The Agonies

 It's less than 3 weeks to the opening of "Our Fragile Land" in Gairloch Museum, and I'm just in those pre-exhibition agonies.  Deciding on which paintings should go up on the wall and worrying about the quality of the work.  I know it's always the same before an exhibition...the same old agonies.

But, to start with, I'll follow on from my last blog and show you what I developed from that winter woodland sketch in the oakwood.  Here it is - in acrylic.

After doing this, I decided to have a go at a slightly different version of it in mixed media, on a canvas.  Here's how that one is coming along.

 Interesting...Huh?  I was so pleased with the initial one, but now I think I prefer the larger more horizontal one.  I suppose they're just different.  I'm having a little pause now while I get things together for the exhibition.

I had this idea about doing some linocut trees in various forms.  Here's a linocut (well 4 linocuts, actually), printed over a gelli print.  I like the soft intrigue of the background that you can get with this.

I then had this idea of doing something different on the other side, so did a few drawings, like this one.

And then I concertina'd the cards, like this.

What do you think?  Not quite an artist's book, but a little fun.  I commissioned a friend to make a little plinth holder and I'm going to try and display a few at the exhibition...if they'll let me.  If you want to see the lovely plinth, you'll have to come along to the exhibition!  Well...I'm trying to keep them a surprise until then: I'll take a photo later.  I thought it would give visitors something a bit different to look at as well as the wall art.

Anyway - here's the official poster.  I'm in very good company for this exhibition, as you can see.  So perhaps you'll understand my agonies now. 

Exhibition runs from 4th May to 29th June.  It's a must see!

Sketch Book Review

I have been reviewing my 2018 sketchbooks.  I think this will help me to think about what I'm going to do next year.  Once again I am resolved to do more blogging this year - I find it helps me to keep focused on my work and work things out in my head.

Trying to see if there are themes emerging from my sketches. Like the landscapes of home.

Lochcarron and Kishorn.  The sea and the hills.  Rocky foregrounds which I haven't quite perfected yet.  I like rocks and want to keep sketching these in order to get the right look.

And other less familiar landscapes, such as those above in Mallorca.

Then there are the trees at home and abroad. Like this Mallorcan pine tree perched on the edge at the top of the Barranc near Soller in Mallorca.

I was particularly attracted to the exotic shapes of Olive Trees in Mallorca.

 

 But any tree with character tells me it wants to be sketched, including an old apple tree in Colonsay.

 







And then there are buildings, groups of buildings and structures.  Like the steading at Balmacara.

 Quiet lanes in Edinburgh's New Town.

The narrow streets of the Alfama in Lisbon.

 And monumental buildings, such as the Belem Tower

Not forgetting the architectural details of buildings in Soller, Mallorca.

And bridges are a favourite subject, including this one nearer home at Duncraig Halt on the Kyle Line.
















These are just a few of my sketches from 2018.  However, it's one thing to sketch but quite another to create paintings, and I know I have to spend more time in 2019 playing with sketches and creating pictures. That's probably my resolution for 2019.  Happy New Year!

The Story of the Tree

As some of you may know, I've recently done a print - a photopolymer gravure to be precise - of a Scots Pine tree, and I've been lucky enough to get it selected for the current open exhibition of Visual Arts Scotland 'FLY2016'.  I thought I would record what lies behind the picture.

If you drive along the road from Lochcarron to Shieldaig, you go through a forest of Scots Pines just before Shieldaig.  I can only assume this is an old native woodland, maybe even an ancient wood, and it stretches from the shores of Loch Dughaill up the slopes of Ben Shieldaig.  It is lovely to drive through, and I'm always happy if I have to linger in a passing place there.  It is difficult to draw off the road, but you can find a spot.

We did stop one time, and I chanced upon a tree with character and ended up reaching for my sketch book.  Here's a photo of the tree in question.

As you know, the image captured in a photo is a distortion of the real thing, as is a sketch. But I think you can see a similarity between the two.  Perhaps a slight exaggeration, but then Matisse did advise 'Exaggerate in the direction of truth'. I also realised that I'd have to draw the tree over two pages in my sketch book to try and describe the crookedness of its character.  I think I used graphite and pencil on this sketch.

