Prepping Paper.

Somerset paper, walnut ink.

I prepped some paper yesterday with gesso and my home-made walnut ink. I have to be careful with the ink as I am allergic to walnuts, proper anaphylactic stuff, so plastic gloves, mask and lots of ventilation are needed when I’m spreading it onto the paper. It seems ok to work with when it’s dry though. It’s quite smelly because it contains 20% surgical spirits (rubbing alcohol) to preserve it as it’s organic and grows mould without the alcohol.

Painting the ink over a coat of dry acrylic gesso.

The ink is made from the husks, the fruit around the actual walnut and gives a beautiful, colour-fast sepia ink. You can read how to make walnut husk ink here in one of my previous blog posts.

Tools Of The Trade: 1.

A photograph of many paintbrushes in a pot seen from above on a dark background. The brushes are different colours, from reddish-browns through light browns to white. There are different shapes; round and pointed, square and flat, fan shaped.
Plenty of brushes.

This blog has always been about my art practice but I don’t often post about the tools I use. And of course these underpin everything I do. Here’s a selection of brushes, some for watercolours and inks, some for acrylic paint. I don’t use oil paints. The toothbrush is for splatter and the feather – well I don’t know. It looks good in the pot 😀

Just A Quickie …..

Just a quick little scribble in a cafe, took about a minute with a Faber Castell Pitt drawing pen into my tiny leather-bound sketchbook.

#StandingStoneSunday

It’s #StandingStoneSunday and here’s one I did earlier lol 😀 It’s a stone that lives in a small community on the North-East fringe of Swansea, in Bonymaen. The Welsh name of the area means the “base of the stone” and there’s a legend that it’s one end of a vast stone that travels under the city and pops up again in the Gower village of Penmaen, which means “head of the stone”. Although there isn’t a standing stone in Penmaen, there are some ancient stone monuments.

#Caturday.

A Cabinet Cat.

It’s #Caturday Saturday and here’s a blast from the past. Sparta Puss from 10 years ago, drawn in pen into a small sketchbook. She’s sitting on an old glass-fronted cabinet that Husb and I rescued from the street. There’s a cyanotype I did of Husb on her left.

A Simple Still-Life: A “How To” Film.

Here’s a short (2 minute) “How To” film from a recent session I ran at GS Artists in Swansea, as part of their 9to90 Community Arts programme. It was a simple still-life in acrylic paints. The film shows how I started with a couple of basic drawing techniques and then took a look at some examples of still-life paintings of my own before moving on to getting stuck into the painting.

I really love the 9to90 Community Arts programme, it’s rare to have free public art sessions that include many people who might not normally go into art galleries. Jane Simpson and her colleagues at GS Artists have made the gallery so welcoming and informal. The film was shot and edited by Melvyn Williams and is narrated and sub-titled in English.

Legs At Elysium: 3.

And the last of the legs from the Punk and Metal evening at Elysium Gallery bar the other evening, where I stood and scribbled into my tiny leather-bound sketchbook until the urge to jump around got too strong. I’ve been looking down and drawing legs at gigs a couple of times now, easier when you’re a bit squished. I used a Faber Castell Pitt drawing pen and Nitram charcoal stick.

Legs At Elysium: 2

Some more legs from the Elysium Gallery bar the other evening, where Husb and I attended a concert, a musical evening of Punk and Metal. Let’s be honest, I’m too old for a mosh pit, I’m likely to end up with something broken so I like to stand somewhere a bit safer and scribble into my tiny leather-bound sketchbook. When you’re in a crowd though, it’s a tight fit and poor visibility so I’ve been getting into the habit of looking down and drawing legs. I used a Faber Castell Pitt drawing pen and Nitram charcoal stick.

Legs At Elysium: 1

Two line and charcoal drawings of back views of legs. The legs on the left wear tight black trousers tucked into the top of white trainers with a tag at the back. The legs on the right have dark cropped trousers ending mid-calf and very large bulky black high top trainers.

Husb and I were at the Elysium Gallery bar the other evening, for an evening of raucous Punk and Metal, really LOUD! Loved it. I took my tiny leather-bound sketchbook into the audience, there wasn’t much room to draw so I scribbled the legs around me. I did that at another gig a few weeks ago and I’m really getting into it. I drew with a Faber Castell Pitt drawing pen and Nitram charcoal stick.

Charcoal Drawing: A “How To” Film.

A charcoal drawing of a female figure with her right hand in the air. She is wearing a spotted t-shirt and dark trousers with stripy flares at the bottom. In the background are lots of different textures.
Drawing big and messy.

Here’s a short “How To” film from a recent drawing session I ran at GS Artists in Swansea, as part of their 9to90 Community Arts programme. We did HUGE charcoal drawings onto big rolls of paper on the wall and the film shows all the mark-making we did. It was MESSY 😀 Here’s the film in under 2 minutes.

I really love the 9to90 Community Arts programme, it’s rare to have free public art sessions that include many people who might not normally go into art galleries. Jane Simpson and her colleagues at GS Artists have made the gallery so welcoming and informal. The film was made by Melvyn Williams.