The Fading Rose

...still a wild jack-hare

2012-01-18T12:25:00.000Z

Hello everyone - I'm back. Apologies for having gone AWOL for a few weeks but I think I just needed a break from blogging for a while and it's often hard to get back into the swing of things once you've taken that step. Thank you for your continued support and kind comments though - particularly to Sherry who expressed concern.

Have you noticed how popular paintings of hares have become now? I thought I'd join the party with my own interpretation. Painted in acrylics on MDF, there's a lot of texturing going on and even some interference paint, giving a coppery metallic sheen to the background. Keith has made me a lovely sycamore frame for him and he'll soon be up for sale on the ArtgalleryUK website. 8x6.5inches.

For the title I looked for and found this poem by William Cowper (1731-1800). It's an epitaph to his cosseted, but obviously ungrateful, pet hare.

Epitaph on a Hare

BY WILLIAM COWPER

Here lies, whom hound did ne’er pursue,

Nor swifter greyhound follow,

Whose foot ne’er tainted morning dew,

Nor ear heard huntsman’s hallo’,

Old Tiney, surliest of his kind,

Who, nursed with tender care,

And to domesticate bounds confined,

Was still a wild jack-hare.

Though duly from my hand he took

His pittance every night,

He did it with a jealous look,

And, when he could, would bite.

His diet was of wheaten bread,

And milk, and oats, and straw,

Thistles, or lettuces instead,

With sand to scour his maw.

On twigs of hawthorn he regaled,

On pippins’ russet peel;

And, when his juicy salads failed,

Sliced carrot pleased him well.

A Turkey carpet was his lawn,

Whereon he loved to bound,

To skip and gambol like a fawn,

And swing his rump around.

His frisking was at evening hours,

For then he lost his fear;

But most before approaching showers,

Or when a storm drew near.

Eight years and five round-rolling moons

He thus saw steal away,

Dozing out all his idle noons,

And every night at play.

I kept him for his humor’s sake,

For he would oft beguile

My heart of thoughts that made it ache,

And force me to a smile.

But now, beneath this walnut-shade

He finds his long, last home,

And waits in snug concealment laid,

Till gentler Puss shall come.

He, still more agèd, feels the shocks

From which no care can save,

And, partner once of Tiney’s box,

Must soon partake his grave.

Pendre

2011-12-05T16:50:00.001Z

*SOLD*

I'm still a bit shattered after the village Christmas fair but very happy to report that I sold four paintings, one of which you can see above. It shows a row of terrace houses on the main road through the village, the first few houses known as Pendre, but often collectively named Crown Row, after the former temperance inn in the middle - the one with a red-painted canopy.

It was a successive event for all concerned, I think, and helped to raise a lot of money for charity.

Selling paintings of local interest was definitely the way to go, in this instance, especially pre-Christmas, as they made original gifts. Having declared that, I was sad not to have sold any of my art cards of prints of the paintings. What do I do with them now?

Open garden ....

2011-11-27T10:16:00.000Z

This is a scene from the gardens of Llysdinum House, the large country house that overlooks our village. Every year they open the grounds and gardens to the public under the National Gardens Scheme, in aid of charity.

It's a bit of a departure for me as I don't recall ever having painted a garden before. I enjoyed doing it immensely and maybe I'll try some others, but for now, this will add to my collection of local scenes to display at the upcoming Christmas fair.

Acylic on Cryla paper, 12 x 8inches.

Disserth revisited ...

2011-11-17T14:27:00.000Z

This is the 3rd time that I've painted the little church of St Cewydd in Disserth, near my village. The first was in watercolour, the 2nd was in oils and now this one, in acrylics on Cryla paper.

I've been wanting to get a photo of this view for years but somehow never got around to it, as there are no parking places along the very narrow lane and it involves climbing a steep hill if you park at the church. One chilly Sunday morning a few weeks back we finally did it and, between us, we managed to get quite a few images in the bag. This view is from about halfway up the hill. Nothing I paint can really do this charming church justice but I'll keep on trying.

The Hostelry

2011-11-15T10:02:00.001Z

*SOLD*

Another scene from our village - this time it's the turn of the largest of our two pubs, called the New Inn. There were in fact many pubs and shops in the village in years gone by, formerly because it was an important stopping place on the drovers' route from Wales to the English markets across the border and more recently because there was a railway station here. The station has long gone sadly, after the short sighted cuts by Dr Beeching in the 1960s, and we now have only one shop, excellent though it is.

All Saints Church

2011-11-04T14:21:00.001Z

*SOLD*

In a moment of madness I've booked a table at our village Christmas Fair in early December, in order to help promote my artwork and maybe, if there's a following wind, to even sell something. With that in mind, the general idea is to paint some local views on the off-chance that someone might see an unusual gift opportunity.

On a lovely Autumn afternoon, with that golden light that we're sometimes blessed with, I walked around the village with my camera to snap a few scenes to add to my already quite well-stocked local file. I was very pleased with the image of our church, All Saints, as I had to wait for the sun to reappear from behind some clouds, and when it did, I was rewarded by a fabulous play of light across the trees and building. This painting will form a centrepiece for my table at the fair, I think.

Any advice for selling art at fairs and shows would be gratefully received from those of you who have tested the water! It should be noted that I have few expectations from a purely local event.

Watercolour on NOT paper. 14x10 inches.

Tumbledown

2011-10-26T14:56:00.000+01:00

The first of my Anglesey works shows a little old disused cottage that we found on our travels through the heart of the island. My shouted 'oh look at that seriously cute cottage' had Keith screeching to an abrupt halt so I could make a quick sketch and take some photos. It's just as well that this was in a quiet country lane.

I went back to watercolours for this, with some penwork for detailing.
Approx.11x8 inches.

The wanderer returns ....

2011-10-23T17:20:00.001+01:00

Sorry to have gone AWOL, but we've just returned from a week's holiday on the island of Anglesey, at the north-west tip of Wales. I didn't announce my absence in advance as I feel it could be a bit risky to tell the world that there's an empty house - no need to supply the information to would-be burglars, after all.

I've amassed a considerable portfolio of images to work from over the coming weeks and even managed a few on-location thumbnail sketches like those above, so watch this space for some Anglesey art. We stayed near the windmill, the only working windmill left on the island, so I'm looking forward to painting it, even if those dratted sails are surely going to test my patience and my ability.

High and dry

2011-10-11T15:30:00.000+01:00

Another painting worked from a copyright free image from PaintMyPhoto, courtesy of Sharon Whitley. I often shy away from painting boats but this one spoke to me. Beautifully weathered and battered and no rigging!

9x9 inches, mixed media (acrylics and colour pencil) on canvas.

Sweet marmalade

2011-10-03T15:59:00.000+01:00

Since we no longer have a cat I searched the archives of PaintMyPhoto for some cat images to paint and came across this ginger beauty called Gus. So, it's thanks to Michael Yates for sharing this rich bounty. I really enjoyed painting Gus and hope to try some more 'puddy tats' soon.

Acrylics on canvas. 8.5 x 8.5 inches.

St.Paul's

2011-09-26T10:35:00.001+01:00

I find it quite hard to paint more expressively when it comes to buildings, especially well known buildings like this one, but I do like a challenge. Thanks to Marion Brown on Paint My Photo for sharing the original image - I did enjoy the struggle, at least.

This is acrylic on watercolour paper - that was a challenge in itself!

Still waters

2011-09-18T16:38:00.000+01:00

This Scottish scene came about after I joined the Paint My Photo site. It's for the September Challenge in memory of one of the founding members known simply as Oggy (No full name given).

Paint My Photo is perfect for someone like me who doesn't like to travel far from home but who enjoys trying different subjects to paint or sketch. All photos are copyright free for artists and it's a lively and friendly place to share images and show artwork. It's one of those sites I've visited on and off for about a year now but I've only just got around to joining. I'm so glad I did. Highly recommended.

This piece is 12x12" acrylic on gessoed board.

Empty chairs - 10 years on ....

2011-09-11T10:31:00.000+01:00

Today is my husband Keith's birthday and of course, it's also the 10th anniversary of that most awful of days in history, now simply referred to as 9-11.

Those memories will forever affect Keith and mark his special day as no other, but that pales into insignificance compared with the pain those families who were directly affected by the tragedies 10 years ago will be feeling.

I made this sketch a couple of years ago, from a scene I found in New York via Google Street View and it seemed to me an appropriate tribute when there will be so many empty chairs at meal tables around the world - not just in America - because of that day.

We are united in grief but stronger because of it. Hugs to all those of you who lost someone that day and another hug if today is your birthday. Special greetings to my blogging friends in the USA. x

The Old Tollhouse

2011-09-05T12:19:00.002+01:00

*SOLD*

This is one of my all time favourite buildings in our neighbourhood: the old toll house at Brynwern Bridge. It stood watch over the old Brynwern bridge for many a year and then the bridge was pulled down and replaced by the present road bridge. Now the little building is boarded up and decaying and the autumn bracken grows at its feet like nature's homage. How I'd love to buy it and sit there and watch the salmon come up the river, as in days gone by.

Acrylic on gessoed board. 14x11""

Regular followers of this blog may know that for a few months now I've been having difficulty with Blogger in that it became impossible to view Wordpress blogs, tricky and long-winded to leave comments on random Blogger blogs and my Followers thumbnails would disappear for weeks on end. I could only post or edit from the dashboard and not from within my blog at all. So frustrating.

Not any more dear reader! Its been an Internet Explorer (with Vista) issue all along, it seems, because I downloaded Google Chrome and now all those troubles have disappeared. Yay!

