Seeing What’s There

Husb and I are babysitting three little relatives having a sleepover. Loads of pancakes made, corn popped and films on DVD stacked up ready. It’s a good opportunity to practice drawing young heads. I’ve long been of the opinion that children have alien heads; little tiny nose squished onto a little tiny face squashed ontoContinue reading “Seeing What’s There”

Art’s Birthday

January the 17th is Art’s Birthday according to Robert Filliou, a French Fluxus artist, who proposed “Art’s Birthday” in 1963. He suggested that a million years ago there was no art. But one day, on January 17 Art was born when someone dropped a dry sponge into a bucket of water. Now, lots of artists and artsContinue reading “Art’s Birthday”

The Orange Reflection

There was a strange reflection that caught my eye recently while Husb and I were walking on the beach. The full moon was bright silvery white but its reflection on the calm high tide was orange. I used my little Khadi sketchbook, handmade paper with a very rough texture. I had pre-coloured it with anContinue reading “The Orange Reflection”

Spots and Twists

I like working on direct line (trace) monotypes. It’s an immediate and spontaneous way to get an original print and the quality of the line is soft and smudgy. I also like to work with models in poses that are twisted or contrapposto, they have a dynamic interplay of forms and planes that I findContinue reading “Spots and Twists”

On The Hoof

Did some speedy sketching out and about. I put some basic lines down very quickly in pale grey graphite then worked over it when I got home with dark graphite in my A5 Tate Gallery sketchbook. It’s difficult to do much detail when you’re sketching on the hoof, so I find it useful to justContinue reading “On The Hoof”

Twisted

  Here’s another direct line(or trace)  monotype, based on an original drawing I did in a life drawing session. I like twisted and contrapposto poses; I like the challenge of drawing them. This sort of monotype technique gives a gentle line and soft, smudgy textures. I used Intaglio Printmakers black litho/relief ink and a fairlyContinue reading “Twisted”

Testament of Youth

Husb and I went to see the new film based on Vera Brittain’s book, ‘Testament of Youth’ this morning. Deeply moving, I cried buckets but don’t let that put you off. It’s a beautiful film and well worth seeing. Just be sure to take hankies. We sat between 2 couples, one in their 20s andContinue reading “Testament of Youth”

Impossible Lashes

Husb and I have a small visitor having a sleepover. He’s 10 and his face is starting to elongate but still has childlike chubbiness. Very young faces are so hard to draw, no wrinkles, no saggy bits, very few visual cues to go on. I used graphite into my A5 Tate Gallery sketchbook. Why doContinue reading “Impossible Lashes”

Smudginess Abounds

  There are different ways of doing monotype prints. This technique is called a direct line monotype. You ink up a plate, usually perspex or glass, with a very thin layer of litho / relief printing ink. Then you gently lay a piece of good quality paper, not too thick,  onto it and carefully drawContinue reading “Smudginess Abounds”