Kefalonia - First

I've completed my large piece of work exploring many nuances of graphite tone and texture. It is based on a number of views of the Ionian Island of Kephalonia as seen from the deck of a boat.

View from the ferry between the towns of Argostoli and Lixouri, looking inland 

 The photo above gave me a lot of the structure and some of the tonal variety, but I also worked from a number of sketches I did on our various boat trips.


The final piece measuring 60cm x 215cm



The work was achieved using graphite sticks, and some water soluble graphite on Fabriano paper which was torn and collaged prior to drawing. The concept had been to work in layers; each layer representing a layer of landscape, and each layer providing the possibility of exploring markmaking in different ways and with a variety of intensity. Kephalonia is an island whose landscape and structure has developed due to lying on an earthquake fault line. In the past the island has suffered very badly; most recently in 1953 when most of the houses were flattened by a devastating earthquake. I intended the fragmented look of the final piece to echo this history.



View of drawing is studio, to give a sense of size

This closeup shows some of the structure of the hillsides,
the 'v' shaped valleys carved out by running water,
and the flattened areas created by landslips.
The peaks of the hills often seem smoothed and rounded by erosion.

This second close up shows the rocks where they meet the sea.
All around the coast it is possible to see these jagged,
fractured rocks diagonally slicing out of the sea.
It is quite easy to imagine the force of the earthquakes pushing the plates of rock out and upwards.
I wanted this area to be strong and heavy in its mark making.
Then above this the tall straight pines rise up out of the lush valleys
and spread to spike out of the hilsides

This image is now going to be shown in Cheddar at a small exhibition of drawing, exploring the work of the Out/Lines post-graduate drawing group, of which I am a member, connected to the Advanced Centre in Drawing (ACiD) at the University of West England.

 The show runs for one week only, preview is Thursday 1st September, and the show is open from the 2nd - 8th September, 1-5pm only. If you are close to Cheddar it would be great to see you at Chestnut Farm Studio, Kent Street, Cheddar, BS27 3LG.
Further info at http://www.acid-outlines.weebly.com/
Link to ACiD http://www.acid.uwe.ac.uk/

Extraordinary Graphite

I have been experimenting with graphite mark making for a new, large scale piece of work. It has been a joy to play freely with graphite sticks and stumps and various erasers, including putty rubbers. The marks that can be achieved are extraordinary and extremely seductive. The soft changes of tone have captivated me at the moment, and the tonal change from black back to white have inspired new approaches.

The last slide shows how I have begun to explore the possibilities of over drawing with scaled up marks that I found in my sketchbook.
All these images come from one piece of work, the making of which is a fascinating journey and I have not yet reached the end. Next post hopefully will reveal the finished piece.

Kefalonia sketchbook

I have just returned from a much needed break in the sun - and there are few better places to rest and recuperate than Kefalonia.

Of course my sketchbook went with me and after a few days I got itchy sketching fingers.

These sketches were done from a boat looking towards the coastline. The boat trips chug up the stretch of sea between Kefalonia and its sister island of Ithaca. It was a good challenge to draw while the landscape was moving along in front of me - a good way of sorting out which marks are important.

Cloud bruised hills

green napped and threadbare

pine plush hills

The landscape rises up out of the sea, as mountain peaks would. It really makes you think about what lies below the water.

This double page was done looking out from a cafe in the village of Katelios. The landscape layers and folds itself down towards the water.

I have a project in mind for some of these sketches and photos, something large scale and layered.

This is a close up of some of the marks from the first sketch. I'm intrigued by the nature of these marks and how they will work when enlarged, and combined in layers. Sketching fingers itching again...

Art in Action visit

On Thursday we took a trip over to Art in Action at Waterperry Gardens near Oxford (www.artinaction.org.uk).

We had a great day, the event is bigger than I expected. If you haven’t been before it is a large event showing artists and their work. Many of the artists demonstrate and all are happy to talk about their work and their techniques. There are classes and talks and a Market.

A couple of chums were there, Sue (suebrownprintmaker.blogspot.com) was demonstrating/selling her amazing bird collagraphs in the lovely Nature in Art area, and Sharon (blog.sharonmcswiney.co.uk) was selling her metal work and jewellery in the Market.

I took a camera but unfortunately didn’t think to use it, but the web addresses will hopefully illustrate it for you.

I was particularly impressed by the drawing tent. It was very quiet in there but there were some very talented people who were clearly forging their own path, and so it was one of the least commercialised of all the tents.