Primrose posy

2011-08-26T16:08:00.003+01:00

Do you ever suffer from the old ''don't know what to paint - I'm out of ideas " syndrome? It happens to me all the time. Often I trawl through hundreds of photos looking for inspiration and draw a complete blank (hey what about drawing a complete blank? LOL) but just sometimes I find a long-forgotten photo that suddenly taps me on the head and says 'pick me, pick me!'. So it was with this image of some primroses that I picked about 3 Springs ago. I put them in a vintage ink bottle and enjoyed them on the window sill for a few days - now they're preserved for posterity in this acrylic painting.

6x6" on gessoed board.

This framed painting is now available to buy from ArtGalleryUK. Please click here to view.

Epynt revisited

2011-08-22T11:47:00.000+01:00

This is the second time I've painted this scene - a barren upland area of Mid-Wales known as Epynt. I've attempted to convey the harshness of winter there, in particular the bone-chilling hoar frost that we saw on our last visit. The old house is actually empty for much of the time but it's used as a shelter for the troops in training up there because this is land annexed by the Ministry of Defence since WW2. I decided to make it more homely by the addition of chimney smoke.

Much of the area is still open access to the general public except when the warning red flags are out!

My original colour pencil version is below, just for comparison. Which do I prefer? I enjoyed doing them both and they both sum up different aspects of me but I know that if was to buy someone else's artwork I'd always be looking for something in a loose, impressionistic style and so my heart is swayed in favour of the new acrylic version.

( Top image - 16 x 8", acrylic on gessoed MDF.)

What lies beyond

2011-08-16T11:18:00.000+01:00

We took a walk in the Elan Valley a couple of weeks ago and we discovered a new track that led to a crossroads. One direction took a higher path through a wooded area and the other went parallel to the Dol-y-Mynach Reservoir below, the latter revealing a huge purple-pink block of colour provided by a stand of rosebay willow-herb flowers. That was all the prompting we needed.

This path was to reveal another treasure, as, about another half a mile along the track, we were able to access a fine view of Dol-y-Mynack dam, the only unfinished dam in the Elan Valley.

Within seconds of taking this shot we had to run for cover from the approaching rain!

11.5 x 8.5 acrylic on gessoed board.

Balancing Act

2011-08-15T10:54:00.000+01:00

We went for a Sunday morning walk along the River Wye just south of our village, at Builth Wells, and immediately upon joining the footpath we noticed something a little strange in the water just near the bridge. As we moved nearer it became clear that a stone balancing artist had been having some fun and the ducks were enjoying a new playground.

This is quite a fast moving river (and in fact I saw a big fish leap clear of the water right next to the stones) and currently not as shallow as it often can be in the summer, so it must have taken quite some time and some balancing of himself for the artist to pull this off.

I really enjoy land art (not sure of the correct term) such as Andy Goldsworthy achieves and stone balancing goes way back in this tradition. Its sculpture in its rawest form, using nature and harming nothing - in fact nature swiftly reclaims her materials.

This artists left a sign naming his work as 'Quest of Balance' with the initials I.J.P. I salute you, I.J!

By the way, I have had a go with some stones and pebbles in the garden and I did achieve my own standing stones - after some effort. If you'd like to see some really fine balancing art please see Adrian Gray's work HERE. There's a gallery to click on.

Elan Summer

2011-08-08T09:54:00.003+01:00

Another acrylic painting, this time its my interpretation of a view across one of the higher Elan Valley reservoir lakes. My eye was drawn towards this distant scene of a zigzag lane leading to a large barn. The way it sits amongst rolling hills, themselves dwarfed by the higher peaks, made for a very satisfying visual memory.

I used lots of colour layering with dry brushwork, glazing and scumbling to get the texture I wanted. So easily and quickly done with acrylics - it would have taken days with oils.

A4 size, acrylics on gessoed board.

Still having problems with Blogger. My Followers thumbnails disappear at random, I'm finding more blogs that are difficult to comment on without jumping through hoops, and just hitting publish can take at least two tries. Sigh ......

Attention - Richard of Artkleko's Weblog. Apologies Richard - but I haven't been able to access your blog for some days now - I just get a Windows Explorer message whenever I try. Maybe its just my PC, heaven knows I've had so many problems lately. Would someone else maybe let me know if they have the same problem - you can find it on my Blogroll to the right. Sorry!

Blog of the Month - Sadami's Graffiti

2011-08-02T09:22:00.001+01:00

I am very happy to feature Sadami's Graffiti as my Blog of the Month for August. Sadami Konchi found my own blog a few months ago and when I payed her blog a visit I was enchanted by her artwork, her philosophy on life and by the way her sunny nature just shines out of her posts.

Sadami lives in Australia but Japanese is her native language - maybe that's why her words are so captivating, surely echoed in the freedom and spontaneity of her watercolours. She is an award-winning fine artist and book illustrator - and even manages to fit in courtroom sketching.

Thank you for connecting with me, Sadami. Following your blog is a pleasure.

(Images courtesy of Sadami Konchi)

Tenby harbour

2011-08-01T16:10:00.000+01:00

This painting took me ages to do, especially as its bigger than my usual at approx 18.5 x 10". It shows Tenby, on the south coast of Wales, and the colourful, perpendicular crush of houses are a real magnet for artists.

Keith calls this my 1930s transport poster style and I can see his point. We both enjoy those old posters so I'm taking it as a compliment .... I think. Anyway, as usual, its still very much a learning process.

Hillside Cottage

2011-07-22T14:55:00.000+01:00

Another one of my more expressionist (is that even correct?) acrylic paintings that I've done to sell as stock - when I can get a good scan that is. These are so enjoyable to do and I've learnt a lot by doing them, especially the use of glazing medium instead of water. In the past I would simply have used water for glazing and thinner applications, but using the right medium for acrylics does keep the colour more vibrant. I'm happy with the visual texture (as opposed to actual) I've achieved here.

Sherry - in answer to your question, yes I will return to watercolours and pencils - they are never far from my heart! Right now I'm enjoying the freedom of acrylics. *smile*

2011-07-20T20:24:00.000+01:00

Hello everyone - I'm back in full operation - I think. The PC had to be discomknockerated and I've been busy reloading stuff and downloading drivers for the older stuff like my printer. Sadly, the biggest victim is my trusty old scanner which just doesn't like Vista with service pack 2, even after downloading a patch. I get so frustrated and annoyed when perfectly good stuff has to be replaced just because of these constant operating system updates.

Another problem seems to be that Blogger has come up with even more ways to foil those of us who simply want to make a post or a comment. In the last few days I've been unable to get the submit button to work and have had to hit Edit on the dashboard to make it work. Sigh. I'm seriously thinking of changing blog host but I don't want to lose my kind followers or make it harder for them to comment.

Thank you all for your input regarding the Apple. General consensus seems to be in favour but I have to say that financial constraints rule it out for the foreseeable.

Todays painting is acrylic on gessoed board and its my take on Kynance Cove in Cornwall. It was such fun to paint and it got me through a very distressing few days.

Going viral ...

2011-07-15T11:18:00.002+01:00

Just a quick post to let you know, dear readers and followers that I've suffered a very traumatic virus attack on my PC and its currently in the sickbay being fed chicken soup and having its brow cooled with a damp flannel - hence the reason for my disappearance and lack of comments over the past week. We had a fully working, purchased anti-virus package too so its really quite upsetting.

I'm typing this from a new netbook that we have now purchased in order to have a separate means to surf the web without future risk to my workhorse computer, or at least to lessen the risk. I wish we'd done that before.

Right now, an Apple computer seems like the best way forward if I ever change again, even if it is more expensive! Sigh.

If you use an Apple I'd love to hear your thoughts on its usability even if I can't afford one right now.

All wrapped up

2011-07-07T11:41:00.000+01:00

We live in a beautiful, rural area with views of rolling hills, river valleys and lots of sheep so, when we go away, often we enjoy visiting towns and cities - not for shopping (shudder) but for the history and architecture. Last week we visited the historic city of Chester, a delightful mixture of black and white, half-timbered buildings and the more ancient structures that signify its Roman origins, such as the city walls that circumnavigate the inner city. There is a pathway running along the top of the walls and that's a great way to see the sights.

I think the part we enjoyed the most was down by the River Dee, where there's a promenade called The Groves lined with lime trees running alongside the river. There are lots of seats and small boats to hire and you can also take a river cruise on larger boats for up to two hours.

Apparently, the whole area has recently been refurbished and, happily, the sun was shining for our visit too. For me, the fact that all the old lime trees had been wrapped in brightly striped lengths of fabric for the summer greatly added to the enjoyment of the day and I want to thank whoever came up with that idea. Sometimes the best public art is the simplest.

This sketch was a good excuse to use my new Derwent Inktense pencils that I had for my birthday. Inktense is a perfect name for them as the brilliance of the colours really outshine their watercolour counterparts. I often find watercolour pencils produce wishy-washy colours in my sketchbook, maybe because of the paper, but now I have an alternative. The good part is that, when dry, the colour stays put and you can lay another wash over the top without compromising the layer beneath. For example you can see where I smooshed violet down one side of the stripes to indicate shade with no disatrous effect.

Arboretum

2011-07-06T14:57:00.000+01:00

This is my first piece of artwork since returning from our short break and it felt good to be slapping the paint around again. Keith bought me some ready-made box canvases for my birthday and I have to say I found this one less than easy to use with the canvas weave seeming to hinder the brushstrokes and the slight give of the surface an annoyance when trying to dab off some paint. I much prefer using gessoed MDF - maybe Keith was just trying to let me know that he gets tired of cutting up sheets of the stuff for me!

