The home run

This was how the big print looked when I thought it was finished...

... then I put it up in the studio, and I looked again and realised it wasn't really what I wanted.

I wanted the wall, centre left, to blend better into the background and the background to be darker, so back in the etching tank it went.

This looked better when the image is viewed as a whole. The focus is re-directed better onto the path.
Then I needed to sort the gap in the textures in centre of the lane and the post which wasn't quite there.

After a final judicious use of aquatint the lane textures are linked together and the eye is drawn along the lane more effectively.

And now I think its finished... maybe...

'Turning for home' etching 66 x 44 cm

I do wonder if I might still give this plate the chop - my favourite areas are the main lane leading backwards; in these areas everything has worked as I wanted. A Photoshop crop gives the general idea...

Sometimes less is more?

20:20 edition day

With plate complete, paper torn down, and a variety of ink combinations tested I'm ready to go. The sketch I was working from was a quick plein air drawing completed on a summer afternoon when the grasses growing in the middle of the lanes had reached their tallest. My sketch had soft watery passages combined with linear work, kept quite minimal.

This crop from a proof was the key affect I hoped to achieve across the plate - a combination of  smudginess, expressive line and texture.

proof - cropped

Here we go then...

Inking up/Wiping

Wiped!

Hot off the press

Multiplied

'Aug 7th - grass tufted lane'
The final print measure 18x18cm on 20x20cm paper

So much for printing the edition on one day - who was I kidding, it took me two attempts to get it finished! Now all ready to be packed up and delivered now before it wings it way to Hot Bed Press. This link takes you to their website where you can read about the fab 20:20 print exchange.

Charcoal drawing - Looking back, looking down

A new charcoal drawing

This is a similar view to one I've played around with before, and looks back down the lane towards home, and also looks back to the weather we had earlier this year. Fortunately this lane hasn't looked like this at all this summer and is as hard as nails at the moment.

I'm playing with returning the emphasis to the foreground, putting the ground first, showing the path I'm about to step on... hopefully bring the viewer along on the walk.

Sketchbook - a drier place

a note to myself... always remember your hat!

The dog and I have been wandering to back on a regular basis to a familiar place - the lane where I photographed some soggy and puddly views earlier this year.

We're glad to see it's all a lot drier and its made walking so much easier. The dog is also happier when he doesn't need drying off when he gets home.

I've enjoyed drawing here over the last couple of months; the texture of the mud and the shapes of the puddles have captured my imagination. The trees frame and darken the lane very differently depending on where I stand to sketch and the strength of the sun. The surface of the lane has become noticeably more rutted since all the bad weather over the start of the year. There's some great shapes to get the pencil into at the moment.

Here are some more sketchbook excerpts showing how varied the scene appeared to me depending on the weather conditions.

clean sunshine

after steady downpours

mild enough not to need gloves; still enough not to need a hat!

warm sun... a promise of better drawing days

 

Images for 2014

Happy New Year!

Now is the time for new ideas and new work.
There is some major stuff underway (finishing work for an exhibition) which has started to lay down markers for this year. I'll post it very soon.

For now here's what I'm thinking about and looking at  the moment, some photos of the results of the recent bad weather on our village lanes...

The flooding has been so sad for many people, but the water and sun combined can also provide some dramatic and fascinating scenes in areas where the human effect is minimal.

The clear reflections, broken by mud grass and footstep textures are visually appealing.