The Robe Reflected

This is an old one of mine, from when I was going through a watercolour period at the weekly life drawing group at Swansea Print Workshop. This model has beautiful robes and we often try a pose or two with them on. The reflected figure in the large mirrors formed a composition that I reallyContinue reading “The Robe Reflected”

Plum Cake And A Nude

Just back from life drawing at Swansea Print Workshop. I hadn’t drawn this model before, she’s new but I got the hang of her reasonably well. Sometimes it takes ages to get used to a new model, sometimes things just fall in place. The portrait and figure took about 50 minutes then I did theContinue reading “Plum Cake And A Nude”

Land Of Ice And Fire

Husb and I visited Iceland (the country, not the shop) three winters ago and we managed to get a really cheap package deal to go again in a couple of weeks. It’s a fabulous place for an artist, although hard to draw outside in winter temperatures. I tried out different preparations for the papers IContinue reading “Land Of Ice And Fire”

Plumb Tuckered

It’s been a long hard day of arty shenanigans. I started early this morning playing a ranting judge in a short film being made by friends. Then onto a second day of drawing in public at the Creative Bubble artspace in the city centre – I do this for a couple of days a monthContinue reading “Plumb Tuckered”

Up The Workers

In this era of austerity and cutbacks, it’s so good to acknowledge a success story. Just over a year ago, two artists, Gayle Rogers and Chris Williams took over the recently closed public library in the little village of Ynyshir, up the Rhondda Valley and reopened it as a gallery. Not only a gallery butContinue reading “Up The Workers”

To Paint Or Not To Paint?

That’s the question, isn’t it? Some printmakers think it’s acceptable to hand-colour etchings and some don’t. I do. This is a little drypoint I did a few weeks ago at The Bagpuss Window based on a drawing I scribbled when I was in Pakistan last year. I’ve added colour with Winsor & Newton half panContinue reading “To Paint Or Not To Paint?”

The Last Of The Stones

Here are the last couple of drawings from my weekend sketching ancient burial chambers in North Pembrokeshire. This one at Pentre Ifan is drawn in charcoal, carbon and white conte crayon onto Fabriano Accademica that I had marbled with black oil paint mixed with turpentine.       Here’s the dolmen drawn over a previousContinue reading “The Last Of The Stones”

Scribbling Sacred Stones

Here’s the fourth ancient burial site I drew over the weekend on my visit to ancestral graves in North Pembrokeshire. It’s a beautiful little chambered tomb called Carreg Samson, near Abercastle. The dolmen looks out across The Irish Sea from a farmer’s clifftop field in a glorious setting. It’s around 5,000 years old and is theContinue reading “Scribbling Sacred Stones”