Not a very clever title I'm afraid but then I can never come up with clever-clogs, arty-farty titles for my work, even if they do seem to be de rigeur for fine art paintings. Mind you, I hate such pretentiousness anyway - and that includes so called 'artist's statements'. What's the matter with 'what you see is what you get'. *smile*

Acrylics on box canvas. 12 x 12 inches.

Blog of the Month - Artkleko's Weblog

2011-07-02T12:26:00.000+01:00

Firstly - apologies for going AWOL for a few days - we've had a lovely short break in Cheshire and I'm back with lots of ideas and inspiration, so be warned.

July's Blog of the Month features that of Richard Klekociuk. Richard is a colour pencil artist of the highest order and is a constant source of inspiration and education for me and, I imagine, many others, as teaching is one of the many strings to his bow.

Living in Tasmania normally but currently in tropical Cairns on mainland Australia, Richard has developed his own unique style with pencil work. Embracing the earth colours so familiar to us from Aboriginal art, his subjects include rocks, pebbles, old buildings, found patterns and abstracts, even sticks and bread!

Artkleko's Weblog is regularly updated with wonderful photos, works in progress and Richard's own take on the artworld in general, including exhibitions and advice on promoting our work. Please pay a visit and if you leave a comment, I can guarantee that Richard will not only appreciate it but will reply too. He deserves the widest recognition. Here's the link - Artkleko's Weblog

(Images courtesy of Richard Klekociuk.)

You lookin' at me?

2011-06-22T11:19:00.001+01:00

We went for a walk up in the hills above the village and came across a herd of young cows that seemed to find us just as fascinating as we found them. They galloped towards us and peered over the fence, then the whole group would trot away again, only to return at full speed as we walked along the road bounding their field. Such beautiful creatures, with big eyes, long lashes and and punk-rock hairdos.

I really enjoyed painting this and, for once, am pleased to achieved something akin to the loose style I aspire to. Using acrylics again, after a gap of some years, has empowered me, I think. It's so much more forgiving than other media. Maybe practice with acrylics will help me in my quest to master oils.

6x6" acrylic on board. Unframed.

£35.00 (pounds sterling) post free to anywhere - yes, for reasons of simplicity in a complex world, I'm taking the hit for any extra cost to international addresses, just for a trial period.

A village in winter.

2011-06-21T10:30:00.001+01:00

It's hard to believe that only 6 months ago we were in the throes of one of the coldest, most prolonged wintry spells in recorded history here in the UK, with temperatures down to about -18 here in Mid-Wales. Since then we've had one of the warmest, driest Springs in recorded history and we're now enjoying a cold, wet start to Summer! Crazy.

This acrylic on board piece was painted from a photo I took back in December, when we trudged down to the bridge over the River Wye, in our village. The snow was about a foot deep and I can remember peering over the side of the bridge and seeing a white egret wading around beneath me, where the ice had given way. We've never seen an egret here before, even though we've seen them in Cornwall where they're newly established. It was quite a thrill. Sadly, by the time I'd readied my camera, it took flight and I only got a blurred image. The memory will stay with me though.

Acrylics on gessoed MDF. 8 x 8" The scan makes the sky look darker than it should but if I lighten the image I lose the foreground colour. C'est la vie!

By any other name ....

2011-06-17T15:43:00.000+01:00

A rose by any other name ....would smell as sweet as this 'Alan Titchmarsh' rose but it would probably look a lot better than this poor oil painting.

It's only a miniature, being 4x4". but, as usual, I fussed, and failed to make any headway with trying to work loosely. Painting oils wet in wet is something I'm finding quite hard to do so how all those amazing daily painters manage such a high standard really does defeat me.

Just lately I've hit a big slump with my artwork and it's like I'm making no headway at all. I know many of you other blogging artists hit the same wall so I know I'm not alone. This too shall pass.

I think I shall perhaps take up bog-snorkelling as a hobby.

Bubbling along ...

2011-06-16T10:27:00.000+01:00

Sorry to be absent for longer periods lately but I've been spending an awful lot of time on Redbubble, uploading artwork, finding my way around (not easy) and enjoying all the wonderful imagery there. I get so sucked in that the hours just fly by and I'm in danger of cobwebs forming around my head.

Still lots of sorting out to do but, having read from other members that T-shirts sell well there, I've been designing some and my first two are up for sale. Phew!

Joining the kaleidoscope group there has revived an old guilty pleasure of mine in creating these mandalas from photos and artwork. I'm thrilled that 2 of them have just today been featured on the group's front page. Keith suggested that I purchase a framed print of this one as its my birthday coming up soon so my first ever sale on Redbubble is my own! Does that count? ^_~

Disgruntled .....

2011-06-13T10:15:00.000+01:00

Well, it rained for the whole day yesterday, and Charles, the pheasant who visits our garden every day, turned up as usual for his dish of food and then decided to hang around. Now normally he only stays for about an hour, 2 or 3 times a day, but on this wet Sunday he stayed all day, looking thoroughly wet, bedraggled and dejected.
The daft thing didn't seek the protection of overhanging trees and shrubs, but stood resolutely out on the lawn, mostly on one leg, just changing position slightly every now and then. A more depressed bird I've never seen.
As I was typing this, Charles has just tapped on the patio door for me to uncover his food dish for him. He really is quite intelligent - but obviously not when it's wet.

*****

The Blogger problem is still on-going and I know other people have had difficulty with commenting and the sign-in page. For anyone else who has this problem, I've found that when you try to submit your comment and it takes you to the Google sign-in page, if you sign in then uncheck the 'keep me signed in' box, it will then take you back to the comment page and work correctly. Absurd but somehow it works!

*****

I see many artists displaying their work on blogs with no watermark or name visible and it worries me that these could be taken and used by anyone on the internet without any redress. You can't stop people stealing your work, but I do think it helps if you make sure only to show low resolution images in small sizes and display your name clearly on each one. It took me a long time to work out how to do the copyright symbol but its a good idea to use it so here's how: Ctrl/Alt press c then Alt press 0169. The symbol will magically appear!

Pimento Summer

2011-06-04T12:06:00.001+01:00

More fun with colour and paint. This is worked in watercolour on gessoed board and I had a ball playing with wet washes as there was no problem with buckling paper (I hate stretching paper) and the gesso allowed for a longer open time. Puddles and dribbles and lifting out and salt sprinkling, followed by some negative painting to bring the explosion of colour into some sort of recognisable form.

I finished off by using Derwent Coloursoft pencils to describe the tree forms, add highlights and scribble a few calligraphic marks. It measures 13x7" approx.

It was a great way to get me out the doldrums, creatively speaking, after a week when nothing seems to have worked and I've ended up painting over stuff or just scrubbing things out.

The good news is we have some real Summer sunshine today. Yay!

Blog of the Month - Down a Dusty Lane

2011-06-01T10:14:00.000+01:00

I'd like to introduce you to Cathy Holtom, via her delightful blog, Down a Dusty Lane. Originally from the UK, Cathy has made her home in beautiful Palermo, Sicily, and much of her work depicts the many charms of this island. Her coloured pencil and mixed media studies are little cameos of her idyllic surroundings.

There's often something new to see and be inspired by - in fact it was seeing Cathy's pages from last years Sketchbook Project that gave me the impetus to try it for myself this time around. The power of blogging!

Please pay her a visit if you haven't already. You'll be charmed at every stage.

(Images courtesy of Cathy Holtom.)

Contour lines ....

2011-05-31T15:58:00.002+01:00

Another sketch for the Sketchbook Project, subject -Along the Line. I decided to try contour drawing. I wasn't brave enough to try blind contour drawing where you have to keep your eyes on the subject and not on the paper, but simply attempted to keep my pen on the paper without lifting off.

In the end I found myself having to lift off to add certain things as it felt almost like an intelligence test trying to work out how to achieve the form in the most efficient way - like doing a critical path analysis! So that was the anal me taking over - Failure!

The result is a drawing of a vintage Fordson truck that looks like it went through too narrow a gateway. I can almost hear the scraping sound - all that blue paint lost forever. Strangely though, I kind of like the quirkiness of it.

Still having Blogger problems and can only post through the dashboard not from within the blog itself. I have managed to leave a couple of comments but its pretty random in stopping me from posting on lots of blogs. Sorry friends - normal service will resume whenever Blogger sees fit.

The path to the light

2011-05-28T12:02:00.000+01:00

This is one of my 'Can I?' 'Would it work?' 'Why not?' exercises. I wanted to see if it was possible to use a watercolour technique, namely negative painting, but in oils.

Starting with an underpainting freely splurged about (technical term) and left to dry for 2 days, I then just used my imagination to create a fantasy woodland, using transparent layers painted in the negative spaces. I didn't have any glazing medium and I was aware that using thinned paint wouldn't be good over the thicker painted background (fat over lean) so I decided to paint on - wipe off. This gave a surprising amount of scope for transparency and control and had the advantage of becoming touch-dry quite quickly.

This is an experiment that I will try again - it's so much fun!

Apologies to my blogging friends who are currently missing out on comments from me- I am visiting and enjoying your blogs and your artwork but Blogger is once again having major issues. If I'm logged in it tells me I'm not and vice-versa and if I try to leave a comment it logs me out again! They are working on the problem so I know I'm not alone in this.

Sebright bantam

2011-05-23T15:26:00.001+01:00

This is my first sketch in the Sketchbook project, on the theme of 'Along the Line'. I chose the theme and then, after some head-scratching, decided that each sketch would be titled on a line theme.

