Moth Print 1

Like Sue I am just back from hols. This time another inspiring visit to a favourite city Amsterdam. Time is short this week so just a simple moth design to try a few print techniques.

Some initial sketches to sort out a design that will be quick and versatile. 

A few further thoughts and starting to cut the base plate.

Weasel on a wander

 

 

A very limited post from me this week as we've been on holiday to Spain, walking some of the 'old ways' as well as bits of the new, and I know which I prefer! It can become quite an addictive pastime so before we had to get back to 'normality' we had a couple of long walks locally.

 

After an hour or so of walking along footpaths across fields and along hedges,  we crossed a gate and came to a road where we found this dead weasel who had probably been hit by a car and been bowled into the verge.  The opportunity to be able to study such an elusive animal as a weasel couldn't be missed so one of the many bags taken for blackberries and sloes was used to carry it back.  

 

 

 

Weasels are our smallest carnivore and hunt on other small mammals such as voles and mice  and when you can see their teeth close up, you can appreciate how effective they must be as hunters. They're smaller than a stoat but have a beautiful chestnut brown coat.

                                                  Pencil sketch and water colour of weasel

Being able to study this lovely little creature closely gave me an opportunity to understand its form and movement patterns.

I've recorded certain measurements to help remind me of how the weasel is built, and was surprised to see how large its head is in comparison with its body. It's slim and muscular with short front legs in comparison to its back legs but anyone who has seen how quickly they can run across the road can appreciate what a speed machine it can be. 

Sad though it is to see road kill, at least something can be salvaged if we can increase our understanding of the natural world. It's certainly shown me  what a wonderful creature it is and  perhaps my sketches might just help others to appreciate it too.

Charcoal Moth

I had a moth to stay last year, a beautiful but sad female Emperor. She lived in the shed for a while, then outside for a while. It was not a long life. I made these big charcoal sketches today from her rather decrepit remains. It’s nice to be able to breathe a bit of  life into her again.

 

A2 charcoal sketches

The tatty little model is on the box on the left

Female Emperor Moth on box: Charcoal A2

There is a beautiful softness about these moth. Their hair is silky and their pattern slightly blurred.  Despite their distinctive pattern they are hard to see in the hedgerows.

I ask myself, what exactly is it I like about moths?
Partly I think it is because of their exceptionally beautiful colouring and patterns, partly because they are masters of camouflage and mostly that they usually fly at night. All that pattern and colour in the dark? They are truly mysterious things.

I am working on some moth prints which will be mostly to do with the pattern, I think. 

More Moth Sketches & Notes

 
A couple of pages of notes about the gorgeous colours and patterns of some of the moths. 

 

Eyed hawk moth and Elephant hawk moth.. very beautiful things.

Sketchbook Watercolour  8 x4

Moth Sketches

I am doing a bit of exploratory work for our proposed Fenland Book, which nicely ties in with some research from last year, concerning the local willows.  Willows are a vital foodplant for many insect species, including bees of course and some very beautiful moths. I have become more and more interested in moths having watched a couple of moth ID sessions last year and  I am really beginning to appreciate their beauty, diversity and incredible camouflage abilities. The willow it seems hosts well over 150 species of varying shape size and colour.

I am also looking at Fenland moths in general and so am starting off with a few sketches of general moth shapes..an amazing variety I find! These are locally recorded moths so encompass the Great Fen area as well as our small hilly plateau.

 

Many Moths …pencil on A4 sketchbook.

and a couple of colour note sketches….

I do have a small moth trap which I have yet to use so perhaps I will set it up tonight, although I think it is a bit late in the season.

Mixing media

 

 

 

Having decided on the image of the blackbird , I wanted to portray it using different media, and decided on watercolour and acrylic. It was to be an exercise for me, to see how the same image would change because of both the medium I used and  how I decided to use it. You only have to sift through a brief amount of work to see the wide  range of ways people use oils, acrylics and water colours. We all have our own ideas but these can change as the opportunities and perhaps restrictions of the medium we use become obvious to us.

 

 

Acrylic on canvas 30cm x 40 cm

 

This image is just the start but I will  give myself time to stand back from it over the next week or so and think about the next step. It's easy to get impatient with work when you aren't happy with it but I find that sometimes I just need to step back and allow myself to absorb the image for a while before making any alterations.

 

 

Watercolour 30cm x 38cm

 

This is a work in progress, the tonal values need to be worked on which I think will  give it more life and energy but again, that will come as I absorb it and move onto the next stage.The interesting thing is that this work feels completely different from the acrylic painting but it's almost identical in design ........

 

I'm determined that they will both be finished so......watch this space!

Berries and blackbirds

Whilst Val is listening to the frogs in her garden pond,  I've been looking out into our garden as  the berries and the rosehips sparkle in the sun and watching the birds fighting for the best position to harvest them.  I saw a blackbird guzzling some elderberries and thought what a lovely image it was - the dark purple berries look like some exotic massive earrings or necklace hanging down and the blackbird seemed to be inspecting them carefully before choosing which ones to eat.

 

  We have several blackbirds who swoop down to forage for food in the garden but this one seems to be most at home and I assume is doing most of the foraging.....

Pencil sketch  for watercolour

 

I'll work on a watercolour first but can also see the image as an interesting print, with those jewels of elderberries in sparkling colours.

 

 Watercolour study from sketchbook  

 

 

 

Chris the Frog

My Easton group had a wonderful day on Friday tackling a woodblock print. Their results were excellent, some even managing two colours which is some going for just a few hours.

A few stage one prints from the class.

Chris the Frog
I had printed up a few variations of the Frog as a demo using the same very basic materials we would be using in the class, a spoon, a baren, computer paper, tissue paper, some cheap Japanese rice paper and basic acrylic printing inks.

The first plate.

Various combinations of paper and inking.

The frog is called Chris because I had unwittingly cut a rather nice letter C in one of the spots.. it seemed fitting..

In the garden there are still many tiny froglets around the pond fringes Mowing is a nightmare and very very slow. I have to carefully pat the grass to alert them and help the very tiniest ones to get to safety. The long grass must seem mountainous to them.. I rather know how they feel.

Here is one on the very tip of my grubby fingers.. I am wondering how they will survive the winter.

Frog colour roughs and plate 1

In the end I decided on this design. 

and a few colour roughs to think about two colours.

 

I cut the block to the accompaniment of frogs singing from the herb bed..

Wood block plate 1.. A4

Back to the Blog with a Frog: First Sketches

Sue and I are back to our Beautiful Beasts with some exciting plans for this coming year, and with a book on the horizon too. It’s going to be busy!

Frog Woodcut
My Easton Group’s Workshop this week is a simple woodcut. So I have to cut and print a sample. We will hopefully achieve a two colour reduction print, using a spoon to print and water-based inks and acrylics in a day.

I am preparing a very simple design to hopefully complete in a day. Frogs are on my mind at the moment as the garden is full of them, from tiny froglets to large adults.

They hide in the undergrowth, in the borders and under the huge leaves of the courgettes. They leap about, all around and under my feet, when I am weeding. They are delightful.

Thumbnail sketches first. I know I want to fill the frame and keep it bold.

Preliminary Sketches.

Sketches 1 A4 sketchbook.

 Sketches 2 A4 sketchbook.

Hmmmm decisions decisions…