Sketchbooks Galore!

Sketchbook pages from Social Sketchbook event in The Walks.

The past week and a half has been full of sketchbook work... First was the Social Sketchbook event in The Walks, a lovely large park in King's Lynn. We arranged to meet at the bandstand which had been undergoing some renovation work and as we assembled the protective metal barriers were being removed - what perfect timing! As I arrived early I had already begun to sketch the bandstand. It is not my usual preferred subject matter and with some tricky perspective issues it was one I began to wish I hadn't started. So, as you can see below, I abandoned the idea of any realism and went for a quick pen and wash rendition.

Correct perspective abandoned so I could just enjoy approximate shapes
and a dash of colour. The allium buds were there too, but the horse was the last
 thing I sketched at the previous Social Sketchbook in Stow Bardolph.

The weather was bright but definitely breezy and had most of us seeking more sheltered spots. There was plenty of variety for subjects including the river, ducks, bridge arches over the water, planted areas, wild areas and many different tree species. One big attraction for me was the old town wall. When I walked through the arch to the other side the wind suddenly hit much colder and stronger and I had to admire one member who had bravely set up her seat and been working there since the start!

This was as far as I got sketching the old town wall before the cold set in
but we were due to reassemble anyway...

It is probably just visible in the photo above that the double spread page in the sketchbook had been prepared at home with gesso tinted with acrylic colour. A technique I like to introduce to add variety and texture when working in pencil.

Congratulations to the hardy Social Sketchbookers at the end of a morning in the park! 

My 25 minute final sketch to capture a little of sprouting leaves
and the lumps and bumps at the base of a fascinating tree trunk.

My second sketchbook event was to lead two morning workshop sessions for Freebridge Community Housing. They have a Wellbeing Week for staff and put on a variety of activities. Last year I ran a charcoal drawing workshop and this time I decided to do a Quink Ink Drawing session. I arrived laden with paper; card; small jars of decanted black Quink ink; dip pens, wooden skewers and feather quills for drawing with; covers to protect the tables; water; pots; brushes and masses of natural objects to use for inspiration.

Drawing with Quink ink in handmade simple accordian sketchbooks at
Freebridge Wellbeing Week.

The sessions started with an introduction to Quink ink and a short demonstration on using the various drawing tools and introducing water to allow the ink to bleed and create washes. When the wet ink floats in the water the components disperse into blues, greys and ochres - like magic! After a practice with mark making and trying out the techniques themselves we constructed small scale simple accordian sketchbooks, glued on coloured card for the outer covers and the remainder of the time was spent filling them with delightful sketches based on the natural objects.

Due to the less sophisticated drawing tools and the unpredictable nature of the ink the results were full of character and the accumulation of these drawings was impressive. The participants seemed happy and relaxed, chatting as they worked so I hope the experience was beneficial and contributed positively to Wellbeing Week.

Accumulation of drawings full of character.

So now I am busy with final preparations for the Focus on Flowers workshop at Dobbies Garden Centre and the morning element involves - you guessed - sketchbooks! The afternoon will be time for a longer study using watercolours and coloured pencils.

Just to finish this post I'd like to return to the drawing session in the park. When I did a 'research' trip, prior to making the arrangements, as I wandered round I remember thinking 'why don't I come here more often?' and at the end of the Social Setchbook event many others voiced this thought as well. Spending time in an area, looking, drawing, experiencing sights and sounds over a more intense period of activity is a great way to really get to know a place. Highy recommended. If you find a small parcel of time in the coming weeks, grab that sketchbook and favourite drawing tool and get out in the open, especially as the weather improves...

Owl Sketches & Painting on the Patio

Tawny owl & long-eared owl - taxidermy specimens.

These two visitors have been gracing my studio recently. They are taxidermy specimens (borrowed) and offer a great opportunity to study these beautiful owls. However, when working from taxidermy be aware that there can be discrepancies to the real thing - in this case both suffer from flattened feathers as they usually live in a local school and have been stroked a lot I think! The long-eared owl also has a rather alarming list to one side which I tried to correct in my drawing...