I saw this beautiful small cock bantam at the Spring Show, held at the Royal Welsh Showground last weekend. In the Fur and Feather section of the show, there were rows of cages showing the most wonderful, colourful assortments of chickens, bantams, ducks and geese. Amidst all the bright plumage these small bantams stood out for me, their stark black and white outfit making quite a fashion statement. Each feather is white, outlined with black, so my title (not shown) for this page is 'Outlines'.

By the way, my research shows that it is in fact a Sebright bantam.

It feels good to have done the first page - maybe the next one won't be so scary?

Is anyone else experiencing Blogger being slow? I find scrolling down a page to be very slow and stop-start and this is since last week's outage. I tried removing the thumbnails from my Blogroll but it made no difference. I have a fast PC with plenty of RAM, so its either my poor Broadband connection or Blogger being ...well... Blogger! Any thoughts?

With strings attached

2011-05-18T10:58:00.001+01:00

Today's small oil painting is a detail from a strange contraption that I spotted during last weekend's Open Mills day, when we visited a newly restored ancient watermill. It was a piece of farm machinery - something to do with threshing probably. I'm always drawn to rusty objects or old paintwork and this answered both criteria. Just call me weird. 8x8" Oil on board.

Keith and I have both signed up for this year's new Arthouse Sketchbook Project and our books arrived yesterday. I had heard that the paper is supposed to be better than last year's and someone from the site has confirmed that it's thicker. Really? I can only imagine how thin it must have been before - like tissue paper? So, I shall be rebinding them both, either with watercolour paper or good quality cartridge paper. It should be simple as there's only a single signature held at the spine with 2 staples. I shall cut and fold the paper but will probably create the artwork first before stitching it all back in. Might as well turn a negative into a positive, don't you think?

A pocketful of ..... birds?

2011-05-16T11:54:00.001+01:00

This sketch shows a woven roosting pocket for garden birds, one of 10 that I ordered from Wiggly Wigglers. It's easy to forget that our birds need warm shelters at night and not just nesting boxes and these look such lovely little solutions for smaller birds like wrens and blue-tits. Apparently, as many as 60+ wrens have been recorded roosting together in a small space during cold weather!

I had fun sketching one before choosing different sites amongst the evergreens in our garden in which to secure them. Should I put up a motel sign, do you think?

On another note, the BBC radio and TV have today been issuing a plea to householders to put out trays of very wet mud in the garden to help house martins and swallows build thir nests. We've had a very dry Spring, even here in Wales, and they need all the help they can get. We also have an artificial house martin nest in our eaves but so far no takers, sadly.

Charles

2011-05-13T19:16:00.000+01:00

A few weeks ago I posted that a pair of pheasants had started to come into our garden. We've been enjoying their company ever since, seeing them mating on our lawn, watching the cock pheasant displaying to his reflection in our patio door glass and knocking seven bells out of it, and even having him jump up onto the window sill of my dining room/studio when I was late putting out food.

They are surprisingly intelligent and if we move quietly they will even tolerate our company quite close to them. I nicknamed them Charles and Camilla - a fitting irony given the way the Royals delight in huntin', shootin' and fishin'. Charles has a very superior way of strutting too and I think the name suits him.

In recent weeks, Camilla has become a more infrequent visitor, obviously because she's been nest-sitting. By now she should have hatched her brood - I just hope with success. Maybe we will see them - who knows.

Oil on gessoed MDF. 10x8"

Three dragons

2011-05-05T14:55:00.000+01:00

There's a major new road scheme currently under way, linking our village with the next small town of Builth Wells. It will straighten out quite a torturous stretch of bends and shorten a 10 minute journey by a few minutes but the jury's out on whether it will be worth the loss of trees and habitat as it cuts a swathe through our glorious countryside.

It has required some major earthworks and at least two massive bridges but it has made for some interesting sights, not least these three huge diggers (or back-hoes) that we saw parked up on top of a mountain of earth for the weekend. Keith said they looked like dragons but, given that each one is slightly smaller than the next, I thought of Goldilocks and the three bears.

A poor scan (the ring binding kept the book off the scanner bed) and a shaky sketch so apologies to any engineer who may stumble upon this post. The odd flange or sprocket may be missing I'm afraid. It was tricky.

Blog of the month- Paintings for Happiness.

2011-05-02T10:32:00.001+01:00

This month's Blog of the Month is Paintings for Happiness, showcasing the beautiful, expressionist work of Jane Hunt, from Colorado.

Jane's blog is a new addition to my Blogroll and, since she has now become my 100th Follower, I thought I'd mark the event accordingly. Working in acrylics and oils, Jane's work is contemporary and pared back to shapes and texture, using a limited palette in intriguing ways.

Seeing Jane's work inspired me to going back to texture, something I used to use a lot when I worked in acrylics and collage - even my digital art was suffused with texture - so I had forgotten it's importance for me. Thank you, Jane.

One other little fact - we discovered that we were both raised in Surrey, England. A small world, isn't it.
Why not pay her a visit and, if you become a new Follower, you stand a chance of winning one of her great paintings. Now that's quite an offer!

(Images courtesy of Jane Hunt.)

Oh my darling ......clementine.

2011-04-29T14:29:00.001+01:00

OK, the title of this is also a pretty tenuous link for today - a bowl of clementines and a royal wedding.

I have to admit to having spent much of the morning watching the royal wedding. A great spectacle, a beautiful bride and some very silly hats. I admire how the (newly titled) Duchess of Cambridge (or Princess William) has conducted herself throughout and I thought her dress elegant, slightly retro and very flattering. Can it be hoped that she will inspire others to copy her style and forsake the current trend towards young women dressing like tarts? Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly got it right, didn't they! Enough said.

Today's offering is a move towards more textured work in oil painting. My aim is to have a look of texture and depth without also working with a thick impasto. Scraping and lifting off shows some underpainting and as an exercise it taught me much. It was enjoyable too.

6x6" gessoed MDF.

A summer stroll

2011-04-19T12:12:00.001+01:00

This is a track through the fields leading over the hill from our village. I painted it from some photos I took about three years ago, on an early evening stroll. You have to climb over two awkward stiles to get to this spot but its worth the grunting and groaning.

12x10" Oils on canvas board.

Flat Iron Society

2011-04-14T11:13:00.002+01:00

Okay - sorry - I couldn't resist this title. I spotted this little tableau at Acton Scott historical farm museum in Shropshire where they've set out a typical farmer's cottage. Aren't you so glad that we don't have to use those flat irons any more?

Still trying to work fast and loose but I still end up faffing and trying to put things right. I think it's because my gestural brushstrokes are shaky and not confident but it's all experience anyway..... I think.

6x6" Oil on gessoed MDF.

Problems with Blogger right now: My paragraph spacing keeps disappearing. (A known problem apparently)

Whenever I upload an image, after finishing my post, it signs me out, or rather partly signs me out so I can't edit from that little pencil icon. So, I have to properly sign out in order to sign back in again! Weird.

Today my faithful Followers have disappeared - all those little thumbnails. Anyone else have this trouble? Please tell me I'm not alone! (They're back - so that's good!)

Fossil

2011-04-12T11:00:00.001+01:00

A friend sent me this small ammonite fossil and it's been sitting on my shelf minding its own business until, that is, I pounced on it as a suitable subject for a mini 4x4" painting. Boy was it hard to do! It has quite an encrusted, chalky surface and that was both a pleasure and a pain. I think it is at least recognisable as a fossil but maybe it should be put under a rock somewhere. I have a tip for anyone who struggles with putting their signature on oil paintings. I've found that using a ball-tipped embossing tool (the kind that paper-crafters use) to write on the painting when still wet just removes the top surface and takes it back to the under-painting. It's very smooth to use too.

Disserth Church revisited ....

2011-04-08T11:23:00.000+01:00

The beautiful, historic church of St Cewydd, Disserth, a short drive from our village. It has a tranquil riverside setting and is partly surrounded by rich pasture land. You have to ignore the holiday caravan site that adjoins it to one side!

I so enjoyed doing this oil painting. I feel that I'm starting to find my style although I have some way to go. I first painted this church in watercolour last summer, although from the opposite side, seen through the churchyard. You can see that HERE. It's like I'm two different artists - or maybe more. Are all artists like that or am I just weird? Anyway, the first one was raffled to raise funds towards getting a Defibrilator for our village so I'm happy it went to a good cause.

By the way, as this is a bigger painting I used a cheap canvas board that I'd had for yonks and even though I balanced it by brushing PVA on the back it still bowed - hence the curious, slightly lighter effect in the lower right side of my photo. Another lesson learnt.

12x9". Canvas board.

Pewter and gold

2011-04-06T12:19:00.001+01:00

Another attempt at trying oils and I feel like I've made progress although my paint handling has a long way to go. This is fun by the way - easier than watercolour on so many levels - I used to find myself holding my breath in case I went wrong in WCs - with oils you just wipe the mistakes away. That's a kind of freedom.

We bought this cute little pewter tankard at a flea market last Sunday. It has a brass or gilded rim and bears a faint, worn engraved name of George and Dragon, so presumably it came from a pub of that name somewhere. I think it will crop up in more paintings and drawings over the coming months.

Thanks for the supportive comments in my previous post. It's scary to show faltering attempts but you give me heart.

6x6" Gessoed MDF.

All sorts ....

2011-04-05T10:40:00.000+01:00

For the first time in over 40 years I've been using oil paints (yes, I was painting even as a babe-in-arms -wink) and thoroughly enjoying the experience even if I did find it quite tricky.

The title is two-fold in meaning. Obviously the subject is a scatter of liquorice allsorts and I encountered all sorts of problems, some happy accidents and, more importantly, I learnt a lot.

