Quick Conference Sketch: 3.

A small line drawing of a man in black shirt, trousers and boots leaning back in an armless chair. He looks very comfortable, both his feet are off the floor. He wears glasses and his right hand rests on his left thigh while his left hand rests on a table and supports himself and the tilted chair
Laid Back.

Here’s another quick sketch I did at the conference I went to last week. It was quite a relaxed event and this guy across the room was very laid back in his chair. I used a Faber Castell Pitt drawing pen (Sepia, size S) into my small leatherbound sketchbook.

Quick Conference Sketch: 2

I was at a conference over last weekend. It was a good one, not one of the boring, meaningless jollies I remember from my younger working days. I guess people don’t have time to waste now, or demand better value for money. But I found a few minutes here and there to have a quick scribble into my teeny leather-bound sketchbook with a Faber Castell Pitt drawing pen (Sepia size S).

Quick Conference Sketch: 1

A line drawing in pen and ink, black onto white paper, of a young man with a lot of dark hair. He is viewed from side-on, turning away from the artist slightly. He is wearing a busy plaid shirt. He is drawn from the upper body and is sitting in a high backed chair.

I was at a conference over last weekend. It was a good one, not one of the boring, meaningless jollies I remember from my younger working days. I guess people don’t have time to waste now, or demand better value for money. But I found a few minutes here and there to have a quick scribble.

Wonderful Colourful.

The photo shows a drawing in pen and watercolour of a seated young person dressed in bright clothes, with orange/yellow hair, a green and yellow shirt and blue jeans patched with bright pieces of different materials. At their feet is a bright red and white crumpled bag with the partly obscured logo of Yes Cymru.

Husb and I have been at a conference all weekend, it was hard work but really informative and provocative – in a good way – provoking thought and plans and action. I managed to find a bit of time for sketching though, with my Faber Castell Pitt drawing pens (Sepia) and Inktense watercolour blocks. I saw this wonderful colourful person across the room and I thought “I’ll be ‘aving you!” 😀

Bearded Quickies.

I did some quick sketches today, of the same man but from different angles. He has a beard, high forehead and glasses which is a difficult combination to sketch. It’s all good practice though.

A New Home ….

Eleven sketchbooks of different sizes and coloured covers: pink and purple, brown, black and white. One tiny sketchbook is covered in flowered silk in plum and cream. A small one has three blue stylised cats on a bronze background. Two have decorated brown leather covers.

Here are eleven of my sketchbooks going back almost two decades and tomorrow they’re going to a new home ……. I’ll tell you where when I’ve delivered them 😀

A Quickie At The Pub Quiz.

A quick scribble at the pub quiz the other evening, with a Faber Castell Pitt drawing pen into my little leather-bound sketchbook.

A Rub-Down With Wire Wool.

I spent the afternoon at Swansea Print Workshop, practising with letterpress again. After last weeks big fail, I went back to an acronym. The type is old, wooden, vintage and some possibly antique and I’m not familiar enough with it yet to be able to tell what condition it’s in until I’ve printed it. This group of letters was a bit rough, to be honest, but I like the design they make.

I did a few proof prints using Cranfield Safe Wash Relief Ink, rainbow rolled and then had a good look at the flaws. Some are nicks and wear and tear but others were a build-up of ink over the years. I gave them a good clean with vegetable oil and then a rub-down with wire wool. I’ll try printing them again next session and see if it improves the print quality.

Epic Fail!

Sometimes things go wrong and I had an epic fail a few days ago when I was working on a new Letterpress piece at Swansea Print Workshop. I spent ages setting up the type, I really liked how it looked in its wooden state so I inked it up with a rainbow roll, using Cranfied Safe-Wash Relief ink in Process Yellow, Cyan and Magenta.

I printed it up on the magnificent old Columbian Press …. and hated it! The type doesn’t suit the subject, it’s too small and insignificant.

The type is vintage and has suffered a few knocks during the course of its life and although that can be good, in my opinion, these few letters had too much damage for my liking. So back to the drawing board, I’ll try again with a different type face.

A photograph of a black square canvas which has 9 black and white abstract badges lined up in a 3 by 3 square towards the top left hand side and a black and yellow abstract badge on it's own in the bottom right corner. The artwork is called Outsider and reflects the loneliness of the yellow badge which is different to all the others.
“Outsider”.

Yesterday I made a couple of sheets of little circular designs, 24 in all, trying out some ideas for some Adult Education sessions I’ll be running soon. Today I chose 10 of them to make up into badges and mount onto a small canvas that I painted black.

I’ve had the badge machine for a while, it was an impulse buy during the Covid19 lockdown, but I haven’t done much with it. I really like the work of contemporary printmaker and artist Ryan McGinnis and I remembered seeing some of his canvasses mounted with screenprinted badges at an exhibition way back, 2007 I think, and that’s inspired me.

I tried them out in different combinations. I like them all, the way they’re laid out onto the background gives a different meaning to each image. I think I like the one at the top the most, I’ve called it “Outsider”.