Snipe Silhouette

  So now I’m getting a bit obsessed with Snipe, a funny little bird with impossibly skinny legs and beak, for wading and probing at the water’s edge, beautifully designed for its environment. In these drawings I focused on the silhouette to try and establish the overall shape of the bird, using my own home-madeContinue reading “Snipe Silhouette”

Blobbiness Abounds

I thought I loved the bittern when I first saw it – and I did – but then I started drawing a snipe and that was it, bye-bye bittern. I’m so fickle. This gorgeous bird is one of Swansea Museum’s taxidermy collection.  I did this drawing with a reed pen and my home-made walnut ink.Continue reading “Blobbiness Abounds”

Blind Contour Bittern

  I did some blind contour drawings of the crazy stuffed bittern I was drawing recently at Swansea Museum. It was one of the taxidermy specimens from the museum stores and we were lucky to have been able to get to draw them. It’s good to go back to some basic drawing exercises now andContinue reading “Blind Contour Bittern”

A Greenfinch In Stages

  Here’s a little greenfinch I drew recently, a stuffed one, very old and fragile. I took photos of the different stages of development using conté crayons into my A4 spiral bound brown paper sketchbook. I used the white first, then sanguine and finally black.     I spent a day drawing with a groupContinue reading “A Greenfinch In Stages”

Bitterns And Stripes

I think I’m falling for those crazy bitterns. I couldn’t take my eyes of them at a recent drawing day at Swansea Museum, they’re awesome….. I used my Issabey brushes and my home-made walnut ink into a Khadi sketchbook, using the double spread. I focussed on the shape of the group, doing a sort ofContinue reading “Bitterns And Stripes”

Crazy Bittern

  I’d never seen a bittern before and didn’t even know they existed until I came across this crazy-looking one the other day. He’s stuffed, unfortunately, which may be why he looks a bit mad. I spent a day drawing with a group of artists at Swansea Museum, organised by Swansea Print Workshop and theContinue reading “Crazy Bittern”

Skylarks

  I spent a great day at Swansea Museum with a group of fellow artists and Edinburgh-based printmaker Kelly Stewart. We drew stuffed birds – lots of them – all very old and fragile. They had been in the museum stores and this was the first time some of them had seen light of dayContinue reading “Skylarks”

Looking Forward To It

I’m really looking forward to Swansea Print Workshop’s one-day course with Edinburgh-based artist Kelly Stewart at Swansea Museum tomorrow. Kelly’s expertise is helping artists to develop our drawings for screenprint , how to take original material into print using layers of colour, which can also be applied to a whole range of print processes. Swansea MuseumContinue reading “Looking Forward To It”

Printopia

Shameless! Another shameless plug for the Printopia exhibition of work by members of Swansea Print Workshop at The Seaside Gallery, Volcano, High Street, Swansea. It opens on Thursday 4th July, with cake and nibbles and a pay bar, and continues until 26th July. The Big ‘Un And my great big woodcut, “Here Be Dragons” hasContinue reading “Printopia”

PRINTOPIA

PRINTOPIA, The Swansea Print Workshop annual member’s show is coming up in a few days, opening at Volcano on High Street on July 4th from 6.30 – 9.30 and running until the end of the month. It’s not all creativity, being an artist. There’s loads of other stuff to do, like getting things ready forContinue reading “PRINTOPIA”