Another recent page from my sketchbook, getting back into the swing of scribbling regularly after a fallow period. I scribbled these at an event at GS Artists in Swansea yesterday. Local artist Owen Griffiths has just completed a residency there and was presenting his  recent “research and ideas around land use, climate change, place andContinue reading

Keeping My Hand In

Husb and I went to an event at GS Artists on Swansea’s High Street earlier today, featuring local artist Owen Griffiths. I had to have a scribble, of course. Keeps my hand in.

A Bit Less Slack

That’s two days running now that I’ve picked up paintbrushes and got to work on some canvas. I did some more work on the head of my subject and the flowers in the background. I am using Liquitex Heavy Body translucent / transparent acrylics, thinned with water to build up overlaid glazes. It’s been aContinue reading “A Bit Less Slack”

Very Slack

  I generally don’t paint because it takes for ever. When is a painting ever finished? Printmaking is very much a process, it tends to be time limited so you complete an edition of prints and that’s it. That’s what I like about it. But whenever I start a painting, it just goes on andContinue reading “Very Slack”

Precision

Working with Andrew Baldwin at Trefeglwys Print Studio last weekend, I got in some practice doing a double drop print from my aquatint plate. It’s a very specific and precise process. After carefully printing in Vermilion and taping the print to the press bed before peeling it back, we put a heavy weight onto theContinue reading “Precision”

The First Colour

After inking up my little zinc aquatint plate with a Vermilion oil-based etching ink, I worked with etching expert, Andrew Baldwin, to print the first colour of a two-colour double-drop print. Working with utmost care, I taped the long edge nearest the roller before peeling the damp paper back from the plate. It’s imperative thatContinue reading “The First Colour”

Vermilion!

I started making this aquatint plate back last September the first time I spend a weekend at Trefeglwys Print Studio, but it was the third plate I made that weekend and I didn’t finish it. So during my recent, second, visit to Trefeglwys, I prioritised finishing and proofing it. Here it is being inked upContinue reading “Vermilion!”

Making A Start

  I’ve got a few ideas to develop and I’m at the starting point, doing some research. I want to do something with figures in very classical, strong poses so I’m flicking through my art history books to analyse how artists in the past have done it. Here are some scribbles of a classical EgyptianContinue reading “Making A Start”

The Difference

  Preparing an etching plate or a wood block or a silk screen is just the first stage of creativity in making an original print. The second creative input comes with the actual printing – the inks, papers and special effects you use. I printed the one above using the ‘double drop’ technique, printing theContinue reading “The Difference”