Tawny owl sketch, pencil.

Tawny owls are woodland birds and make the characteristic owl hoot. Several years ago I was fortunate to spy one sitting in a tree in the front garden at dusk. 

Long-eared owl sketch, pencil.

The long-eared owl does often have the long, thin appearance of this specimen and feature head feathers which are known as ear tufts. These are not actually ears, but get raised when the bird is alarmed. I have never seen one in the wild although they do live in Britain but don't seem to be as common as the tawny or barn owl.

Pericallis 'Senetti', charcoal on A3 cartridge paper.

Today I was determined to have a play with art materials and as the weather was warm and sunny I decided to work on the patio. To 'warm up' - artistically, not physically - I started with a charcoal drawing of a delightful potted plant. I was attracted by the simple flowers with long curvy petals and the leaf shapes. I blended charcoal onto the paper surface first to create a mid-tone and then used a charcoal pencil for the line work with an eraser to lift out the lights. The work builds quite quickly with this method and helps prevent fiddly detailing.

Fern in a patio pot, placed on the table for easier observation.

After a break for a cup of tea my eye fell upon this fern which lives in what I call my damp 'woodland' area of the patio... actually it's just a dank corner which never gets any sun, but the ferns and hostas seem happy there. I have added some logs, rocks and pebbles which have been colonised by mosses to support the theme. I began again in my 8x8" sketchbook by observing the curve and unfurling of several stems in pencil. Then moved into watercolour, initially using just the brush and paint but this seemed rather weak in terms of an image so I introduced pencil once it had dried.   

Fern drawn in pencil in sketchbook.

Fern in watercolour,
drawing directly with paint.

Added pencil to strengthen work,
but seemed lost on page...

Extended pencil work beyond
painted areas and finally
a rather wobbly 'frame' to anchor on page.

As I had hoped to get into actually doing a painting of some sort I decided to continue with the fern and taped two A4 size sheets of 140lb Bockingford watercolour paper (Not surface) to a board and placed this on a metal easel. As I wanted to get away from a totally representational image I chose to work with less realistic colour in a limited palette. I worked on both paintings simultaneously but present the sequences as Fern 1 and Fern 2 so the stages are easier to follow. 

Fern 1 - watercolour variegated wash & when almost dry
spattered clean water to create visual texture.

Fern 1 - added some strokes of colour with pastel sticks
then brushed clean water over this to disperse.
Once this layer had dried I began to draw with pastel pencil. 

Fern 1 - continued to build up fern motifs
until I felt I had 'said' enough.

And finally Fern 2...

 

Fern 2 - watercolour underpainting,
again spattered with water to create mottled effect.

Fern 2 - sweeps of pastel sticks then water brushed over
which creates drips and granulation. Once dry, pastel pencils
to describe fern forms.

Fern 2 - continue to build up painting
with addition of more pastel pencil.

Having experienced a bit of a drought on the creative front recently I am pleased with the results of this afternoon. I enjoyed working in the sketchbook first and certainly feel observing and sketching the fern before attempting the two mixed media paintings helped to create a looser interpretation. I certainly won't be exhibiting or framing them but feel there is some merit in the layering and textural qualities that appeal to me.   

If you also feel stuck in a rut or the creative well has temporarily run dry, take the pressure off and give yourself permission to be side tracked by small studies and experiments... who knows where they might lead?

Life Drawing Day

Culmination of a delightful day...

A whole day earmarked for art during a busy, family orientated summer - sheer bliss! I attended the untutored life drawing day at Castle Acre. The event was held in a lovely village hall, tucked along a narrow country lane, with plenty of windows letting in lots of natural light (and offered lovely view of the ruined castle). The night before I was merrily trying to pack my art materials into a bag, and struggling as I seemed to have everything out of the cupboard! I had to tell myself out loud, "This is ridiculous, keep it simple..." and decided on taking charcoal, one box of pastel sticks and watercolours, along with a suitable selection of papers, drawing board and metal folding easel. I haven't painted with this group before, or in this venue, so also took water pot, kitchen towels and even plastic rubbish bags. We had been asked to bring along some food to contribute to a shared lunch so armed with a quiche, cherry tomatoes and grapes I was ready.

