If we weren’t in lockdown, I’d be doing life drawing at Swansea Print Workshop, but that’s off for the foreseeable future so here’s a blast from the past. I did this about 8 years ago, when I was going through a painty sort of phase, working from an original drawing. I wasn’t using brushes butContinue reading “Swoosh And Squiggle”
Tag Archives: @Waleslover
Making Mari My Own
I’ve finished putting my flat pack Mari Lwyd together and now I’m customising her. I had a roll of banana paper knocking around so I ripped it up into small bits and pasted it over the surface with PVA glue. I wanted something more interesting than plain white. The Mari Lwyd is a very old WelshContinue reading “Making Mari My Own”
Déja Vu Drawing
Back at the start of Lockdown number 1 – remember that, in March 2000 – I started drawing on my daily government sanctioned exercise walks, using willow charcoal into a Khadi handmade paper sketchbook that a friend had sent me for Xmas. My dear friend sent me another this Xmas and Lockdown number 3 startedContinue reading “Déja Vu Drawing”
A Mari Lwyd Day
I wasn’t feeling too well yesterday so didn’t do much of anything at all but I bounced back today with my two Mari Lwyd projects. I printed my lino block, in black Caligo Cranfield Safewash relief ink, individually onto white card and then in blocks of four onto A4 sheets of hand made paper madeContinue reading “A Mari Lwyd Day”
Done Tweaking
That’s it. I’ve done tweaking my fake version of “Girl With A Pearl Earring” by Johannes Vermeer. I could go on and on, tweaking and refining, but I think I’ve learnt as much as I can from this one, so onto the next. I was having trouble with the shading on the face but wasContinue reading “Done Tweaking”
More Making Mari
The flat pack Mari Lwyd kit I’m making up isn’t difficult, but it’s time consuming. I’ve assembled the upper and lower parts of the skull and now I’m pasting it all over with paper and PVA glue. This will give it a good surface for painting, increase the strength of the sections and add aContinue reading “More Making Mari”
Sparta Puss And Scraps
I’ve been gradually working on a small painting of Sparta Puss, using up scraps of leftover Liquitex acrylic paints scraped from my palette at the end of Ed Sumner’s weekly Cheese and Wine Painting Club on Facebook. It’s based on a photograph of her curled up on a blanket crocheted many years ago by myContinue reading “Sparta Puss And Scraps”
Making The Mari
I carried on making up the Mari Lwyd kit that I bought from TRAC Cymru, the Welsh folk development organisation. It’s been beautifully designed by the artist and storyteller David Pitt and the instruction video is easy enough to follow, but it’s an elaborate piece and needs time and care. The upper skull is nowContinue reading “Making The Mari”
A Flat Pack Mari
This is my Xmas present to myself, a Mari Lwyd flat pack kit. I’ve wanted a Mari Lwyd for ages but it isn’t easy to get a horse skull these days, since the internal combustion engine took over from carts. This kit has been designed by Swansea-based artist David Pitt AKA The Crowman AKA DaiContinue reading “A Flat Pack Mari”
Still Tweaking The Five o Clock Shadow
I’ve been tweaking my fake painting of Vermeer’s “Girl With A Pearl Earring” and I’m so very nearly there. I’ve slimmed down her cheeks and lifted the too-droopy left eyelid and firmed up her chin and jawline. But now there’s too much grey and black, the poor thing looks like she has five-o-clock shadow, soContinue reading “Still Tweaking The Five o Clock Shadow”