This is one of the simplest of the twig’n’ink sketches I did in Germany recently and I had to try it out in many Photoshop filters before I was happy with it.

I went to the artist residency with four other Welsh women artists, Chris Bird-Jones, Sarah Hopkins , Rhiannon Rees  and Rhian Haf. We have been supported by Wales Arts International. We are all members of AGOR Abertawe, set up to facilitate creative activity between women artists in Swansea / South Wales, and the Brandenburg area. We were mostly at the Atelierhof Werenzhaim, an artist community founded in 1996 by artists from East and West Germany in a 14th century former feudal tavern estate.

Spots Before My Eyes!

Still loving putting my “singleton” figures through Adobe Photoshop. I drew the original with a twig and some ink onto Khadi paper and put it into a Stamp filter, a Spot Half-Tone filter, and then through a Gradient Map. You can see my original here.

I went to the artist residency with four other Welsh women artists, Chris Bird-Jones, Sarah Hopkins , Rhiannon Rees  and Rhian Haf. We have been supported by Wales Arts International. We are all members of AGOR Abertawe, set up to facilitate creative activity between women artists in Swansea / South Wales, and the Brandenburg area. We were mostly at the Atelierhof Werenzhaim, an artist community founded in 1996 by artists from East and West Germany in a 14th century former feudal tavern estate.

Sponging…

I did another Adobe Photoshop transformation of one of my little drawings from my recent residency. My original was first put into “Sponge Painting” in the Filter Gallery, then pushed through “Gradient Map”.

I went to the artist residency with four other Welsh women artists, Chris Bird-Jones, Sarah Hopkins , Rhiannon Rees  and Rhian Haf. We have been supported by Wales Arts International. We are all members of AGOR Abertawe, set up to facilitate creative activity between women artists in Swansea / South Wales, and the Brandenburg area. We were mostly at the Atelierhof Werenzhaim, an artist community founded in 1996 by artists from East and West Germany in a 14th century former feudal tavern estate.

Like the 1960s.

I guess a lot of people use Adobe Photoshop and are used to it, but I don’t get much chance to play with it and I’m having a great time pushing these little figures through different functions. This is one of the single figures I drew with a twig and some ink onto Khadi paper. The black and white original was put into a circle half-tone and then through a Gradient Map. It’s fun! It’s reminds me of 1960s Op Art. You can see my original here.

I went to the artist residency with four other Welsh women artists, Chris Bird-Jones, Sarah Hopkins , Rhiannon Rees  and Rhian Haf. We have been supported by Wales Arts International. We are all members of AGOR Abertawe, set up to facilitate creative activity between women artists in Swansea / South Wales, and the Brandenburg area. We were mostly at the Atelierhof Werenzhaim, an artist community founded in 1996 by artists from East and West Germany in a 14th century former feudal tavern estate.

Breaking Textures.

I’m still pushing my small twig and ink figures through Adobe Photoshop to see what happens. I’m mainly using Gradient Map. I like the way it enhances the breaking textures on the figures, which are hard to see on the black ink originals.

I went to the artist residency with four other Welsh women artists, Chris Bird-Jones, Sarah Hopkins , Rhiannon Rees  and Rhian Haf. We have been supported by Wales Arts International. We are all members of AGOR Abertawe, set up to facilitate creative activity between women artists in Swansea / South Wales, and the Brandenburg area. We were mostly at the Atelierhof Werenzhaim, an artist community founded in 1996 by artists from East and West Germany in a 14th century former feudal tavern estate.

Getting Up Close.

I don’t know how many little figures I drew on the big piece of paper during my recent residency in Germany, I haven’t counted them yet. They’re tucked away in a tube and I haven’t unwrapped them since I got home. Getting them home, now there’s a story! There’s probably more than a hundred and I’m enjoying picking out little groups, or pairs, to play with. I drew this couple originally in black ink with a twig, then I scratched into the wet ink with the narrow end of a bamboo pen to make the scribbly marks. In Adobe Photoshop, I cropped these 2 from a larger picture, inverted the image then pushed it into one of the colour combos in Gradient Map. I think they’ve gone from sombre to joyous.