Never having had any genuine tuition in art - I certainly don't count art lessons at school which in retrospect were poor - I happily chose to go straight in for an alla prima approach, working wet in wet and aiming for a loose style. Nobody told me that this is hard to do as a beginner but it was what I wanted to try and life's too short not to - right? As soon as Keith saw this first attempt he grinned and informed me that it was a bit anal - not loose at all. Well, he's right and I'm not happy with it on that level but that's another lesson learnt.

My next problem will be what to do with all these small 'masterpieces' while they are drying - any tips?

6x6" on gessoed MDF board.

Blog of the month - Painted Thoughts.

2011-04-03T18:01:00.000+01:00

I don't know about you but I'm uncomfortable with the whole Blog Awards scenario. Started with the very best of intentions, they quickly became difficult to award, as more and more blogs became recipients, and then even harder to accept because of the various demands each award required. The pool of blogs yet to receive an award became an ever-decreasing circle!

The real sting in the tale is of course that you either accept an award graciously and then stress about which blogs to pass them on to, let alone answer the accompanying questions, or you have to decline the award, risk offending the award-giver, and then feel totally awful and spend a whole day sitting on the naughty step sucking your thumb!

Anyway dear reader - To offset any offence I may give by declining an award (and yes I do, I'm afraid) I have decided that at the start of each month I will choose a blog to showcase from out of the rich list of talented people on my blog-roll or from my followers. They will be in no particular order of preference but I will pick those who inspire me, who are themselves dilligent about visiting and commenting, or they may be a new discovery of mine. The best thing is - there are no strings attached - just my way of saying thank you for being there.

The first blog I'd like to recommend is Laure Ferlita's Painted Thoughts and the images you can see here are just a sample of the joys to be had each time you visit.

Laure is an accomplished watercolourist and she runs on-line classes in creative journalling. Her varied and regular posts are truly inspirational and she's not afraid to show her mistakes, turning them into positives and moving swiftly on. She's full of ideas and there are even short video clips to illustrate her posts.

I'm envious of her clever ways with word art and I so wish I had the willpower to journal more regularly. Please pay Laure a visit - she'll make you very welcome.

Abergavenny

2011-03-30T16:16:00.000+01:00

Whilst on a shopping trip to Abergavenny I noticed a sudden play of sunlight on this collection of buildings after what had been quite a damp start to the day. My trusty little compact camera always tucked away in my handbag, I took a few shots whilst the light lasted, which wasn't long - have you noticed how often the best images stem from those bad weather days?

I liked the overlapping shapes of the buildings and so I lost the details with a bit of image manipulation and kept it loose and scribbly.

Derwent Coloursoft pencils on Pastelmat. 6x6 inches.

Bright Knights video project ...

2011-03-24T14:52:00.000Z

With thanks to Cathy Holtom of the Down a Dusty Lane blog I discovered this clever project from the Australian band Bright Knights. Check out their website and music HERE

They're compiling a video for their new track 'This Love' and they're asking people to download and colour a frame (or more) then upload a scan of it back to them so it can be included in the video.

This is my version, worked in Derwent Coloursoft pencils - as you all will understand the original has more colour detailing, especially in the bricks, but we forgive our scanners their faults - right?

Why not give it a go yourself - there's lots more frames!

View from a dam ....

2011-03-15T10:22:00.000Z

I worked this from a photo I took a few years back from the top of the dam overlooking the River Claerwen, the largest and most recent of the Elan Valley reservoir dams, supplying the city of Birmingham with water. More info here.

This time I used my Coloursoft pencils on Hot-pressed watercolour paper, trying out my damp brush under-painting technique on a different surface. I have to report that it did not work nearly as well as it does on Pastelmat, mostly because it's a more absorbent surface, I think, meaning the pigment didn't move around so much. It's a while since I've used WC paper for colour pencil work and I remember why now - it doesn't take nearly enough layers for my liking.

10 x 4.5 inches.

A pheasant interlude

2011-03-08T11:17:00.002Z

We were surprised to see a large cock pheasant in our garden this week. He was strutting around under the bird feeders, hoovering up the scraps and generally being nosy, even coming up the steps onto the terrace. Yesterday he came with his mate and they spent a couple of hours enjoying the sunshine. He obviously knows how to show a lady a good time!

It's sad to think that we might never see these wonderfully coloured birds if it wasn't for the fact that people enjoy raising them in order to shoot them for sport. I feel quite inspired by the varied patterns and colours of his plumage and if I was still into silk painting (many years ago) I think it would be a good pattern source for a scarf.

No smoking ...

2011-03-02T11:25:00.000Z

I found these chimney pots and other assorted weird items displayed in a vintage hardware shop, faithfully rebuilt at St Fagan's National History Museum near Cardiff. The way the sunlight was falling on them intrigued me - who knew that such basic builder's ware could look attractive!

Once again, I used my technique of scribbling in the foundation with Derwent Coloursoft pencils -what I call the first pass - then going over that with a damp brush which not only blends the colour into the surface texture of the support but adds a more painterly quality. After that follows more pencil work to correct values and saturate the colour, using the damp brush again where needed.

The support is Pastelmat. I've found with this technique, bearing in mind that these are not watercolour pencils, that you have to take the brush from light to dark so as not to drag dark pigment across the lighter values. Some pigments move around more readily and stain - such as Indigo for instance. There's a bit of serendipity going on that I enjoy in artwork. I haven't tried this on watercolour paper yet but that's next.

Below is a closer look at details from the painting showing before the damp brush pass and then after. I hope you can see the difference.

Got a few hours to kill?

2011-02-28T12:13:00.002Z

I've been happily ~~wasting~~ spending some time enjoying the wonders of Google's new Art Project - have you tried it yet? For those of you who have yet to discover this, Google has used their Street View technology to allow us access to some of the world's finest art galleries and museums.

We can wander the corridors and rooms and see masterpieces in their actual settings without even leaving our seats. We also have access to many high resolution artworks and there is a zoom feature that allows an up close and personal view of the tiniest detail. You can see Van Gogh's brushstrokes and even the places where bare canvas shows through.

Google has also given us a facility to create our own favourites collection. Below are zoomed in details of two of my favourites. Click to see them larger.

Each painting has viewing notes with more information. What a wonderful thing the internet has proved to be!

Guess what ....

2011-02-24T16:18:00.001Z

A bit of fun for you - I've been playing with my USB microscope again and looking around for new subjects now that Spring is coming. You'll recognise the top image but maybe you too are surprised at how mangled my Coloursoft pencils look after going into the electric sharpener. An interesting pattern texture on the colour core though.

I wonder if you can guess what the lower two images show? I'll resist publishing any comments with your answers for a few days so you can't see what others say - but I think you're too clever for me anyway!

*Thanks for playing along - yep - the first one was of hazel catkins - I think you all guessed that. The second showed forsythia buds, always the brightest herald of Spring.*

Moving out

2011-02-17T20:05:00.000Z

A couple of years ago we spent a memorable day in Falmouth, Cornwall. After overnight rain, the sun came out and everything was bright and sparkly - the saturated blue of the sky reflecting gloriously on the water. I took some photos of a small boat as it reversed away from the jetty because the wake looked so beautiful and I knew I'd like to paint it.

I worked this in Derwent Coloursoft pencils on Pastelmat, scribbling and hatching away, trying to keep it loose and undetailed. Is that even a word? Larger than my normal work, it measures 12x10inches.

Because I have only an A4 scanner, I scanned it in two halves and stitched it. If any of you have Canon camera software including ZoomBrowser-ex, there's an excellent and easy photo stitch facility in the tools section there.

Sentinel

2011-02-08T12:20:00.000Z

Another landscape in the more impressionistic style that I'm enjoying right now. I used both Prismacolor and Coloursoft pencils for this and the support is Pastelmat.

Lots of colour going on here, all applied loosely with scribbling and cross-hatching. I counted and I used 29 different colours.

As before, I manipulated my photo to reduce detail and recently, as well as Paint Shop Pro and Photoshop, I've been having fun with a free programme called Fotosketcher. It's quick to download and very easy to use. It can be slow, depending on which style you choose and how large your image is to start with, but it's fun and very useful.

Jooles

2011-02-03T14:26:00.001Z

I sent a teddy bear as a gift to a friend who's currently having a hard time with a serious illness, needing many hospital visits. He's a Charlie bear and his name is Jooles and he was the only way I could think of to send a big hug to someone living a long distance away. Before packing him off though I took the opportunity to make her an ATC of his portrait. Fortunately he stayed very still whilst posing - always a bonus in a model!

I think I've managed to make him look quite grumpy but he really has the most adorable little face and unusual variegated fur.

3.5 x 2.5 inches. Prismacolor pencils.

Rockpool

2011-01-19T12:18:00.002Z

Click for a closer look.

At last I'm finding my way towards a more impressionistic style of colour pencil work and the good news is it's a lot quicker than the usual painstaking layering and blending. I really enjoyed doing this and that gives me the impetus to keep trying.

I used Pastelmat again but this time I made an underpainting using Aquatone watercolour pencils wetted over with a water brush. Pastel mat proved sturdy enough for this and didn't warp at all. Then it was just a question of working loosely using hatching strokes allowing the under colours to be glimpsed but not to dominate.

I think the single most important factor for me was manipulating the subject photo beforehand though, thus simplifying the image and eliminating unnecessary detail. That stopped me faffing and gave me the idea of how the finished painting could and should look.