Evie, the model, was a delightful young woman - a dancer who now teaches and models in her free time. She was lithe and flexible and could make lovely shapes with her arms and legs. Over the course of the day she posed wearing a leotard, a fluid jersey dress and a marvellous black tutu.

Short poses to start...
3 minutes using charcoal on cartridge paper.

Interesting shaping in the leg position... charcoal.

Warming up, tackling 3-5minute poses.
(Charcoal on left, sepia pen on right).

More complex limb positions...
(brown pastel stick on left, charcoal on right).

Charcoal and pastel on tinted pastel paper...
actually two poses superimposed, can just see initial
one when Evie was other side of frame, facing me.

Charcoal to create initial mid-tone over paper,
then eraser to lift lights and charcoal stick to add line.

After tea break Evie popped a jersey dress
over her leotard. Lovely drapes and folds
 to describe the body now obscured.
(Charcoal and pastel on tinted pastel paper).

Beautiful pose - 20 minutes - charcoal
on lavender blue tinted pastel paper with pastel to pick out main highlights.

Another longer pose, 30 minutes, interesting
angle of head and shoulders from my position.
(Graphite pencil on cartridge paper).

Another pose, another medium - watercolour on Bockingford
paper (140 lbs, Not surface) and no pencil drawing first as time of the essence!

Whew, we were all ready for the lunch break! I am amazed at the drawings and variety of poses Evie has provided us with already. After an hour of food, coffee and chatting to get to know some of the the other participants (other than Helen, who organized the event, I was pleased to see several other artists I already knew)  we were all eager to crack on again...

Two longer poses this time offering the chance to settle into work with a bit more substance.

1 hour pose, watercolour as underpainting on Art Spectrum cream paper
with pastel and charcoal.
Evie creates such a beautiful shape - interesting angles in the negative spaces,
yet fluid lines in her body.

Final pose of the day (1 hour again) and Evie definitely deserved to rest.
My heart sank initially when I looked at this view, it seemed so 'flat' but the more
I looked the more intrigued I became - the unusual angle, the shapes of the arms, the thrust of the torso,
the perspective of the lower legs and all that lovely netting of the tutu.
As my eye delighted in the inky black of her tutu I was glad that I had tucked in some Quink ink to my supplies at the last minute - perfect! Turned out to be my favourite pose and work of the day.     

    

A day of looking and seeing. Transcribing in line, tone and colour the fascination of the human form in a variety of configurations, and in several different media. Time well spent. Thank you Evie and all the other friendly people for such a lovely day, and to Helen for organising it!

The Open Studio Experience

Doors thrown open in welcome...

Norfolk & Norwich Open Studios 2014 has proved to be an enjoyable affair and, even if not in monetary terms, I consider it a success. It was the first time I have opened up my home studio and did wonder if I would get any visitors at all as I am tucked away in a little village so far out. After a slow start on that first Saturday (the torrential rain in the morning may have played a part) the remaining days saw a steady trickle of family, friends, neighbours and a few new curious people from further afield who saw my entry in the brochure. A very big "thank you" for your support and interest, it has been much appreciated. The feedback on my studio and artwork has been very encouraging and sales of greetings cards plus a few items from the browser has been a boost.

Trying out drawing techniques with Quink ink and dip pens...

I had laid out a table with two work stations and encouraged visitors to have a go with the dip pens and Quink ink. Whilst this medium is not suitable for wall hanging work as it is not lightfast, it is perfect in a sketchbook. When diluted out into a wash with clean water the black ink separates out into delightful blues, greys and sepia - all by itself, like magic.

Will I do an Open Studio event at home again? Definitely, although maybe the year after next as it will give me time to build up a new body of work. What would I do differently? I was very happy with how I had the studio and felt the cards/postcards/browser and bargain basket were worth having. I enjoyed taking the artwork off the walls and rearranging (curating) into a new configuration - it helps to see the work with fresh eyes. I wanted to display some of my collection of found natural objects and felt having them dotted around amongst the art created coherence and added interest. I think next time I would splash out on advertising with personal invitation cards, and post notices in the 'What's On' free sections of local papers/online.

