Keeping busy
31 August 2012
And another exhibition: The Croydon Art Society exhibition at Denbies Vineyard in Surrey starts on Monday 3 September, and is open every day until 4pm on Sunday 16 September.
Lewes Artwave 2012
16 August 2012
I'll be exhibiting in this year's Lewes Artwave Festival at 19 Mill Road, Lewes.
View Larger Map
August: Sat 25th, Sun 26th, Mon 27th
September: Sat 1st, Sun 2nd, Sat 8th, Sun 9th
12.00-17.00
More information
View Larger Map
August: Sat 25th, Sun 26th, Mon 27th
September: Sat 1st, Sun 2nd, Sat 8th, Sun 9th
12.00-17.00
More information
Wood engraving
06 July 2012
I spent last weekend at bip-art Printmaking Workshop in Brighton on a wood engraving course with Chris Daunt, and produced this print of the walled garden at Wakehurst:
It's carved -- more like, scratched -- into a block of lemonwood, and then printed in black ink by hand-burnishing. The challenge was expressing everything in black or white -- no greys, let alone colour -- everything is there or not there; every mark is a decision that can't be changed.
Wakehurst. Wood engraving, 7.5 x 10 cm.
It's carved -- more like, scratched -- into a block of lemonwood, and then printed in black ink by hand-burnishing. The challenge was expressing everything in black or white -- no greys, let alone colour -- everything is there or not there; every mark is a decision that can't be changed.
The City, London: Reduction linocut
04 July 2012
A dark layer on the boats and trees, and the print is finished at last.
9 stage reduction linocut, 30 x 24cm.
This is the view from Waterloo Bridge, looking east along the Embankment to the City of London.
9 stage reduction linocut, 30 x 24cm.
This is the view from Waterloo Bridge, looking east along the Embankment to the City of London.
Reduction linocut, stage 8
02 July 2012
The green on the previous layer worked so well, I decided to do some more.
That's the trees finished now. Next stage: complete the boats, and we're done.
That's the trees finished now. Next stage: complete the boats, and we're done.
Reduction linocut, stage 5
11 June 2012
All the light tones are in place, so it's time to move towards the mid-tones. A layer of blue establishes the main shapes.
Sorry about the blurred photo!
Sorry about the blurred photo!
Reduction linocut, stage 3: Red challenge
01 June 2012
A challenging stage.
I needed to add some details to the boats at some stage. Because they're small and mid-toned, I would usually put them on a later layer -- if they'd been any other colour than red. However, I find red the most difficult colour to work with because it's so transparent. If I leave the red to a later layer, it won't print well (all the earlier layers will show through, and it won't look bright red). So it's better to print when there are only light colours on the print.
But the other problem with red is that it's difficult to print on top of: when it's dry, its surface is more resistant to other ink on top.
Solution: I used an acetate stencil and printed the red just on the boats (and put some brown on some of the distant buildings). Now the red is exactly where I want it. I can cut away those areas from the block, and not have to worry about them again.
I needed to add some details to the boats at some stage. Because they're small and mid-toned, I would usually put them on a later layer -- if they'd been any other colour than red. However, I find red the most difficult colour to work with because it's so transparent. If I leave the red to a later layer, it won't print well (all the earlier layers will show through, and it won't look bright red). So it's better to print when there are only light colours on the print.
But the other problem with red is that it's difficult to print on top of: when it's dry, its surface is more resistant to other ink on top.
Solution: I used an acetate stencil and printed the red just on the boats (and put some brown on some of the distant buildings). Now the red is exactly where I want it. I can cut away those areas from the block, and not have to worry about them again.
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