Ink and wash. I need a lot more practice with watercolour washes. I think I am using too small a brush, so I’ve bought a size 14 round brush to have a play with.
Category Archives: Childhood
Strange siblings
Charcoal and chalk on tinted fabriano paper
Bridesmaid (Painting)
Oil on canvas 2′ x 2’6″
I used a few new techniques with this one – mainly quite a lot of blending in with clumps of kitchen roll! I think fingers were used too. Sometimes a brush just doesn’t do the job. I’ve also used a glossy medium on the dress to make it sparkle (although I think some of it got into other areas too, but c’est la vie).
Hebden Bridge Art Auction
‘Charlecote Park’, watercolour on Bockingford paper, 12 x 16″
‘Chase’, acrylic on textured paper, 12 x 16″
A rare chance to buy my work! These paintings will be for sale at the forthcoming art auction at Hebden Bridge Masonic Hall, Hangingroyd Lane on Saturday 28th June 2008. The auction will showcase work from a number of artists in and around Hebden Bridge. Viewing is from 11am, and the auction will start at 3pm. Refreshments will be available. All money raised will go to Big Shed Arts, a new venture to develop a multi-use arts centre for Hebden Bridge, including arts education workshops for all, a gallery, and studio facilities. If you are in the area, please drop in! There should be a real buzz in the town, as it is also the start of the Hebden Bridge Arts Festival.
Same picture, different medium
Pencil and colour pencils in sketchbook.
Bookish
Wax crayon in sketchbook. I was concentrating on negative spaces and forms, and drew in blocks of colour rather than doing an outline drawing of the whole thing first. Now that I’ve scanned it in, there are bits that look distinctly odd, but overall I quite like it. I’m playing with children’s media – crayons, felt tips etc. to see what effects I can get (and to start playing again, as I’m still feeling a bit stuck.)
Bridesmaid
After a fairly hectic period of finishing my last two projects, I’m struggling to get started again. I think this is part of the creative process – you can’t keep producing endlessly without putting something back. Time, I think, to do some ‘inputting’ – looking around me, visiting galleries, looking at other people’s work, looking at books. And drawing, because drawing helps me to process ideas, and it is a simple, manageable, portable activity. Here’s one I did yesterday.
7B Pencil in sketchbook
Frame
Oil on canvas 2′ x 2’6″
On Show
At college, we have a wall in the entrance corridor which is used to hang students’ artwork. I was rather chuffed when my tutors asked me if I would like to put my paintings up there. I’ve never put any of my paintings up before, so it was a steep learning curve working out how to hang a set of paintings of disparate sizes. But with rather a lot of help, I got there in the end. Here they are in situ:-
It’s really useful being able to see them hung on a wall (rather than propped on a desk or easel), and also to see them all hung together in one place. It’s also interesting to hear other people’s comments about them, which I guess is what happens if you actually show your work.
Mandy and Tiger – Etching and Aquatint
I’ve been longing to have a go with etching and aquatint for some time now, despite all the scary chemicals involved. Last weekend, I attended a one day workshop with Alan Birch , who took us through the process of creating an etching with aquatint (you can find details of these processes here). Whilst there are things I would change if I did it again, I am delighted with this print. It looks like something out of a book, as if someone else actually made it. I just love aquatint.