Water beasts....

I'm starting my post a little early this week as other commitments mean that I can't post until later on in the week but Val is kindly letting me butt in.

 After looking at bats, I've been thinking about moving from beasts of the air to beats of the water.... and unknowingly both Val and myself have been working on mono prints. Of course, it's great minds thinking alike!!.........

The wonderful thing about mono prints is the depth of expression, the unpredictability of the outcome and the variety of end results which can be achieved even when using  a similar process.

  Hippo on Japanese paper, hand print, black ink

 

The texture which can be achieved with hand printing is very satisfying as you can vary it according to the pressure used, unlike the effect you get when using a press.

 

 

 

Both these prints were done using a bamboo baren, but the first was done with pressure applied directly over the paper, and the second print was taken directly from the inked glass plate where the indented lines in the ink  have left an impression.

 

I like the images, which I think look rather like cave paintings and will continue to work on the process to see how I can introduce colour and perhaps more texture........

 

 

 

 

 





More Silk Road Horse Mono prints

I did a redraw from my sketch and worked on some more prints. Working from a sketch again and again is like Chinese whispers and the image will change as you go. It’s so much better than going back to your original, unless you are looking for accuracy. Let the image and your marks develop in their own way.

 

I think you need to do lots and lots of experiments and be prepared to throw away lots of paper. I have many rejects. Some are too dark, some too light, some get blotches in the wrong places etc etc, but the possibilities are endless.

This image was printed twice, once wiping out some areas and then drawing on the plate again and running it through the press. It spreads the line in places which sometimes is wonderful and sometimes not.

Printing inks on Japanese Paper A4

This image (I forgot to reverse the drawing :)…) was worked on both in line with a pen and roller on the plate, which is how the blobs of ink got there. All of the prints so far are with waterbased inks.
Things are all very experimental and endlessly surprising.
I really like them.

Silk Road Horse 2: Mono prints

Using the sketches of the stucco horse from the Museum I made some simple monoprints.
Each of the prints below are a result of slightly different inking, slightly different drawing pressure and single or double printing.

 

It’s the first time I have tried this technique and I am delighted by the sensitivity of the mark. There is a lithographic feeling about them, which to me is very beautiful.

I have become really interested in the implied connection between the horse and the figure, so I’ll be working on that some more this week.

Silk Road Horses from the British Museum

Last week I spent a few hours making some sketch notes in the British Museum. I was really looking for dragon inspiration and as you would expect, I did find beautiful dragons in the Chinese Rooms, but I was also very taken with two fragmented horses from the Silk Road display.

 

My sketch of the spotted peg leg Tang period horse. It is “made of painted clay and wood and was found buried in a tomb near a major Silk Road administrative centre”.

“Horses on the move

The Tang dynasty (AD 609–918) was the golden age of the Silk Route. The capital, Chang'an (today Xi'an), at the eastern end, was the largest and most cosmopolitan city in the world at that time. Foreign traders, craftsmen and diplomats from all over took up residence in Chang'an and the other principal trading centres of China, which greatly benefited from the material trade and foreign cultural influences of these interactions.
But all of this could not have been possible without the beasts of burden which carried goods in either direction along the Silk Road.”

from The British Museum Website here

The other horse is a much smaller fragment of stucco. Initially it was the beautifully curving arch of the neck that I liked and then saw the two disembodied arms which, I like to think, are affectionately encircling the horse’s neck. Enigmatic and beautiful. I decided to spend this week on Beautiful Beasts exploring this little horse and its long gone rider.

 
My sketch from Thursday 13th Feb. The Museum label says

“Fragment of a horse.
Ming-oi, near Shorchuk, 8th-10th c. CE. Stucco with traces of paint.”

My sketchbooks and the Silk Road horses, the small stucco one is hidden behind frame of the case.

On Saturday 15th I returned briefly and made a couple more sketches

This is the little stucco horse again but this time I included the figure next to him. I am struck by how these physically unrelated pieces seem to have some sort of interaction.
As did the figure positioned by the two great Tang ceramic Horses which have the centre of the gallery in a glass case with camels and other figures. 

A5 sketchbook pen and ink

This man has his hands raised as if holding the reins of one of these wonderful creatures and yet they don’t seem to have bridles.

I had sketched them on Thursday too ..irresistibly beautiful things with their thick necks and sloping bodies and those fine slender heads. Two larger visitors in the background

 

“Two horses and a groom, made of brown, green glazed earthenware, from the tomb of Liu Tingxun (d. 728).”

Amazing and rather beautiful bats

I know some people are scared of bats, for many reasons, but once you start finding out about them they are amazing creatures......for instance, they weigh approximately the same as a £1 coin and yet even the little Pippestrelle bat can eat 3000 insects a night.  That's quite a feat....

 

Quick watercolour of Pippestrelle bat

 

 

There are 8 different species of bat in the UK, although not all of them are breeding here yet and the Pippestrelle must be the most common but here are some sketches of other types you might be lucky enough to see.

 

 

    Brown long eared bat, graphite sketch

 

(Barbastella barbastellus]

 

               The Barbastelle bat, graphite sketch

 

 

This one is a bit more scary but it has been seen on Holme Fen so if you get a chance to go there next summer at dusk on one of those balmy evenings that can sometimes happen, you might  you just see it....if you're quick!

 

I'm still working on that print so look out for it next time....... 

 

 

A final image of the silver birches to be found in Holme Fen Woodland, which is the largest silver birch wood to be found in lowland Britain......

Holme Fen and a mammal that can fly!

