The next one out of my geographic palette is graphite, a slightly greasy, slightly soluble solid black pigment and mineral found in The Lake District near Keswick, which is where I bought some nice chunky sticks of it and a whole load of top-quality graphite pencils. Not far from Keswick, at Seathwaite, is an oldContinue reading “My Geographic Palette #4 – Graphite”
Tag Archives: graphite
My Geographic Palette #1 – Charcoal
This is my first tryout with my geographic palette, a drawing based on a sketch I did en plein air on a field trip with colleagues from Swansea University’s FIRE Lab a couple of months ago when we went off exploring culverts up in the Brecon Beacons. The charcoal I bought a fewContinue reading “My Geographic Palette #1 – Charcoal”
My Geographic Palette
I’m thinking about how to develop from the sketches I’ve done on a couple of field trips with colleagues in the FIRE Lab team and, as the research project is about ecosystems and environment, I thought I’d try as much as possible to use natural earths, plants and minerals in my artworks, so I’m puttingContinue reading “My Geographic Palette”
A Big Box Of Pencils
I did a bit more work on my next woodcut today, making a tracing from my original drawing to transfer the image onto the wood block. I used a thick charcoal pencil for the tracing because I have to turn the tracing paper over to reverse the image onto the wood. Once the reversedContinue reading “A Big Box Of Pencils”
Getting Started
Just started drawing an idea for a new woodcut, scribbled it out onto a piece of layout paper with a chunk of 6B graphite first then did a couple of more detailed studies. Next stage – getting some hand-lettering worked out….
Gazing Darkly
Today I printed up the woodcut I carved out earlier in the week. I used Intaglio Printmaker’s Caligo Easy Wash Relief ink mixed 50:50 with Extender and took the print by hand on Hosho paper using a Japanese Baren. This self-portrait was inspired by the late, great Käthe Kollwitz, an artist who produced loads ofContinue reading “Gazing Darkly”
Sprogs In Sketchbooks
I’ve been flicking through some of my old sketchbooks again, finding things I’d forgotten about. There are quite a lot of drawings of sprogs. They’re weird little creatures to draw, looking simultaneously like aliens and cartoons.
A Wooden Selfie
I started a selfie today, a self portrait woodcut, using a piece of plywood. I transferred my drawing onto the wood and commenced hacking away with my Flexcut tools, they’re pretty good but plywood is quite tough and takes some effort. I did a rubbing, with tracing paper and a graphite block, as I cut,Continue reading “A Wooden Selfie”
A Cluster Of Heads…
I’ve been flipping through old sketchbooks, reminding myself of work I’d forgotten about. I came across a cluster of heads in one that I’d bought from the Tate gallery in London. Nice sketchbook. I like drawing heads and faces, but children’s faces are so difficult. The younger they are, the more they look like anContinue reading “A Cluster Of Heads…”
Soggy Scribbling
Here are a couple more of my soggy scribblings from the Troublemakers Festival over the weekend. It was a sopping Saturday and my fellow Plebeian Scribblers – Melvyn Williams, Patricia McKenna-Jones and Chris Harrendence – stood on Swansea’s High Street and drew for a couple of hours. We got wet. Very wet. So did theContinue reading “Soggy Scribbling”
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