice I’ve learnt techniques that have the “oooohhh” factor as people are peeling their prints off the gel, and that hooks them in to maybe try other arty things.

These leaves are so subtle and delicate, the detail is gorgeous. I’m using a Gelli Arts plate with Liquitex heavy body acrylic paints. I used Dioxazine Purple, Pthalocyanine Blue and Hookers Green for the leaves (first layer) and Unbleached Titanium for the background (second layer).

Up A Hill In The Sunshine.

I love Adult Education, it’s such a joy to teach people. I work several sessions a week with different groups of participants. Today I spent a couple of happy hours up Kilvey Hill in Swansea in the sunshine, taking Gelli Plate prints from the local trees and using recycled bubble wrap to create background textures too. Gelli Plate is a very accessible way to make an image and if you take care of the plate, it’s also pretty cheap too. I’m working the Kilvey Hill sessions via Coed Lleol and Swansea Print Workshop.

#Caturday – The Chunky One.

I know it’s late 😀 Yesterday was one of those hectic days – nice though. So here’s an analytical sketch of the chunky one – Sparta Puss, our naughty tortie. An analytical sketch is one that tries to analyse the shapes and get used to what’s going on before developing further. I’ll probably do 2 or 3 of these before I’m happy with the result.

Sketchbook Archives: 10

These sketches were posted on my new-ish blog in June 2012. They’re quite a mix of where I was out and about around that time. There are some people dancing at a gig, a Big Issue seller and some shop security men on Swansea’s upper Oxford street. A friend washing up in his kitchen and people in cafes.

Little Figures, Big Press. And Cakes.

Had a lovely afternoon last Saturday down at Swansea Print Workshop. I and the artists I went to Germany with, Chris Bird-Jones, Sarah Hopkins, Rhiannon Rees and Rhian Haf, held an open afternoon where we presented an illustrated talk and showed the work we did at Atelierhof Werenzhaim. I cut up the huge paper into 3 sections to carry them back across Europe and I’ve laid them out next to our fabulous 1920s Radcliffe etching press so you can see the size of them. I must count how many figures there are, sometime.

I made a couple of cakes for the event. On the left a gluten-free almond lemon cake decorated with maple-soaked plums. On the right, a classic jam and buttercream sponge. They went down well.

More Layering, More Pretty.

Another of the random heads I drew recently a few days ago, with some additional drawing layered over it with my home-made walnut ink (bottom right). Like the head I posted yesterday, I scanned and loaded it into Adobe Photoshop and tried out a couple of different Gradient Map options (left and top right). And there’s more pretty stuff going on.

Layering Some Pretty Stuff.

I drew a random head a few days ago (top right) and today I drew into it a bit more with my home-made walnut ink (top left), not planning anything, just emptying my head of thoughts and letting my hand and the brush do their own thing. I wasn’t sure whether to carry on adding layers of ink, so I scanned it and loaded it up into Adobe Photoshop and tried out a couple of different Gradient Map options (middle right and bottom). There’s some pretty stuff going on in them.

Sketchbook Archives: 9

I posted these sketchbook scribbles less than a year after I started this blog, back in May 2012. Three of them are of a biker’s funeral at the local Gospel Hall, then there are random people and my little great-nephew, who is much bigger now and got married a few weeks ago.

#Caturday Saturday.

Here’s our little rescue cat, Bill AKA William Chat Noir formerly Phoebe. She was very timid and depressed when she came to us, just over a year ago. She was 14 years old, her human had passed and she was handed into a rescue centre. She had been with her human since she was a kitten so she was very traumatised. But she’s completely settled in now, and quite a cheeky chops.