Michael Gage

We've been out with the sketchbooks again, at last. On the way to Denbies to collect the pictures at the end of the Croydon Art Society exhibition, we stopped at Polesden Lacey, a National Trust country house in the Surrey Hills.



Ink and watercolour on paper, 28 x 9 cm.

Even in mid-September, there were still roses in bloom. A few too many people pretending not to look at my drawing as they walked past, so I found another spot hidden by thick hedges.


Ink and watercolour on paper, 28 x 9 cm.

As the sky got darker and threatened rain, the visitors started to disappear, so I was able to find a bench closer to the house, and drew undisturbed.



Ink and watercolour on paper, 28 x 9 cm.

After we'd collected the pictures from Denbies, we drove back over Box Hill. At last, the sun came out, and so one more sketch of the view looking south completed the day.



Ink and watercolour on paper, 28 x 9 cm.

Lewes castle from the Paddock.




Bull House, Lewes: Between 1768 and 1774, it was the home of revolutionary writer Tom Paine.

Each: Three block linocut, 10 x 10 cm.

Another steep hill to climb.




Three block linocut, 10 x 10 cm.

Not just squares.



Three block linocut, 13 x 10 cm.
This is the view from the steep road up to Lewes Golf Club, looking south down the A26 towards the coast.

Linocuts, hand coloured.

This print is of the Round House in Lewes.





Three plate linocut, 10 x 10 cm.
The Round House was the base of a windmill built in 1801, and then turned into a house somewhere around 1900. In 1919, Virginia Woolf bought it, but never lived there, preferring to move to Monk's House at Rodmell instead.

And another print of Lewes. Like the previous one, it's a view from Cliffe Bridge; this time looking in the other direction, south, past the old warehouses, towards the Linklater Pavilion.




Three plate linocut, 10 x 10cm. Edition of 5.

Struggling a bit here with the multiple plate technique, which I've not done much of before. Working on such a small scale makes any errors much more visible. You can see the black layer overlaps at the left edge -- if this was a 50cm square, that would be hardly noticeable, but on a 10cm square it stands out. Need to cut the blocks much more accurately, and sort out the registration method.

Another "buildings of Lewes" print: the rooftops and chimneys of Harvey's Brewery from Cliffe Bridge.




Three plate linocut, 10 x 10 cm. Edition of 5.

It's been quite here recently. I've been busy working on a set of prints of Lewes, trying out a new style and technique. I've been concentrating using multiple plates (instead of reduction prints), and, inspired by my wood engraving course, on black-and-white images -- yet trying to include some colour as well, just to brighten them up.

Here's the first print in the set, of one my favourite buildings in Lewes, on the corner of Rotten Row.



Rotten Row, Lewes. Linocut. 10 x 10 cm. Edition of 5.