Prismacolor pencils on Pastelmat. Size 11 x 7"

A visitation

2011-01-14T14:02:00.001Z

There was I, minding my own business, just finishing a snack lunch, when my attention was drawn to a starling flying towards the window closely pursued by this male sparrowhawk. The starling hit the glass just a glancing blow then vanished under a nearby lavender bush - the sparrowhawk landed looking confused and stood looking at the window as if he was watching me watching him.

After a minute I dared to move and went and fetched my camera and amazingly he was still there, searching around the bush for his prey. After I took several shots of him on the ground, he suddenly hopped up to the top of the bush and the poor starling began squawking loudly in panic. Then the hawk noticed my moving closer to the window and flew off leaving his prey to recover.

It's a difficult thing, but I love my garden birds and I also love birds of prey. We spend a fair amount on feeding them and the garden is always busy with many species of birds, so it sometimes seems as if we're providing hawks with a fast food outlet, something akin to a Macdonalds. I've come to terms with that however because we also provide lots of sheltering trees and shrubs and I put the food for groundfeeders inside a cage. Given that there's also safety in numbers and the hawks only make a kill on a small percentage of their flying visits, I think it's all fair and part of the balance of nature.

Besides - just look at him - isn't he magnificent?

Winter morning on Epynt

2011-01-11T15:48:00.001Z

Last week, after much of the snow had finally gone, we drove up onto Epynt, an area of high moorland that the army uses for firing practice. It was very cold and there had been a hard frost. The red flags were flying that day but there were no signs of life, military or otherwise. This old dwelling house was one of several taken over by the Ministry of Defence as a shelter for the servicemen and it commands some wonderful views.

I used Derwent Coloursoft pencils on a peachy hued sheet of Pastelmat. It measures approx 12x5 inches.

Philadelphus

2011-01-07T13:43:00.001Z

This is a piece I've been working on over much of the holiday period and it's larger than most of my work at 12x10 inches, hence my dismal lack of posts recently, for which I apologise. Created using Prismacolor pencils on Pastelmat, I wanted to hold back from aiming at photo-realism (I'm not clever enough and I prefer more expressive art anyway) and so I took a more colourist approach using colour quite freely to give light and shade.

We have a mature Philadelphus tree on the border of our land and our neighbours enjoy the heady fragrance of it's blossom in June as much as we do. It's a real snowstorm of blooms at it's peak.

I chose Pastelmat in a darkish taupe hue for the support but I'm not sure it was the best choice as it was quite hard to bring out the brightest areas of white. Still, if we don't try, we don't learn.

A fresh fall of snow here today - whatever happened to those warm, wet winters that Wales does so well?

Christmas magnified ...

2010-12-27T14:54:00.002Z

I was fortunate to receive a USB microscope for Christmas this year and we've been having fun taking a closer look at odd things around the house, including Keith's fingernails which turned out to be disgraceful - in fact so appallingly dirty looking that he immediately went to scrub them again. LOL

Another gift from Keith was a set of Stabilo Fineliner pens in a rainbow of colours. These are lovely to use with the addition of a waterbrush and I can see me returning to doing more sketching now, something that tailed off rather, to my shame.

The following three images were taken by my microscope:

1) A paintbrush. Maybe I need to clean them better!

2) A skeleton leaf.

3) A towel.

I'm now looking forward to foraging in the garden for things to view, especially insects and flower petals. Guess I'll have to wait for the snow to go first?

Merry Christmas .....

2010-12-23T10:47:00.001Z

This shy and rare creature has been clinging to our little crab-apple tree for days now. I think it's known as a Snug or snow-slug and it's thought to have evolved from the Snigloo - a snow-snail with it's house on it's back. I bet it wishes it hadn't.

Have a good Christmas everyone. I'll be back soon with some actual art to show you - promise!

An icicle made for two ........

2010-12-20T11:54:00.000Z

Another bitterly cold night. Keith managed to get to work but he said the car thermometer showed it was -14 degrees this morning. I can't remember ever seeing icicles such as these on our house before and just to make matters worse they drip onto the path below and make mini skating rinks to negotiate. Enough already!

It's snow joke .....

2010-12-19T15:15:00.000Z

I'm in the middle of quite a long art project (for me) and so I don't have anything of that nature to share just yet but I thought I'd show just what kind of weather we've been experiencing , not just here in Wales but in the whole of the UK generally.

We're currently covered in a blanket of snow - the 2nd major fall in 3 weeks - and the temperatures are struggling to get to zero even in the sunshine. Over the course of last Friday we had a foot of snow dumped on us here in Mid-Wales, as you can probably tell from the 1st image of our patio furniture. The snow on the table looks like a carefully sculpted cushion.

We put on our hiking boots and went for a trudge through the village and down to the river, where we were lucky to spot two white Egrets - a bird we'd never seen on the River Wye before, although we've seen them in Cornwall.

If this doesn't improve during the week there are going to be a lot of disrupted Christmases and missing members for family gatherings. I'm worrying that my son won't make it from Oxford. Fingers crossed!

Farmer

2010-12-15T11:04:00.001Z

Today's exercise in pastel was a trial of my new Pastelmat by Clairfontaine. Almost as soon as my pastels hit the surface I was hooked by it's wonderful velvety feel and the way it grips the pigment. More of a cardstock than a paper, it's sturdy, comes in some good earthy colours as well as white and the pads are interleaved with glassine for protection. It also allows for erasing quite readily but finger-blending was less successful than with papers.

I've also tested it with Derwent Coloursoft pencils which work well and Prismacolor pencils which apply with a vibrancy and readiness that I haven't found with other supports. Can't wait to work a full piece in Prismacolors!

Colour exercise

2010-12-14T11:06:00.000Z

Getting back to using pastels after a break of some years means I'm relearning techniques and attempting new ideas, as well as discovering new supports.

This was an exercise in broken colour - that is, applying the pastel using hatching and strokes and not finger-blending - something I employ too much for my liking. I prefer impressionistic work to realism and have to stop myself from getting too fussy, so I enjoyed this looser style.

Using the smoother side of Canson Mi-Teintes paper - not one of my favourite surfaces it has to be said - I first swooshed colour over an initial sketch then applied odourless mineral spirit with a cotton bud to make an underpainting. This just shows through the colour of the top layers to give that broken effect. It's a white mug of milky coffee so it was a challenge to use colours other than white to liven the whole thing up. I had more trouble with the background than the mug but it's a start!

Autumnal memories ....

2010-12-09T11:54:00.001Z

Winter arrived very early here in the UK and it's already outstayed its welcome with ridiculously low temperatures - as low as -18 here in Mid-Wales - and snow falls crispened (is that even a word?) by repeated hoar frosts. Very pretty but no joke for travellers. On the first day of snow two weeks ago Keith even had to abandon his car on the way home from work and walk!

Looking through some recent batches of photos I came across some Autumnal shots taken on a walk around the village just five weeks ago. It looks very different now! I did this in pastel on Frisk pastel board.

Kimekomi

2010-12-01T11:36:00.002Z

It's usually about this time of year that my crafting persona takes over from the struggling artist - something to do with freezing temperatures, cosy log fires and the imminence of Christmas!

Whilst watching one of the shopping channels I discovered a Japanese craft, something akin to Temari balls, called Kimekomi. The kits on sale were extremely expensive for what they were - namely some polystyrene spheres and some fabric - so I did some research on the technique, ordered some poly spheres, found some stored patchwork fabric, and, by trial and error, managed to produce some passable ornaments.

Basically the ball is cut with a knife to form a (usually) geometric pattern of deep slits in the polystyrene, then pieces of fabric are applied and the edges trimmed and pushed into the slits with a thick needle or, in my case, a fine embossing tool. Once covered, you work cord or thread into the resultant grooves - the only part that requires glue. It's very therapeutic and much quicker than making Temari.

By the way, the top ones are in fabric whilst the lower image shows some I made using handmade papers with some velvet too. It's slightly more tricky to use paper as it can tear as you push into the slits but I found that screwing the paper up first made it more pliable and easier to work. The loop fixings are simply brads from my scrapbooking storecupboard!

If you'd like to know more there's an excellent range of videos on Youtube - HERE

Veggie bouquet ...

2010-11-09T15:08:00.000Z

Keith gave me a lovely hand-tied bouqet for our anniversary. It held spider chrysanthemums, roses, amaryllis and also this intriguing flower that I'm assuming to be a type of ornamental kale or cabbage. It's the size of a rose and has a long, thick stem. Mostly pale green with bleached out areas fading to purplish tips. I was reminded by my schoolgirl French (mostly forgotten) that 'mon petit choux' is a term of endearment and so I'll hold that thought!

Anniversary sketch

2010-11-08T15:55:00.000Z

We enjoyed a lovely morning walk in the Elan Valley yesterday. Beautiful sunshine after a wet night and that gave a really lovely Autumn light, even if we did have to dodge puddles.

This cottage has an enviable position overlooking the lakes (to the rear of this scene) and can be found on one of the waymarked walks that follow the valley edge. I believe it to be a holiday cottage.

I made this sketch to go on an anniversary card to give to Keith tomorrow - it's our 42nd wedding anniversary. Crikey!!!! How did that happen? (of course, I was a child bride ........ahem)

Boy in cloth cap.

2010-11-04T11:15:00.000Z

I've been suffering from a bad cold over the last few days - kindly passed on from Keith. Flu-like symptoms for a day - all shivers and aches - but then quickly lightening up into a normal head cold.

Finding I couldn't concentrate on a colour pencil piece I'm curently working on I took to sketching from the TV instead. Very relaxing and good practice. Thank goodness for modern TV recording equipment like the Sky+ box - being able to pause the programme without loss of picture quality is great - do you remember the old VCRs? Pausing those pictures meant a blurry image that often jumped about!