I shall leave you with some more images of my lovely studio and a few views of the work I had on my easels during the period...

Bringing the outdoors in...

Artist in an Acre 2014 display

Some of the natural objects I collect...

Information about art classes 

Dog portrait in pastel - the underpainting stage

Work in progress - camel in charcoal

Pencil drawing (from specimen) on white Bristol board, candle wax added to
dandelion seed heads to act as resist during next stage

Varigated watercolour wash applied,
plus some spatter

Colour and detail added with coloured pencil

Indian Ink

And the Day Came..., Indian Ink, Tod Evans

Recently I have been enjoying using inks in my work. Black Indian ink, when diluted, creates soft shades of grey. It diffuses gently when watered down, but try adding it full strength with a brush onto wet paper and it explodes in an exciting manner. The painting above was created in response to the challenge of making work inspired by poetry, song or quotations for the recent West Norfolk Artist Association spring exhibition. (Unfortunately the photograph has a very blue tint to it, apologies). The starting point was choosing a quotation, this was the easiest part as these words attributed to Anais Nin (1903 - 1977) have long held resonance for me:

'And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.'

I relate to it because I wasted a lot of years wanting desperately to paint and draw, but was too fearful to try.

Having decided on the quotation I jotted down several ideas in my notebook, starting with something that was almost a mini installation. As my brain worked out the logistics the ideas became simpler until I ended up with this. I initially used pencil to draw the stages of the bud, semi opening and then fully opened blossom on Fabriano '5' hot pressed watercolour paper. This paper is smooth and bright white, a great contrast to the black ink. I introduced passages of ink into the background first before tackling the blossom. Areas were strengthened and some spatter added.

Background and stages of blossom in Indian ink...

 
I considered carefully whether I wanted text on the painting itself. Having made the decision to include it - how and where? I chose to write the quotation sideways, and to repeat it several times. To help integrate the words into the overall design I used counterchange with white ink on the darker background, and black ink on the lighter areas. I created a mottled effect by brushing diluted black ink over some of the starker white writing to 'push it back' visually. Finally, I added some linear work with a dip pen, again using counterchange. The block of writing to the left of the paper helped to balance the image as the larger open flower on the right is quite commanding. I was pleased with the end result.

Detail of text added sideways to left of painting

Is there a piece of poetry, song lyric or quotation that has personal meaning for you? How could you respond to it in your artwork? This challenge could help give you a nudge out of your usual comfort zone, it certainly made me think as I don't usually include words.

Another Attempt at YouTube Videos!

Tubes of watercolour

Watercolours seem to be featuring quite a lot in my recent work, and also in the mixed media classes that have just started back after the Christmas break. This medium is so seductive, but probably one of the trickiest as there are so many variables - and to my mind it works best when 'given it's head' a bit. The paint likes to move by itself in water and it is scary to not be totally in control, but this is when watercolour seems to be magic! I decided to have another go at making a YouTube video and use it to introduce the materials and some basic principles/techniques as hints and tips. My previous attempts were time lapse - this would involve speaking...

The introduction involved two attempts. The first time I tailed off at one point, forgetting what I wanted to say. However once I moved into chatting about the materials and the actual demonstration parts it was fine. In fact, once I'm off, there's no stopping me and I totally forgot that at the moment my YouTube account will only allow 15 minute maximum video length. I definitely exceeded that. Consequently, I had to discover (fast) how to edit and trim the video into two parts. Also how to join the short introduction so it was incorporated into the first section. So, the video has been posted in two parts again - not ideal but I will remember the shorter time frame in future. The good news? I also learnt how to use YouTube editor to add a title and an end frame with this blog address.

Thinking About Watercolour 1:  Introduction and Basic Materials

Thinking About Watercolour 2: Basic Hints and Tips

Hope you enjoy my efforts, and would love any feedback!