sketches

We spend a heavenly long weekend in Mull last sumer and while there I developed a new obsession with finding a way of illustrating the combination of rock and grass that covers the Island. I love how Francis Walker captures it in her screen prints. I may have to resort to screen printing as I just don't find relief printing subtle enough. Below are some sketches that will hopefully become prints.

Here is a view of Fionnphort. I love the yellow boat in the fore ground. I need to work a little harder on this composition. I put the colour of the rocks underneath and then the green on top with watercolour and picked out the detail with a pen.

This is an old croft I came across walking back from Erraid to Fidden Bay. Again I used watercolour and then added detail with a pen. I love the sense of dereliction found in old farm buildings. The old tin roof and landrover add enough colour to pique my interest. And of course the sheep!

Mulling it over

So here is my print of Fidden Bay, with extra sheep!

I am very pleased with it. The break seems to have done me good. I was delighted to be back up at the printmakers with the smell of the ink and the roar of the presses! (well not so much roar as creaks and groans). Once I started the print I was kicking myself for staying away so long. As I was a bit nervous about losing my printing mojo I really took my time over the layers and cutting, hopefully it shows.

 First cut I used a brown on the bottom half to pick out the sheep and a pale blue on the sky. I cut out the right hand part of the sea to try and catch the dazzling sparkle you get on the scottish sea.

Next I layered some light green on the foreground and another pale blue on the sky. Previously i have really struggled with sky. Relief printing can be unforgiving when attempting subtlety however I was pleased with this effect, it looks harsher in the above picture than it is.

At this point I was really pleased with my wee sheep emerging in the foreground.

Next came the dark blue of the sea, I decided to use the blue on the foreground to give the next layer depth and to highlight the grass. If you look closely you will also see I had a bit of the mid-print crisis and added some ill-advised teasels and other flora to the foreground. Fortunately I came to my senses and changed it.

Choosing a green when doing a Scottish landscape is tricky, too green and it can look lurid but Mull really is that green. I think the dark blue underneath saved the green from its greenness. I used a grey to pick out the rocks.

To be honest at this point I considered just leaving it

but the rocks on the near beach were blending unhappily with the more distant bay.

The dark brown gives a sense of distance and recession and of course the wee sheep benefited too!

New Print Brewing!

Just before Easter we has a flying visit to Arisaig in the North West of Scotland, a sort of scouting trip for our big tour of Scotland in July. We arrived on the most beautiful sunny evening and Eigg looked amazing.



My wee sketch is going to be the basis for a new print.

I have been wanting to do a more 'designy' type print for ages so much sketching and photoshoping later i came out with the above, which is going to be the basis for a small woodcut. Stay tuned to see how it turns out.

Cards

A big thank you to Roseanne at Urban Igloo who prompted me to get some cards printed. All are availabe at Urban Igloo.

Portobello take 2

Here is my latest Portobello inspired print.

Rockcliffe Jetty - the final cut?

Oh dear can't decide if I am happy or not. Not pleased with the far shore, too green? not green enough? too dark? too light? I am very pleased with the jetty. I used Somerset satin and velvet which creates different effects. I might have to do another colour to fix the far shore.

Nearly there

At this point I always get very nervous with a print and this one is no exception. All I can see are mistakes or opportunities missed. However I will grit my teeth and hope the final cut redeems.

Bass Rock Revisited

So here is my latest offering. It is a view of the Bass Rock from the John Muir Country park at Tyninghame. I have been mulling over a 'pebbly' scene for a while. I love how the pebbles have turned out.

I started out using a blend of brown, blue and greys to set the background. Then I set out the Bass Rock and highlighted the breaking waves with the green. Next came the brown and blues of the rocks.

The first 2 proofs used a dark blue on the base Bass Rock but stopped after the first 2 as I wanted the Rock to receed more.

Chine-collé

I had booked a session in the studio but finished my Renvyle print earlier than expected. So with nothing else to do I beavered away at cutting out this image of the Gray Mare's Tail. I love love love the spontaneity and speed of using chine-colle and think it really works for this image.