Another discovery! Coloursoft idea.

2010-10-29T10:49:00.001+01:00

I switched to using Derwent Coloursoft pencils for my latest piece on gessoed Windsor & Newton canvas board. This sturdy board is intended for use with oils or acrylics but I reasoned that coating it with Schmincke watercolour gesso would provide a support for colour pencil work too - and I was right. Of course, it has a pronounced woven canvas grain and Coloursoft being softer and chalkier than Prismacolors seemed like the best choice.

I haven't much liked Coloursoft before - it wears down quickly and leaves dusty bits everywhere but it works well on gesso - the only problem being having to resharpen constantly in order for the 'valleys' of the canvas to accept colour. With me so far?

Whilst working, my mind wandered to the fact that the Coloursoft range is like a cross between Prismas and pastel pencils. A lightbulb pinged and I recalled that you can dampen pastels to work it more like paint and so I grabbed a paintbrush to test my theory on these pencils.

Below you'll see a comparison chart to show the results of my test. On the left is the gessoed board - on the right the same colours applied to quality watercolour paper.

You can click on the image to see it enlarged.

The first two tests were applied to the dry surfaces. The top ones were worked with a damp brush, the middle ones left dry as a control. The lower ones were applied to the pre-wetted areas.

You can see that the pencil marks on the gessoed board look much the same on both surfaces apart from texture. The wetted colour moves and blends far more on the gesso than the paper. The best results by far are on the pre-wetted gesso. You can see that the colour looks very pale on the paper but add pencil to wet gessoed board and you get really vibrant painterly effects!

Conclusions:

This works because the gessoed board stays damp far longer than paper and the pigment sits more on the surface.

I tried it with Prismacolors too and it also worked but maybe was less effective.

Imagine if you have large areas to work and you need to get fast coverage - as in backgrounds - a great alternative.

Maybe you want a more painterly look to your CP work - try experimenting.

If you have a textured support it will fill much quicker.

Please note - this Schmincke gesso is intended for watercolours - it is not acrylic gesso - maybe that would work too but I doubt if the pencil would apply very well. I used Schmincke Aqua Primer Fine. Others are available I believe.

Pig in a poke

2010-10-25T13:08:00.000+01:00

More experimental stuff. After reading an article about gesso for watercolours in this month's International Artist magazine I felt compelled to give it a try. I bought some Schmincke Aqua primer fine and brushed it on mountboard, a canvas board and also some MDF board.

You need at least 3 coats with a decent amount of drying time between each coat but it gives a good coverage, albeit with some sanding required. I found it hard to apply without leaving visible brush lines, even with sanding, and I think I'll try using a foam brush next for a smoother finish. Having stated that I did like the canvassy texture that it left on my MDF board, so it's horses for courses.

I have to say that I didn't enjoy using it for watercolour. It doesn't immediately 'grip' the paint and stays on the surface much longer than with paper - great for wet on wet but glazing techniques just mess up. Painting on a firm board surface is a great benefit though - and I think it's a case of mastering new ways.

I tried scribbling some colour pencil on the surface and lo and behold it had a good tooth and was quite pleasant to work on. This piece, worked from a photo of a contentedly snoozing pig, is on gessoed MDF, 9.5 x 6 inches. I used Prismacolor pencils. It took multiple layering of colour with no problems and the surface is very sturdy and forgiving. The good part is that I can now varnish over it and it won't need framing under glass.

Here in the Uk we can't buy nice surfaces like Ampersand boards so maybe I've found an alternative. I'll keep experimenting and I'd love to hear from anyone else who may have tried watercolour gesso.

No Excuses Sketch Kit.m4v

2010-10-13T11:46:00.001+01:00

If, like me, you often have good intentions of doing on-location sketching but don't have the time to do more than linework or want to take a cumbersome kit with you, then please watch this brilliant video from Laure Ferlita of the Painted Thoughts blog.

A clever idea wrapped up in a very professional and inspiring short video. For more ideas, inspiration and learning opportunities please visit Laure's blog - you won't be disappointed.

Great news about the trapped miners in Chile today - isn't it good to be happy about something in the news for once! Best wishes to the men and their families.

Sweet thoughts ...

2010-10-11T12:21:00.001+01:00

Do you find that some things in life act as triggers for the long-term memory? I'd forgotten all about these childhood favourites - liquorice comfits - until we saw some in a sweet shop selling old-fashioned confectionery. There followed a happy conversation about goodies that we used to enjoy as children - do you remember sherbet dabs, blackjacks, spangles and aniseed twists?

Yesterday, on the Antiques Roadshow, a man was showing his small collection of vintage chocolate bars, including an OXO-flavoured one! (Oxo is a beef extract for those of you not familiar with UK food) Anyway, he also had a bar of Fry's Five Boys chocolate and that took me right back to the 1950s. He said it was discontinued in the 1930s but I'm not that ancient and I remember it. Do you?

Time out ...

2010-10-06T16:20:00.001+01:00

My continued absence from this blog can be explained by the fact that Keith has taken some holiday from work - a staycation, to use that awful new word! We took advantage of a favourable weather forecast for Monday - at least here in Wales - (sorry it couldn't have been better for the Ryder Cup) and went to the seaside resort of Tenby.
Amazingly the forecast was correct and it was a gloriously sunny day. We thoroughly enjoyed strolling around and even took time to do some sketching down at the harbour. My sketches of boats were very bad but it was good to try. I now have lots of photos to sketch from anyway.

I take a great interest in the two 'ologies - archaeology and geology - fascinating subjects - and so seeing this rock face that towers above the sands of Tenby beach really made us stop in our tracks. An amazing example of the incredible forces at work when continents collided millions of years ago. All those now vertical layers of rock were laid down as river or sea beds and then pushed right up into a natural sculpture.

A deserter returns .....

2010-09-27T12:15:00.000+01:00

Yes ...it really does feel like I've deserted my post lately so please accept my apologies for not having posted for so long and especially for neglecting my blog visiting. I've missed all my regular haunts and being inspired by your artwork and musings very much but, as you know, life just gets in the way sometimes.

I've been busy working and I find that when I'm in that creative zone I have to focus on that alone and so personal stuff gets shunted aside. I really will try to do a little of both from now on. Does anyone else find that hard?

Even my journalling took a back seat for some weeks and I started out so determined to keep it up. Anyway, I feel it's better to do it sporadically than not at all. No point in beating myself up about it.

One of the things that made me determined to get back to blogging was having a couple of new people sign up as followers - that's such a kind thing to do - I appreciate everyone who takes that trouble - so I mustn't let you down. Now, I'll stop boring you with my regrets and start enjoying my blogging again !

Not the perfect sunflower ...

2010-08-10T11:08:00.000+01:00

We feed the birds all year round and enjoy watching them in our garden. However they peck our lettuces, decimate the lilies, thieve our soft fruit and crap over everything including the washing hanging on the line. Just to prove that they do sometimes give back (okay they do keep down insect and snail numbers) I've recorded this gift from a Nuthatch. Every Autumn they bury sunflower seeds in all the pots around the garden terrace as a winter store and I suppose they must remember where they put them - most of them anyway. This forgotten seed has grown into a 5-foot high plant with a very untidy flower. Not the perfect bloom of glossy magazine adverts - just a wind-blown, rain sodden excuse for a sunflower. This sunflower has lived and I really rather admire that!

Working ...

2010-07-30T12:35:00.000+01:00

Just to prove that I'm still around and still doing art, here's my working drawing for a stock vector illustration of salad ingredients. I love vintage woodcut or lino-cut art and this vector will be very much in that style. The vector will take a few hours of work and it will be in colour.

I'm typing this to the accompaniment of loud machine noises as today we're having an enormous old hedge removed from the boundary of the garden. It's scary to see the place opened up through to next door but it will let in more light and benefit both sides - costly though!

Out of service ...

2010-07-27T10:15:00.000+01:00

Keith's had a few days off from work so we've been out and about walking and wearing ourselves out in the heat. Yesterday we walked a short section of the Offa's Dyke path at Knighton, on the English-Welsh border and after lunch we wandered around the town to check out the old buildings. We came across this old passenger coach taking in the sunshine from the open doors of a huge garage and I'm guessing that the restoration project is taking a long time!

Garden vignette

2010-07-22T15:22:00.000+01:00

Just to prove that I'm still around and haven't pootled off to Outer Mongolia I did this little pencil sketch just to keep my blog active and stop spiders' webs forming. It shows a small corner of my garden where two cornus bushes (one with red stems and one with yellow) grow at the foot of a mature flowering cherry tree, with a yellow berried rowan behind.

I did this in pencil - not something I normally do, as I prefer penwork. It was nice for a change but now, after finishing it, I'm finding that my wrist muscles are trembling a bit - I suppose because I was using more pressure! More pencil practice required methinks.

Thank you to everyone who commented and left name sugestions for my portrait in the previous post. It's odd how people can bring to mind a name without even trying - a kind of subconscious thought process? I'd like to use them all - she'd be like the Royals with a long string of names, poor girl - but in the end I've chosen Ann's suggestion of Rachel. Thank you, Ann.

Pudding on the agony ....

2010-07-12T13:52:00.000+01:00

Some things just don't work out - in life as well as in art. I'm still trying to get my head around using oil pastels, looking for a style that will be suitable to sell as stock imagery. In the world of stock images now is the time to be uploading Christmas stuff - yep - that's right. At least for those customers needing to do print runs. Web images sell right up to the last week, thankfully.

