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….

Hardy hedgehogs....

 

With the warm autumn weather we've been having it's no surprise the hedgehogs are wondering what time of year it is, I just hope that they all find a home before the really cold weather starts. The colours of the autumn leaves have been particularly good this year so if they've used them for a warm bed, they'll be feeling very stylish!  Last year at this time I nearly disturbed one of these lovely creatures as I tried to tidy up the garden but fortunately discovered him [or her] before any damage was done and left the leaves all around to keep our valued little friend warm. 

 

 

Pencil sketch

 

I'll be working on another print  but there's something so special about them and I want to find out  more. There's a lot of information on the British Hedgehog Preservation Society website and after reading it  I think that I might have a go at making a hedgehog 'prefab' for the garden.....baby hedgehogs in the garden next Spring would be wonderful . Did you know a collective noun [or one of them] for hedgehogs is a 'prickle'.....sounds perfect to me. 

 

This character looks like he could do with a good home, but I love the expression on his face.....he just has to made into a print!

 

 

And finally, following the hand pressed prints of the magpie, I did some roller press prints from the same block   

 

 

The moon and the magpie. Roller pressed on Japanese paper.

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 …

One for sorrow?

The magpie or 'maggot-pies' as Shakespeare refers to them in Macbeth, seem to be so caught up in folklore in just about every country in the world and it's not hard to see why. The  black and white feathers and the raucous call makes them very distinctive and rather mysterious - although they are often seen in groups called 'tidings' or 'parliaments', they always seem to me to be loners. 

As a totem animal it is known as ‘the cunning prophet‘ and is associated with  prophecy.  It's said it can be taken as a sign of  joy in personal change, encouraging us to let go of the old and find the new with confidence and clarity. It's certainly an adaptable and successful bird and even if you don't believe in folklore and legends, you can still appreciate it just for the way it looks.

The famous nursery rhyme 'One for sorrow, two for joy' etc., means that they were familiar  to most children a generation or two ago but I wonder if that's still the case......do you still salute a magpie when you see one?!

 

Black and white lino print on Japanese paper - hand printed

 

Val's beautiful prints of the moon were my inspiration for these prints, done by hand at a very early stages so that I could see whether I could get the effect I was after. I like to take prints at an early stage as often they suggest taking a different route towards the finished piece of work.

 

The next stage is to see how the image will change when the block is printed using a mechanical press...... 

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

Abstract ladybirds

I've been playing around with the images of the ladybird and realise how much I like the strength and sharpness of black and white printing. It has its own difficulties of course, but there is something both calming and energising in the different tonal values which can be achieved using different tooling methods and I've been playing around with some bits of images  from my original vinyl print.

 

At the moment this is one stage for a final idea but I like the shapes and the idea of using parts of the  the same image turned around and juxtaposed. I'm still working on it but feel it has a lot of potential....