I never quite know what I'm going to do with my sketches.  Initially with this one I did nothing.  This tree has such a strong character.  Would it be suitable as the main motif in a painting?  I suppose I shied away from that as I thought it would be too dominant.

And then a few months later I was looking through my sketchbook for ideas for making new photopolymer plates.  I'm trying to do a few smaller plates in order to have cheaper prints to sell.  Anyway, I thought this might make a good picture, and re-drew it in ink on a type of transparent film (MMR film).  This is the drawing.  You can see the edges of the film which is lying on top of paper.

Finally, after exposing this on to photo-sensitive polymer plate (using a lightbox), I ended up with a type of 'etched' plate (but it's not strictly 'etched' as it doesn't go into a bath of acid to create the lines to hold the ink: that's done through a photographic development process: sometimes this process is sometimes called 'solarplate').  The final print which I pulled off the plate is looking like this - it's quite true to the final drawing I made.

So that's the story behind the 'Shieldaig Pine'.  The print is hiding away in one of the back rooms of the VAS exhibition at the RSA until 27th December 2016.  See if you can track it down when you go along and please let me know what you think when you see it in the flesh!

Re-booting the Blog

Hi there!
Gosh, it's a long time since I did a blogpost. A sure sign of life getting in the way of art. Been busy painting walls and doing DIY in order to get the Musselburgh flat up for sale (sadly!). But I think the hard work is done now so I'm trying to get back into work.

We're back up north for a brief week before we're tied to Musselburgh for viewings. My discipline of a sketch a day is working, getting me back into a work habit. And it's New Year: an appropriate time to take stock and re-focus.

Did a few charcoal/pencil sketches at Fisherrow - mostly boats! Good to get the drawing going, helping me to think about composition.

I also feel both energised and challenged by my recent trip to London when I went to exhibitions of work by Lanyon and Auerbach. I'm definitely in the Peter Lanyon camp on the importance of observation to inform my drawing and painting - there's a great quote of his which I can't lay my hands on at the moment - and I think both artists worked hard at expressing their feelings for places (and in Auerbach's case, also people) through their work. I did particularly love Auerbach's charcoal portraits. I suppose this type of work is 'experiential observation'. So...I think this gives me a signpost...I observe and draw quite well but I need to work at the emotional side in order to enrich the drawing/painting. I suppose that even in coming to this conclusion I have developed a bit! And I know that I must 'practice' to improve my technique and the quality of my painting and printmaking.

So far in January I'm continuing to focus on sketching to renew my interest in subject matter and draw myself back into work. Also I do find that the longer I am away from practice the worse the critical nagging voices get - the ones that say 'why are you bothering to do this?' (like Oor Wullie's devil on his shoulder). However, even through doing this Blog I am trying to counteract the nagging voices - there is something worthwhile for me to do; there's a challenge for me and there are ideas to explore.

My one-time tutor, Matt Storenstien, once advised me to go back to doing a few simple watercolours in order to get my head together. So this month I see it important to 're-boot', to go back to first principles and rebuild. I'm trying to sketch as much as possible. Here are a few from the last couple of days.

Across Loch Carron (Sketch)

Slumbay View (Sketch)

Sgorr Ruadh and Fuar Toll (Sketch)

And now I'm thinking about a little colour but with restraint. Using acrylic inks to supplement the graphite. I quite like this approach - I feel it's appropriate for this time of year.

Across Loch Carron (Study)

Sgorr Ruadh and Fuar Toll (Study)

I'm aiming for that zone where the painting is easier and things flow better, when you find unexpected good things in the paintings you make. Wish me luck this year....

Amsterdam Sketchbook

Just back from five days in Amsterdam. Loved it! It was a sociable few days rather than a working holiday, but I managed a few sketches, mostly in pencil.

I found the townscape a bit complex to start with. Layers and layers of interest. It took a while for me to get my eye in and that's one of the things I wanted to share in this blog. My sketches did get better the more I drew.