 

 

 

 

 

Holme Fen

Last week I went to Flag Fen to listen to a fascinating talk about the Great Fen project.  ' What is it? ' you may ask, particularly if you don't live in this area or country.

Well, the Great Fen is a 50-year project to create a huge wetland area.  One of the largest restoration projects of its type in Europe, the landscape of the fens between Peterborough and Huntingdon is being transformed for the benefit both of wildlife and of people. Land that was drained from the 17th Century onwards for farming purposes is now being reclaimed in the hope that rare species of plants and animals will return. More information is on the Great Fen website.http://www.greatfen.org.uk/

This got me thinking about some of the fantastic beasts that are there already and led me to study the wonderful world of bats, the only mammal that flies [without the use of an engine!]

Common pippistrelle bat

 

I know that bats are not everyone's idea of 'beautiful' but they are fascinating creatures and if you want to know more there's lots of information about them  on www.bats.org.uk  

 

Don't worry, if you're not that keen on them, all British bats are insectivorous and are likely to be hibernating until the weather gets better but how can anyone resist these fascinating creatures??!

 

  Close up view of bat toes and claws

I think bats deserve a little more attention, don't you? Now to get to work on a design for a print........

 

 

Under the Skin 4: Lucy’s Skull & a Tiny Corset

Generally I like to find things for myself but have not been lucky enough to find a deer skull. Then my good friend Lucy found one and kindly gave it to me. It is fabulous. I have been wanting to draw it for months so I am very glad now to have the opportunity. 

 

Sketchbook studies A4

Watercolour start with model

Lucy’s Skull

Watercolour study on Not paper 8 x12 inches

 

Gouache study. 8 x 10 inches.

The Tiny Corset

One last study of a small broken skull turned upside down. I just caught sight of it on the floor as it was lit by the low angled sun, with its beautiful long cast shadow. It took a while to draw as it’s very detailed. As you draw things you tend to see connections, repeated organic shapes and similarities to other forms. It hard not to if you spend 2 hours staring at something. The more I drew it, the more it looked like a great design for a corset. A tiny fairy one.

 

Upside down skull. pencil 4 x 2 inches

I have so enjoyed the bone drawings this week and I intend to make some more finished studies of the skull.  Thank you Lucy!

Under the Skin 3: Something of the Rabbit about it…

As I walk round the reservoir I pick up all sorts of odds and ends and am always very excited when I find bones. I found this flat single bone with tiny teeth some time ago.  It was with a small cache of other bones at the base of a favourite willow tree.

Initially I was not sure what animal it belonged to, but there was something rabbity about it. So I am guessing it is a rabbit’s jaw. It looks more like a rather curious 2 dimensional foot

Pencil study of bone and a stray bit of grass. Image size 4x4inches

Watercolour study: 4.5 x5 inches

 

Drybrush watercolour: 3.5 x2.5 inches

Under the Skin 2: The Long Bone

I found this long bone near the reservoir about a month ago. I think it’s a leg bone from a muntjac deer. We have quite a few of these curious little creatures round here.When we first arrived we saw a decomposing body up on one of the tracks. I didn’t then have the presence of mind to drag it back home. I might now :) Stubbs would have.

 
Pencil A4 sketchbook

I had not really looked at it before today and initially  liked the sweeping line of the outline but then I saw the glimpse of the beautifully detailed interior.

 

Pencil drawing is 15 inches long,

This is the bit I was most interested in…

Detail of the above drawing..

More than interested really. I hadn’t really intended sketching anything but the bone shape but the labyrinthine structure is too good to leave at a small study. It is the most fascinating world of overlapping fine bones..layer on layer. I made a more detailed study.

 

The scanner is a blunt tool for pencil work and strips out many of the subtle tones and I think there is more depth to the original. I could have continued for many more hours, refining and finding more and deeper layers but I drew what I could see with the help of a small magnifying glass and ran out of time.

Labyrinth…pencil 8 x 6 inches

I was not sure what this bone was, so had a quick search and found the very excellent Jakes Bones. I am learning so much from his site!

Under the Skin 1: An Incomplete Dodo

Bones lovely bones. This week I am looking at some bones, the underpinnings of the bodies of many Beautiful Beasts, and fabulous structures in their own right. This incomplete Dodo is from the Hunterian Museum. See more about the Dodo my blog post on Pencil and Leaf.

I liked its assembled nature.

 

Raphus cucullatus
skeleton

Object Type
Mounted dry bone

An imperfect mounted skeleton of a dodo (Raphus cucullatus). The bones are from several individuals.

This mounted skeleton of a dodo is a composite from several individuals. The bones were from a large collection excavated at La Mare aux Songes in Mauritius in 1865. The first hundred or so of these bones were shipped to Richard Owen and from these he published his monograph on the osteology of the dodo in 1869. Further collections of bones were sent to England and were sold by auction. The College Conservator, William Henry Flower, purchased a series of bones for £10 from which he was able to construct this partial articulated skeleton for display.

 

Dodo sketches pencil A5 sketchbook

Barn owl beats virus.....

OK, so it's not quite finished but I managed to get further than I thought I would with this nasty cold, and now perhaps is a good time to stop for a day or two.   I find it often helps to leave a painting for a while to see whether it works or not and whether I'm really happy with it.

I've enjoyed researching the flight of barn owls and now have a firm idea for a print which hopefully will be on the blog on my next turn......but then that's over a week away and so much can happen to ideas and the imagination!!.....

Looking forward to meeting more of Val's beautiful beasts next week, it's becoming quite a menagerie just as we intended.