Tree Sketches

With our Jubilee Wood project in mind, this week I am looking at trees, in all sorts of ways. Today I walked down to the reservoir where along the side of the main path are a magnificent stand of poplars. They are regal. It’s really the first time I have looked carefully at the fascinating rhythmic branching pattern.  I made a few quick sketches of the poplar and a few other  local trees.

The old oak and the branching poplar, A5 sketchbook

Sycamore and the twiggy downward arching willow, complete with camellia galls.

and, back home, a simplification of the poplar pattern.

Suddenly many Art Deco designs make sense to me!

Sketchbook Crickets and Grasshoppers

Earlier in the autumn there was a bright green spindly legged cricket in the wardrobe. They are strange and wonderful things. There are quite a few in the Garden in the summer, and of course grasshoppers are all around the reservoir. 

The cricket came to mind the other day and I thought I would make some sketches.
I am also planning a series of prints of singing, chirping, humming things for our woodland project.

 

 

 

Sketchbook sketches A5 sketchbook

There may also be a small grasshopper book, as book number three for this year. Not quite sure of the form yet but it might be something  like the eel book.

 Finished small eel book  A case bound concertina print.

Eel print trials

I am playing with all sorts of printing methods at the moment and wanted to make a simple concertina book to practice a bit more simple bookbinding.

Here are a couple of plates cut from card.

Some print trials with different weights of ink .

And simply folded. More experiments and cover possibilities to come

Eel Sketches

Sinuous, slippery and lovely shapes.

 

pencil sketches 5.5x 8 inch sketchbook

Eel do have teeth….awesome !

Eels…

I am completely fascinated by these slippery, mysterious creatures and their extraordinary life cycle. They are one of the subjects in my very long, 2015, to-do list. I have drawn some eels before, long ago to illustrate Philip Gross’ poem “Sargasso”. I had been thinking about another interpretation of the poem for a small book. 

They were common around the Fens in the past, and after a steep decline in the 1980’s I read their numbers are recovering. I ate smoked eel in Amsterdam. It’s a good nutritious food. More on eels as food, as glass eels, elvers, as mighty travellers and as strange, twisty, dark and magical things to come. 

And a Couple More..

The moon gazing hare.. a mishmash of a mono-print and a bit of Photoshop. I thought if I were a moon gazing hare it would be rather nice to see another hare gazing back,  just as we continue to scan the universe for hopes of finding some friendly companions. I used to have a little replica moon gazing hare from the British Museum, another thing gone in the fire. It looked a bit like this..




And a moon thing. I cannot tell you what it is. It just grew out of the bobs of ink. There seemed to be feathers and eyes involved but think the feathers are of something deceased..




This is a bit of a favourite so far..

More Moon Animals

Continuing my experiments with mono-prints and the moon.
The moon-eating serpent appears in both Philippine ( Bakunawa) and Indian mythology (Rahu) ..thought to be responsible for eclipses… well why not.
Here are a couple of experiments combining mono-prints with a card plate.

 


And one combining 2 mono-print techniques and working over with pen and ink.

Moon Dogs

I am still very busy with the moon project and last week started making some monoprints to get some more experience with this form of printmaking. 

The proposed series is developing from the idea of the moon as being a constant thing, the same quiet sphere hanging in our sky for centuries, changing very little. What has changed are the theories, knowledge and ideas which we have formulated around it or discovered about it.

So I am keeping some consistency about the moon in the prints and changing its surroundings to reflect some of my own research findings.
If nothing else it’s a good exercise in monoprinting which is very unpredictable. I made a mask to keep the prints the same size, decided to use only black and white and cut some moon masks of the same size.

Knowing how unpredictable it is I decided to do as many as I could in a day using different tools and pressures and papers. I think I stopped at about 40, threw lots away and had about 20 to play with.
Inevitably some worked well, some did not, but all this is experimental so that’s fine.
To start adding some content to the basic prints I went on to cut some simple card shapes to ink up.

Many animals and myths and misconceptions are associated with the moon, so here, for a start is the dog howling at the moon.
In black….

and in white….

Nightjar sketches 2

A couple of small colour studies for the nightjar. Their plumage is a grey-brown mix of dots and dashes, spots and wavy lines,  perfect for blending in with the bark of trees and leafy undergrowth.



more soon......

The Nightjar: First Sketches

At the moment I am deeply involved with all things moon and nocturnal and thought it would be interesting to take a look at nightjars. They are  odd little things with an ill deserved “goatsucker” reputation. Their shape and sound are distinctive but I have yet to see one in the flesh. Apparently it’s  not easy. They are protected birds and also on the Red list for endangered species.
I have made a few preliminary sketches just to get to know its shape and characteristics: the huge gaping beak ringed with stiff modified feathers which act to funnel the insects into its mouth and those big eyes which close into slits when asleep.There is something of the nightmare animal about them and Hieronymus Bosch didn’t help by placing the nightjar firmly in Hell, snacking on people.

A detail from Hell in Bosch’s, The Garden of Earthly Delights (1490..ish )
Apart from its strange head probably its most striking feature is its beautiful camouflaged plumage, like the bark of a tree, mottled and grey-browns, lovely.   People who have seen them say they are almost impossible to detect amongst the undergrowth. I shall be looking at that next.

More sketches to come …

Moon moth

I am off on a short break this week so just one image for Beautiful Beasts.
I’ve been working on some prints of the moon lately and as moths are night creatures I have been wondering about combining the prints. I have no time for actual printing so this is a combined Photoshop print, colours I don’t think I could ever achieve in real  life.
I tend not to use Photoshop much but as I am doing an Illustration course I think its time I really used it for the best it can do, which for me is combining images and playing with colours. So many ides and possibilities can emerge.

 

Moon moth, 2 prints combined in Photoshop

Moth Print Development

I‘ve spent a little time with the moths again… no joke ..
This time combining the two plates.

Hmm.. nice possibilities. These are just proofs on newsprint which prints up really well! Better sometimes than the expensive paper. That’s just how it is sometimes ..

Moth second plate

At last I have finished the cutting of the second plate.

The patterns are quite different from the first plate, as I want to overprint and see what happens.

I also cut a mask, using a test print from the first block. I can’t now remember why I I wanted to do this but I had written it down in my invaluable to-do book.
(Note to self: Good idea to add reason or give self some clue or other.)
Anyway I hope I will remember when I start printing.

Test print of number two plate

  .

I was looking at the new plate and the cut-out print from plate one and thought how much I liked the isolated pink moth.

Some more possibilities are suggesting themselves.. sadly not the reason for the mask yet.

More soon..

Moth Print: 2

I am using the moth image for some more systematic experiments. I’m going to try 2 blocks with different sorts of marks and patterns on each.

First background vinyl block and sketch

First proofs and then printed onto the next block.Something I have not tried before. It involves making a registration plate and some careful measuring. Not my forte….

Second block with some different designs.

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.

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. 

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.