Tag Archives: Swansea Print Workshop

Old School OHP

  I’ve been posting about the field trips I went on recently with colleagues from Swansea University’s FIRE Lab, walking the path of the River Tawe and making cyanotypes along the way. Mostly we made photograms – photographic prints made directly from found objects placed on the paper. But we also took some time outContinue reading “Old School OHP”

Preparing For A Blue Day

I’m preparing for a cyanotype field trip over the bank holiday. The idea is to take out prepared cyanotype papers into the landscape and make photograms from what we find. Here are some I did a while back …    

Snipe In The Dark Manner

This is the last of the drawings I recently did at Swansea Museum as part of a day with Edinburgh artist and printmaker Kelly Stewart, organised by Swansea Print Workshop. I did loads of drawings of the Snipe and this is done in the manier noir technique on prepared paper (please click here if youContinue reading “Snipe In The Dark Manner”

Another Blind Contour Drawing

Here’s another blind contour drawing I did, of a snipe, at Swansea Museum last week. It’s a very useful exercise, it forces you to stop being precious about what you’re drawing, to loosen up and to concentrate on closely observing your subject, instead of watching the paper.    

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”