"The artist is also a born adventurer. His explorations, unlike those of the tourist, are rewarded by the discovery of beauty spots unmentioned in the guide books, and with tireless curiosity and an exceptional proneness to wonderment, he will come upon objects of remarkable interest overlooked or even shunned by more disciplined observers."

Augustus John, R.A.

Sunday 28 January 2024

Slow Start

I've been struggling for ideas for the last couple of months and the old year kind of ground to a halt in a pile of half finished and then abandoned images. At the end of last summer I finished grounding a new mezzotint plate but since then I haven't started any work on it. I just can't come up with a suitable subject or image that I feel inspired enough by, to commit to for long enough to finish the engraving. So earlier this month I packed my sketching bag and went down to St Aidens for a days drawing. This hasn't immediately resulted in a new print but it has got me working in a positive vein again.



Great Crested Grebe. Pencil and Watercolour

Male Stonechat. Pencil and Watercolour

Glossy Ibis. Pen and Ink

Glossy Ibis. Pen and Ink

Glossy Ibis. Pencil and Watercolour

Great White Egret. Pencil and Watercolour

Great White Egret. pencil and Watercolour

Great White Egret. Pencil and Watercolour

Little Egret. Pencil and Watercolour

The view south across the reedbeds. St Aidens. Pencil and  Watercolour.

Back in the studio I stuck a piece of engravers plastic onto an mdf block and working from an old pen and ink scraperboard drawing of a Dipper. Made this little 75mm x 100mm engraving.

Engraved and inked block


Dipper
75mm x 100mm
Plastic Engraving.
Edition of 50

Printed on some of my last remaining sheets of Zerkall smooth paper.