Sketching weather

Are we seeing the first signs of good sketching weather, comfortable walking and not always wearing gloves? Lets hope so, its been a soggy winter.

sketchbook

I found this quote from Tim Ingold which sums up nicely an artist’s desire to both work in, and seek inspiration from, the landscape:

“Practitioners, I contend, are wanderers, wayfarers whose skill lies in their ability to find the grain of the world’s becoming and to follow its course while binding it to their evolving purpose”

Lets get out there!

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

 

A grand time

I've had some busy times in the print studio and new work is on its way.
Here's a print I made for the New Brewery Arts show (which closes this Saturday afternoon)
This image was taken from sketchbook studies made last summer.
Drawing in this place brings the trees on the left into prominence, they stand waiting to greet walkers as they pass by.

'Grand summer path'
completed etching

The path at this time of year opens up and loses character but in the summer the undergrowth and lush leafy branches frame the path and the feeling of walking along here is more like that of being in a grand hallway in a large building. The thickness of the leaf canopy make the view in the distance quite dark, but sunlight pours onto the path creating strong tonal contrasts.

An earlier proof was more like my sketchbook drawing, but was too insipid as a print, I wanted more drama - hence the stronger contrast.

'Grand summer path' mid point proof

The process is always an adventure - what will work the best? And what works well in one medium does not always translate to another

Thinking of warmer days...

I recently completed this little etching, taken from a sketch made last summer. While we're all managing the persistent rain at the moment its been lovely to look back through my sketchbooks at summer pages and enjoy making work from warmer days.

'Aug 14th'

The memories of making this sketch remain strong. Aug 14th was a balmy evening in Gloucestershire, we sat on a quiet path, eating a picnic. There was a buzz of insects in the background and the long grass was tickly. The dog got covered in grass seeds. Nobody else walked past; we had the place to ourselves.

Photographs rarely bring back such clear memories for me. Snapping a photo is such a quick process, the sketch is a much longer, more considered process of looking.

What's in a name?

Naming my etchings and drawings can be a lengthy process, often a name eludes me until the piece is completely finished. A while ago I read Tina Mammoser's Blog (click on the link to go to the post)about naming artwork and found really sensible ideas, some of which I'd already used myself such as the name of the place which inspired the piece, and other ideas such as sketchbook notes.

For the past year I've really enjoyed working on little 10x10cm etchings exploring technique and composition, the trouble is many of them were of different views of the same place. Naming was starting to get too contrived until this one:

July 7th

Funny how a date can be so evocative...
A date gives an idea of the weather, the temperature, the season. A date can link to people in all sorts of emotional ways, it could be a memorable date. When I sketch outdoors I write the date on the page, so for me these are the dates of the inspiration drawings. When I look at the date and the image I get a full mental and emotional picture of the day.
On July 7th last year, a hot day, I sat under the shade of a tree and while I drew my dog rolled around on the path and then joined me in the coolness of the long grass and quietly watched me. A peaceful and tranquil morning.

Aug 25th                   and                     Apr 6th

These two were then named for similar reasons
The link to the sketchbook and the process of drawing is a satisfying aspect of this naming strategy.
Thank you to Tina Mammoser for encouraging more thoughtful naming.

Second Impressions

The exhibition at New Brewery Arts in Cirencester opened last weekend.



Second Impressions - New Brewery Arts - beautiful airy gallery space,
with my 'Winter Westonbirt' drawing on the right

Here are a few highlights:

Katie Wallis's unique lampshades and cushions

Coo Gellar's orange peel lasercuts

 

Gemma Wright's animation

 

Jane Sasanow's windmills

 

John Lynch's reduction lino cuts 

 

Sue Brown's 'Swarm' casting wonderful shadows

These are just a few of my photos that came out OK, they're such a talented bunch.

 

More photos are on Sue Brown's fascinating blog: suebrownprintmaker.blogspot.co.uk

 

Exhibition continues until 8th March.







Ambition

I started this year with a large ambitious drawing project, destined for the group exhibition at New Brewery Arts

The progress went OK,

Once I started on the foreground I felt more comfortable with the image,

Getting this shadow in brings the image into focus,

Building the remaining shadows,

Then it was all about the details, the smaller branches, the softness in the shadows, the detail on the ground and the variety of marks which would give perspective.
At this stage it became almost impossible to photograph adequately in my small studio space.

But this weekend our exhibition opened and I was able to get a good photo. Now we can see scale and impact,

and an ambition realised - showing a large piece in a commercial gallery context.