We went for coffee on the first morning and I was determined to 'do a sketch'. I thought the cafe had a good view - there was a nice tree in front and the bridge had a good curve -  so I had a go.  But then I realised there was a clutter of bikes and that the lines of the buildings interfered with the foliage of the tree. And should I put the crane in or not? So this first effort was a bit scribbly.

Amsterdam Sketch 1

But we had to move on. I was finding it difficult to settle on a view - one I thought I could sketch - wanted to try something simpler. We then chanced upon a small narrow canal, so my next attempt was a done standing up, leaning on the railing of a bridge. I find that if I sketch while standing up the result is  never as polished or complete as one done while sitting down. So although this sketch is less cluttered, it's again a bit too scribbly for my liking.

Amsterdam Sketch 2

We were also busy doing other things. So continuing my sketching had to wait until Monday, our last day. We found a good spot in another cafe, right on the edge of the canal (Herengracht, I think). It was difficult to decide what to focus on, but I settled for a corner building group across the canal.

Amsterdam Sketch 3

I was sitting down and able to take more time over this one - better pleased with the result. I had to concentrate on the different window sizes and the relationship between the storey heights.  The cafe wasn't busy and they let me stay as long as I liked. So I sketched this barge too, again taking time to try and capture a bit of detail.  It was a bit of a relief from drawing the buildings and I was sorry not to have colour.

Amsterdam Sketch 4

I was cold by now, needing a bit of a walk. Still not sure how to best capture the buildings in a sketch. I came to a junction with several canals where I got a good view over to a building group which included one very old building.  I would have liked to include the bridge in the sketch, but I had a square sketchbook, so it wasn't really possible. Grrr.

Amsterdam Sketch 5

Then in the afternoon, I found a step to sit on at the side of another canal.  I liked the curve of the bridge, the rooflines and the trees. Used ink lines for the lampposts and the bicycles and a few other fine marks.

Amsterdam Sketch 6

Finally sat in another cafe. I didn't think the view was that good, but decided it was probably my last chance for a sketch. Thought the 3 black buildings provided a good focal point, and I couldn't entirely ignore the bicycles

Amsterdam Sketch 7

And I was right - this was my last sketch. Oh...apart from this doodle of cyclists in the rush hour at Leidseplein. It's so hard to draw people on bikes!

Amsterdam Sketch 9

Bit of a mixed bag, but a few ideas to think further about. The subject matter was complex and I had to concentrate quite hard - no harm in that! I am surprised how much more confident I became by the end of the day.

Must go back to Amsterdam for more sketching. And take just a little colour with me next time. And a bigger sketchbook....

A Fresh Start

It's been a while since I posted a blog, but now that I'm back from a week's holiday in Caithness and Sutherland I'm raring to go with creating some new work. My aim over the next month is to get some serious uninterrupted work done. I just need to paint paint paint!

I've made a start over the last couple of days - been reviewing my sketches and supplementing ideas by looking at photographs - and I feel that I've made a good start. I find it quite difficult getting back to painting after a bit of a break.

Yesterday I was roughing out some harbour compositions, based on Kiess and Sandside Harbours in Caithness, searching for an interesting composition.

Today (with some difficulty) I selected a couple of the Sandside compositions and had a go at doing these at a larger scale using ink, white acrylic paint and a little crayon. I got as far as this and decided to stop.  I was determined to get something down on paper.

Determined not to overwork these, I set them aside and decided to focus on a view which had caught my interest - the strand and the limekiln at Loch Eribol.  My starting point was a quick graphite sketch I did yesterday.

On a large piece of paper I re-drew the scene in black ink and graphite. I was really liking making the random ink marks on the beach. However, one can't be too precious at this stage of making a picture and so I continued.

Using a combination of two acrylic paint colours (plus white) plus inktense pencils, I got as far as this next stage. I was liking the way I did the sea - a lot less fussy than usual.  But when I reviewed the picture, I thought some of the marks on the beach were distorting perspective.

So I did a bit more and it ended up like this.

Not finished yet.  But all in all quite a good start, I think.
Back to the drawing board tomorrow.  Discipline!