Sneak Preview

21 prints all framed and labelled ready for hanging at the Folly in Settle next Saturday for the start of my solo exhibition.

A mixture of Linocuts and Mezzotint prints. Once  hung they'll look better than propped up on my studio floor.

Holiday Sketches

Just got back from a week on the Northumberland coast, a bit of a working holiday as I managed to get some sketching done which will form the basis for a new body of prints over the coming months. Struggled a bit with the watercolours as the only sketch book I took with me was filled with really smooth paper, which whilst ideal for the pen and ink drawings that are my usual sketching medium didn't take the paint well.

The first sketch, drawn from the kitchen window on the evening of our arrival. A coble drawn up from the beach against a grey sea and sky. Pen and Ink and Watercolour.

Budle Bay, drawn whilst waiting for the tide to drop low enough to cross over the causeway to Lindisfarne. Watercolour.

Following the advice of Augustus John quoted at the head of this blog page. I don't usually go for the obvious and iconic views but couldn't resist this. Upturned boats converted into sheds with the castle beyond. Lindisfarne. Pen and Ink.

Whilst driving up the coast road there were hundreds of Butterflies all moving inland. Mostly Painted Lady's but with some Red Admirals too. On  Lindisfarne they were everywhere. Watercolour.

Another go at the boat sheds. Lindisfarne. Pen and Ink.

Quick pen and ink sketch of a lobster boat offshore with Gannets flying past.

Alnwick Castle drawn from beside the old Great North Road. Pen and Ink and Watercolour.

Pen and Ink drawing of the old Lime Kilns on Beadnell Harbour. Now seemingly used as the village dump. They were filled with old discarded fish boxes, lobster pots, a couple of rusty bicycles and an old freezer.

An evening view of Dunstanburgh Castle from the south. Watercolour.

Dunstanburgh Castle again, this time from the north looking across Beadnell Bay on a flooding tide. Evening. Watercolour.

Looking north across Budle Bay to Lindisfarne Castle on the horizon. Watercolour.

High tide at Beadnell. Pen and Ink.

Inner farne from the ramparts of Bamburgh Castle. Pen and Ink.

Great Black-backed Gulls, Cormorants and a couple of Goosanders at Beadnell sitting on rocks at high tide. Watercolour.
Click on the images to enlarge.

Salmon

Finished the new linocut.

Fresh from the Sea

7 colour Linocut

212mm x 150mm

Edition of 20

Printed on 220gsm Winsor and Newton smooth cartridge paper using Nerchau Inks.

Revisiting a past failure

A couple of years ago I tried to make a print of a Salmon leaping a waterfall. Things didn't go well and I abandoned the print after about 3 colours. I've re-drawn the composition with hopefully a less wooden looking fish and started again.

Colour 1 

Colour 2

Colour 3

The first 3 colours build up the spray at the foot of the waterfall. Next I put the base colour on the body of the fish.

Colour 4

Colour 5

Colour 6

Colours 5 and 6 build up the patterning on the fish and the darker colouring on the water. There is one final colour after this which I printed this morning. Once its dry I'll scan and post a copy.

Wuthering Heights - Maybe??

Clearing Sky over Top Withens

12 colour reduction linocut - printed in 5 passes.

298mm x 198mm

Edition of 14

Printed on 220gsm Winsor and Newton smooth cartridge paper.

The final stage of the latest print and now fully dried. Whatever the merits of this ruins' claim to be Wuthering Heights it certainly sits in atmospheric and romantic isolation and draws a steady stream of tourists. Although on the day that my daughter and I hiked up to it we sat and ate our lunch beside it and were the only people there. Hikers following the Pennine Way pass along in front of  the building. Carly and I followed the footpath up to it from the Haworth road. The Bronte connection attracts a lot of visitors to the area around Haworth from Japan so on the wilds of this Yorkshire Moor, the footpath signs are written in both English and Japanese.

Out on the Moor

It's been some time since I seem to have completed an edition of prints, so to get over the feeling that I haven't accomplished much so far this year I made this quick linocut based on a sketch I did back in February at Top Withens. Keeping to a restricted colour palette and the number of passes to 5, it's much simpler than my usual prints.

The first colour is a blend of blue through grey to pale yellow.

Next another three colour blend from grey, through pale grey to ochre. The ink mixed on the slab and then printed over the first colour. This has completed the sky in just two passes.

The third pass is a dark grey through brown to a darker ochre colour in the foreground.

The fourth pass is a two colour blend of darker grey to brown. This adds texture to the ruin and trees and more detail into the foreground grasses.

The final and fifth dark brown completes the print. I'll post a better photo once dry.

New Mezzotint

Not really new as I've been working on this mezzotint plate since early January. As the plate is now nearing completion I have been experimenting with inking. This is printed with a 50% Lapis Blue Opaque and 50% Indigo mix, blending through 100% Indigo to a 50% Sap Green and 50% Indigo mix.