Dribbling Bideford Black.

I had a little bit left of the Bideford Black paint I made recently. It wasn’t a lot so I tried thinning it down with water and took a fairly wide, flat brush to make stripes across one of the sheets of paper I’d prepared with gesso and walnut ink. The Bideford Black wash broke up on the surfaceContinue reading “Dribbling Bideford Black.”

Surrealist Swirls.

I used the Bideford Black paint I made yesterday. I didn’t have any idea what to do. I’m trying to get away from always working representationally and letting my imagination take over. It’s way out of my comfort zone! I took a fairly wide, flat brush and made swirls over one of the sheets ofContinue reading “Surrealist Swirls.”

Bashing Bideford Black.

After coating some sheets of paper with my home-made walnut ink yesterday, I decided to stay with natural pigments and make paint with some lumps of Bideford Black I’ve had lurking in a box for years. I’d made paint with it before, using water (here). This time I mixed it with Nori paste and vodka.Continue reading “Bashing Bideford Black.”

Pantycelyn

Husb and I took a stroll along the magnificent Pantycelyn Road earlier. It has one of the most beautiful views in Swansea, over the bay to north Devon. I think Pantycelyn means the Holly Bridge in Welsh. I drew quickly with Daler Rowney medium willow charcoal sticks into a Khadi handmade paper sketchbook in theContinue reading “Pantycelyn”

My Geographic Palette #3 – Walnut Ink

  About 3 or 4 years now some friends gave me a bag of fresh walnuts – that’s walnut fruit – the nut is in the centre of an apple sized green fruit. I made my own walnut ink from them, please click here if you want to see the technique I used.    Continue reading “My Geographic Palette #3 – Walnut Ink”

My Geographic Palette #2 – Bideford Black

  So, day 2 of drawing from my geographic palette. This is Bideford Black, an unique oily carbon-based pigment from North Devon, where is sits in the ground next to anthracite coal. It was mined for about 200 years up until the late 1960s but lost out to cheaper competitors and the mines closed. IContinue reading “My Geographic Palette #2 – Bideford Black”

Comparing Blues

I did some experimental cyanotypes yesterday, comparing different papers and fabrics. I used some of my sketchbook drawings for the imagery. The best results were given by a medium weight white cotton that was dipped into the cyanotype chemicals and squeezed to remove the excess. There was also a good result with the white SomersetContinue reading “Comparing Blues”

Who Wears Short Shorts?

We wear short shorts! It’s summer and everyone on the beach is in shorts. It’s the law lol 🙂 I stopped for a scribble with my tiny spotty A6 sketchbook and a Faber Castell Pitt drawing pen size S. There’s Mumbles in the background. The name allegedly comes from the French, Mamelles, or breasts, spottedContinue reading “Who Wears Short Shorts?”