So I had the idea of doing a Christmas pudding in oil pastels but I left the ink wash on too long and then couldn't remove enough, so rather than look simply aged it looks freckled or diseased! I lost definition and the colours were dulled. All part of the learning process so I'm not disheartened - at least I get to share another failure with you all.

Apologies once more for posting less frequently these days. It's hard to find time to do stock art (that actually pays) as well as the stuff I do cos I love it. I promise to still keep an eye on my blog regulars though - just don't hold your breath. Besides I'd miss seeing what you're up to if I took another blogging break - it's an addiction. Perhaps we need Bloggers Anonymous?

Unbunging that creative block ...

2010-07-07T11:26:00.001+01:00

Just recently I hit the wall with regards my creative juices - don't we all at some point? In need of stimulation I looked in my big art materials cupboard and found an almost untouched pack of cheap oil pastels. My brain started making tiny whirring noises and so I went to my ever expanding art book shelf and found a book on using pastels. In there was a chapter on using oil pastels with an ink wash to give an interesting broken colour look. Bingo! The tiny noises became a loud clunk of inspiration.

I drew this simple topiary tree in pencil onto some cream mountboard then applied several layers of different colours to each section, really laying it on quite thickly - this is quick and fun. Next I used a 4B pencil to add some expressive outlines - this went on really well giving a surprising depth of contrast. The final part was the scary bit. I took some Peat Brown drawing ink and brushed over the whole surface quite liberally then while it was still wet I wiped it off again gently with some paper towel. To my delight it seemed to bring the whole thing to life, adding depth and interest - and a general warm, vintage look to the piece rather like staining with tea. Fun, fun, fun!

Oh and by the way - a big advantage of using oil pastels over their chalky cousins is that there's no dust to worry about. A real plus for me.

2010-07-02T14:31:00.001+01:00

A pen and wash painting of Ludlow in Shropshire, showing the tower of the Church of St. Laurence. This was such a tricky one to do and I almost gave up at the drawing stage - it was just so complex. Ludlow is jam-packed with these wonderful old buildings and I wish I could do them justice. I'm just happy to have brought it to completion.

Now - according to Laure Ferlita of the wonderful Painted Thoughts blog (a visit recommended) we should always balance any negative self criticism of our work with describing what we actually like or enjoy about it. I think she has a point, and with that in mind, I'll add that I'm happy with the way that my washes have tiny gaps, deliberately left - as in the sky - to give a bit of sparkle to the flat colour.

Mr Flibble

2010-06-30T14:25:00.000+01:00

Firstly, apologies for not having posted for a few days. I had a birthday over the weekend (groan) and that meant visitors and days out - so no blogging I'm afraid.

Another colour pencil portrait for Julia Kay's Portrait Party on Flickr. This is Mr Flibble who uploaded some wonderfully quirky photos of himself. I thoroughly enjoyed doing this.

Prismacolors on HP watercolour paper.

Parenting skills

2010-06-23T15:12:00.001+01:00

We are privileged to have Greater-spotted Woodpeckers visiting our garden all year round - because we feed the birds non-stop, as advised by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. This year we set up a natural perch in view of our living-room window and have a camera ready on a tripod, with remote control, waiting for photo-opportunities. Today I managed to capture a fledgeling woodie being fed by its Dad. The young one has the full red hat.

This male woodie has worked so hard over the last few weeks, flying back and forth to a big oak tree in a nearby field, feeding the youngster. We think that there's at least one other nest too as we've had another male coming in from the opposite direction. Sadly, no sign of any female for weeks which is a bit of a worry. Hasn't he done a good job though! By the way - have you noticed - the adult has been ringed.

Wally

2010-06-22T16:50:00.001+01:00

I joined Julia Kay's Portrait Party group on Flickr where every member shares photos of themselves for others to portray. It's a fun thing to do - if scary for shrinking violets like myself - and is a great way to improve my face-drawing skills.
I couldn't resist the mischievous face of Wally. Worked in Prismacolor pencils on cartridge paper.

St Cewydd, Disserth

2010-06-21T14:15:00.001+01:00

Yesterday morning we took a walk along by the River Ithon in Disserth, a neighbouring village. The weather was sunny, the river sparkled and it felt like one of those occasions where everything was perfect and you just wanted to bottle it.

Disserth is a tiny settlement with more holiday caravans than houses, but the gem at the heart of it is the Church of St. Cewydd, parts of which go back to the 14th century. Although it has recently been reroofed there is much more restoration required and I hope you'll agree that such a simple and quietly beautiful church should not be allowed to deteriorate further.

Just as a side-note, as we entered the little porch we found a swallow's nest tucked up under the eaves, with about four youngsters, still without plumage, just peeking over the top of the nest.

Pen and wash on CP paper.

Chaffinch

2010-06-16T15:23:00.003+01:00

Our garden is noisy with the sound of birdsong right now and we have many fledgelings visiting with their parents, including young greater-spotted woodpeckers. Chaffinches are regular visitors and I've noticed that they are learning to feed from the nut-holders instead of just waiting for the crumbs below them on the ground, as they generally do. The adults have very bright plumage at this time of year and though they may not reach the top ten list of British favourite birds, I do enjoy watching them.

I wonder if anyone else has noticed changing behaviour in your local birds?

Pomo girl

2010-06-14T14:14:00.003+01:00

Another portrait of a Native American, found on Flickr's 'The Commons'. You can see it HERE.

Abandoning the textured pastel paper this time, I chose HP watercolour paper and gave it a wash of burnt ochre watercolour first. Then I used my Prismacolors on top. HP paper works well for CP artwork but painting the ground first not only helped warm the whole thing up but I think lifted the tooth a little too, giving a satisfying velvety support to work with.

This vintage photo really appealed to me. The girl had appalling skin sadly, but I don't think it detracts from her beauty. It would have been nice to know her name.

Jicarilla Maiden

2010-06-10T15:24:00.003+01:00

This beautiful vintage photo of a Native American girl, found on Flickr's 'The Commons' (see it HERE) inspired me to dig out my Prismacolor pencils again. I decided to do it in colour rather than monochrome and used a neutral colour support in the form of Daler-Rowney Ingres pastel paper.

I so wish I hadn't - the ingrained lines of the paper become prominent as you work which I think spoils the look. I wasn't aiming for realism, trying to keep it light and gestural, but how I wish I'd stuck with HP watercolour paper.

The Opportunist

2010-06-04T14:28:00.003+01:00

During a visit to Aberglasney gardens over the weekend, wo enjoyed an al fresco lunch at the small restaurant there and this cheeky little sparrow was doing the rounds of the tables, snatching crumbs and offerings, then flying off to his nest. He even took food from my hand.

After yesterday's shame-making painting I feel I'm back on track with this one. It's more controlled. I'm still looking for that elusive technique that allows for my natural tight style whilst still retaining a light impressionistic feel. I don't want much, do I.

Maigold

2010-06-03T12:08:00.002+01:00

A rapid sketch of some Maigold roses that are in full bloom now - about two weeks later than usual. This is a pretty dismal effort - everything looks wrong and different to how I set out to achieve, but posting the horrors for posterity may benefit me in the long run - after all - even Brad Pitt starred in turkeys!

Stages of negativity

2010-06-01T13:22:00.011+01:00

After my last ATC post, Chris asked me to explain the term negative painting. Well, it's not easy to sum up quickly in words so I've done a step-by-step to show different stages of negative painting for anyone who's new to the idea.

Firstly , may I just mention that this is not intended to be a definitive guide, just a very quick, badly done, progression of a watercolour, that will set out just one way of doing negative painting. I started by wetting the paper then blobbing in (technical term) some bright colour, wet in wet. I'll add here that the painting was dried after each stage- important.

Next, below, I drew some pencil outlines to indicate 3 flowers and with a light bluey-green wash I painted over the whole paper again leaving out the flower shapes. The flowers being the positive shapes, the surrounds being the negative space.

Next, below, I drew in some more flower shapes, some of which are behind the 1st ones - so you're gradually going further back into the distance. Again, with a slightly more blue wash, I painted the entire paper avoiding all the flower shapes.

You can see how, with each successive wash, the elements of the early layers are starting to pop
more.

Above, I started adding leaf shapes, mostly coming from under the flowers, then added another darker wash leaving out the positive shapes of the flowers and leaves. So, everytime I added new elements, the areas of wash were reduced. I was also careful to retouch any small 'landlocked' areas inside the flower group.

Above - more leaves and a darker wash

Below- the last few leaves and the darkest wash. I also added flower centres by painting rings of brighter colour then quickly fading them out with a clean, damp brush while they were still wet.
Remember - at no time are you painting a shape - you're painting around the shapes.

If you do a search on YouTube there are a few more professional demos, although one of them seems to use masking fluid (friskit) as a negative painting technique, I think the above method is the more generally accepted way. It can be used as all or just part of a painting - anything goes. It's just fun!

Casting nasturtiums ... ATC

2010-05-28T14:54:00.004+01:00

Another ATC of nasturtiums, using some negative painting but mostly just having fun.

3.5 x 2.5 inches, on 300g/m Fabriano HP paper.

The Blacksmith's Yard ATC

2010-05-27T15:06:00.003+01:00

TRADED.

After posting my lupin piece on Flickr I was asked if it was available as an ATC - sadly not, as it's the wrong size. Anyway, that got me thinking (I do that sometimes) that I haven't made any ATCs for months and months and, as I like working small anyway, I thought my next project should be to work in miniature.

This is the first one and it's a pen and wash study of the blacksmith's yard at Acton-Scott historic working farm in Shropshire.

Size 3.5 x 2.5 inches.