I went to the artist residency with four other Welsh women artists, Chris Bird-Jones, Sarah Hopkins , Rhiannon Rees  and Rhian Haf. We have been supported by Wales Arts International. We are all members of AGOR Abertawe, set up to facilitate creative activity between women artists in Swansea / South Wales, and the Brandenburg area. We were mostly at the Atelierhof Werenzhaim, an artist community founded in 1996 by artists from East and West Germany in a 14th century former feudal tavern estate.

Fluorescent Twig Figures.

I did experimental drawings during my recent art residency in Germany, firstly with bamboo pens and then with random twigs dipped in ink. These twig figures are the ones I like best, the textures are more complex. Now that I’m back in my home city (away from the forests and wolves) I’m having a good time playing about with the figures in Adobe Photoshop, using Gradient Maps. I’m loving these fluorescent colours, they’re so different to the rather sinister black and white originals.

I went to the artist residency with four other Welsh women artists, Chris Bird-Jones, Sarah Hopkins , Rhiannon Rees  and Rhian Haf. We have been supported by Wales Arts International. We are all members of AGOR Abertawe, set up to facilitate creative activity between women artists in Swansea / South Wales, and the Brandenburg area. We were mostly at the Atelierhof Werenzhaim, an artist community founded in 1996 by artists from East and West Germany in a 14th century former feudal tavern estate.

Home To Colour.

The artwork I did during my recent German residency was in black ink onto white paper, very stark, expressionist. Now that I’m back home, away from the Gothic forests and wolves, I’m playing around with colour (Adobe Photoshop Gradient Map). The images are so different. Yeah I know that’s stating the obvious, but adding colour changes the emotional impact, makes the figures fun and decorative.

I went to the artist residency with four other Welsh women artists, Chris Bird-Jones, Sarah Hopkins , Rhiannon Rees  and Rhian Haf. We have been supported by Wales Arts International. We are all members of AGOR Abertawe, set up to facilitate creative activity between women artists in Swansea / South Wales, and the Brandenburg area. We were mostly at the Atelierhof Werenzhaim, an artist community founded in 1996 by artists from East and West Germany in a 14th century former feudal tavern estate.

Multi-Coloured Angels.

I think I’ve posted all the work I did at my recent residency in Germany, where I worked mostly in black and white. Now I’m going to spend a bit of time having fun with the images and see what I can do with them in Adobe Photoshop. This is a section of the first work I did at Atelier Werenzhaim, where I drew intuitively onto very large paper with a bamboo dip pen and ink. I’ve put the image through AP Gradient Map and now the little creatures look a bit like multi-coloured angels, well, to me anyway.

I went to the artist residency with four other Welsh women artists, Chris Bird-Jones, Sarah Hopkins , Rhiannon Rees  and Rhian Haf. We have been supported by Wales Arts International. We are all members of AGOR Abertawe, set up to facilitate creative activity between women artists in Swansea / South Wales, and the Brandenburg area. We were mostly at the Atelierhof Werenzhaim, an artist community founded in 1996 by artists from East and West Germany in a 14th century former feudal tavern estate.

Dark. Strange. Otherworldly.

There was a time, not that long ago, when I would never have thought that I would be able to visit the German Democratic Republic. And then “The Wall” came down and here I was, just a few weeks ago, in what used to be East Germany, in the silent and dark countryside surrounded by forests and lakes, where wolves are known to prowl. And after a few days these strange figures began to emerge. I had decided that I would not draw from life, but suspend thoughts and direction and let something else guide my hand, with the twig dipped in ink moving over the Khadi paper. The figures that came through seem a bit Gothic to me, dark, strange, otherworldly. I remember the fear of Grimm’s Fairy Tales from my childhood; my love of Expressionist art and film; my scary nightly walks across the deserted courtyard to the toilets, and I wonder if these influences were added into the mix as I drew.

I went to the artist residency with four other Welsh women artists, Chris Bird-Jones, Sarah Hopkins , Rhiannon Rees  and Rhian Haf. We have been supported by Wales Arts International. We are all members of AGOR Abertawe, set up to facilitate creative activity between women artists in Swansea / South Wales, and the Brandenburg area. We were mostly at the Atelierhof Werenzhaim, an artist community founded in 1996 by artists from East and West Germany in a 14th century former feudal tavern estate.