I had a lovely chat to Julia Polonski (juliapolonski.com) who does wonderful large scale work based on the human figure, with compressed charcoal and pencil. The work appears to have large elements of frottage incorporated, but in fact it is all drawn. She is very inspired by renaissance artists, and some of the patterns come from a study of these paintings, but she gives her work an incredible contemporary twist by the way she uses these ancient images. I hope you enjoy looking at her website, she really inspired me.

I was also very impressed by Sarah Morpeth (sarahmorpeth.com). We went to visit her on Sue’s recommendation and I came away with a gorgeous small scale seabird book.

If you weren’t able to go this year, make a date for next July, and I hope you enjoy looking up some of these links.

An experimental etching

The Nags Head brook

I spent a while in this meadow at a place with the wonderful name of Nags Head taking photos exploring, sitting and looking. I also did some sketches. Sketching fixes a place in my mind - I can still feel the weak sun on my back, and taste the tea that I took with me.

sketchbook - a morning at Nags Head

The plate that I made in response to this place was very experimental, as you can see there are a number of different mark making techniques employed: brushing, sponging, drawing through with a brush end, and finally dripping, with a bit of splashing!

'washed out' stage 1

I also put a hard ground on and drew in the tree shape and branches. Then using white spirit and a fine brush I drew the spirit on where I wanted the tree trunk to be and where I wanted a suggestion of trees on the horizon.

'washed out' stage 2

For the final proof I mixed sepia with the black ink. The result has warmed the image a little, just as a spring sun had warmed me when I visited this location.

More Laser Wood Engraving

For my second attempt at Laser engraving I found a lovely arched piece of wood which led me to think of all the photos I had taken of trees meeting over a path.

I had a look through my sketch books and was reminded of the footpath to the west of the village that leads away from Woodstock lane.

In looking through photographs of this walk I found the downhill view offered better tree shapes and a nice turn at the occlusion point; the point where the path turns out of view.

I made a drawing which fitted the shape of the wood exactly. Having done the previous laser engraving I was much more aware of the sorts of marks that the laser translated well – lines, tone when next to an area of white, areas of strong contrast and the close tonal differences that were more difficult to translate.

I then created a visual of the, hopefully, final effect on photoshop. Then the image was uploaded and the laser cutter went into action.

The result, below, is a different effect to the previous engraving because of the different types of wood. I used Ash this time, initially because it is a paler wood, but of course it burns very effectively, hence its name and therefore the marks did not have quite the same tonal range.

The laser engraved deeply into the surface, which gave a beautiful 3 dimensional quality to some areas, particularly the top branches reaching across the path to meet the trees the other side. Some of the cutting on this area was achieved on quite a rounded section of the wood, and on an unprepared surface, but the marks have retained their focus and sharpness.

The watercolour splashes that I had left on the surface of the lane in the drawing translated very effectively. A friend pointed out to me - such an intriguing paradox, the heat of the laser using burning to create a watery mark! Water from fire... something to mull over...

I now have to decide how much further I go with this, but the potential for turning drawing into something entirely different is intriguing and tempting.

Exhibition update - the Westonbirt print

The first week of the exhibition has gone reasonably well. The weather gods have been against us (and most of the rest of the country) and there are a couple of roads in the area which are shut. Both things have undoubtedly had an impact. Nailsworth has been quieter than normal, but people have commented about how much easier it is to park than normal, good news for any of you intending to visit. The visitor’s book is filling up nicely and there have been a couple of sales, can’t wish for than that.

This smaller print has gained a lot of interest.

'Westonbirt morning'

It shows a clearing in a local visitor attraction, Westonbirt Arboretum. I did the sketch on a lovely sunny Sunday morning; we had taken a flask of coffe with us and sat on our favourite bench. The shadows were very strong across the shorter grass and the sketch has cried out to become an etching.

Many people in the area have annual membership to this beautiful place full of champion trees and national collections and use it as a place to walk and meet friends. We are members ourselves and our dog loves chasing the scents of squirrels through the trees.

The etching is made from a zinc plate etched with copper sulphate crystals. The trees were drawn in with sugar lift and then I left the plate to open bite, stopped out the trees and shadows to some extent and did a second open bite. My original wax ground was applied over slightly sticky sugar lift which provided an unsecure ground and lots of lovely foul bite – a perfect woodland floor. The background detail was created with a soft ground and textures, - several stopping out stages created a back drop which was not too uniform.

Westonbirt is a magical place, and I can see it featuring in future work.