London Road Group

Michael: Linocut, stage 2

2012-02-23T08:31:00.003Z

Another layer of colours; fingers crossed that they're not already too dark.

Michael: Popularity

2012-02-14T22:17:00.002Z

This week's theme for Illustration Friday is "popularity". Here's my entry:

http://floatingrabbit.blogspot.com/2012/02/how-to-increase-your-popularity.html

Michael: New print

2012-02-13T20:54:00.000Z

Here's the first layer (though there's not much to see yet):

To get some variation in what will be beds of flowers, I inked the block in selected places, using different colours. (Which works well -- apart from when you've finished, you realise that you have five rollers to clean...)

Michael: Illustration Friday

2012-02-01T13:03:00.000Z

Here's my entry for this week's Illustration Friday theme, "Forward".

Kat: A little bit of printmaking

2012-01-19T22:46:00.001Z

Here's the print I was drawing a few weeks ago, finally printed it last night...

Michael: Prepare

2012-01-14T09:06:00.000Z

I got in early this week with my entry for Illustration Friday. This week's word is "Prepare".

Michael: Illustration Friday

2012-01-12T11:36:00.002Z

My entry for this week's Illustration Friday theme, "Grounded", is over here:

http://floatingrabbit.blogspot.com/2012/01/grounded.html

Michael: Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T17:29:00.001Z

My first attempt at letterpress. Freeform Victorian woodblock type, printed in green and red, A5 image size printed on A4 paper.

Printed at Ink Spot Press in Brighton.

Sheri - Art & Craft Market

2011-12-02T18:53:00.000Z

On Sunday I'll have a stand at The Craft Collective's Art & Craft Market, at Caterham School. I've been busy mounting some paintings and drawings and shall be making the final selection tonight and tomorrow.

The market will have some super work,very diverse - glass, ceramics, textiles, paintings. If you can spare the time, pop over for a cup of something hot and a bit of crafty Christmas shopping.

Michael: Reduction linocut, final stage

2011-11-10T09:48:00.000Z

A final layer of dark green ink over the shadow areas completes the print.

Six stage reduction linocut, 10 x 10cm.

Michael: Reduction linocut, stage 5

2011-11-09T16:48:00.000Z

A darker green layer over the previous layers. Nearly there.

Michael: Reduction linocut, stage 4

2011-11-08T18:42:00.002Z

A small change: I printed a grey-purple shadow area just on the edge of the road, using a mask to keep the rest of the image unaffected.

Michael: Reduction linocut, stage 3

2011-11-07T12:33:00.000Z

The sky is finished, so that's all cut away; I also cut away some more details of the hedges and fields, and then printed the block in green.

Michael: Reduction linocut, stage 2

2011-11-05T21:46:00.002Z

Second layer, and already the picture is quite detailed. Another gradient blend: darker shade of blue down to a bright green.

Michael: Reduction linocut, stage 1

2011-11-04T19:50:00.002Z

And we're off again. First stage of a new reduction linocut: gradient blend from cobalt blue with lots of white at the top down to yellow and a bit of burnt sienna.

Ashdown Autumn

2011-10-31T13:05:00.004Z

I've been a bit remiss in posting work in progress recently. This is a picture I finished a couple of weeks ago. Oil on canvas, 24"x24".

Michael: Grumpy chicken

2011-10-26T12:34:00.006+01:00

Wendy was having a bad day in the hencoop.

Michael: SGFA exhibition

2011-10-07T15:56:00.002+01:00

Last night, we went to the opening of the SGFA Exhibition at the Menier Gallery in London.

Found one of my prints in the window!

Photos (C) William de Wilde

Fred Cuming, RA opened the exhibition.

Lots of good and inspiring drawings in exhibition. I was fascinated by this picture by Marie Blake: at first glance, we thought it was a watercolour, but closer inspection revealed that it was a linocut, slowly built up from about five carefully cut blocks, printed in pale thin colours.

And some excellent work by Myrtle Pizzey (sorry, I don't have a photo), and this print by Eric Gaskell.

Again, we were deceived: the detailed, close cutting made it look like wood engraving... but it's a linocut.

I liked this print by Shenac Rogerson, of one of my favourite places, Avebury.

There's some texture on the stones (which unfortunately doesn't show on this photo) which I think was created by spattering ink onto the plate before printing it.

The exhibition continues until Saturday 15 October, 2011.

Sheri - exhibition

2011-10-06T14:36:00.001+01:00

During October, I have a small collection of paintings on display at Oyster Fine Frames, Lingfield. The exhibition is a mixture of my landscape and portrait work, including many of the landscapes from my recent series of Ashdown Forest paintings. If you're in the area, do pop along!

Sheri - portrait in progress

2011-09-21T12:51:00.000+01:00

It's great to be back painting after the summer break, and great to regain a little bit of 'me' after nine weeks of looking after the adorable Lottie - a complete joy, but even so! What is better? The whiff of baby sick or white spirit? I'm not sure.

I started a new portrait in the session before last, and had a chance to work on it some more last night. It's still very much not finished, but it's coming on - do excuse the lack of nose and mouth. It's oil on canvas, how wonderful to be working in oils again after so many months of acrylic painting.

Here's the painting after the first session:

...and after the second session, last night. The nose and mouth will come, I promise:

South East School of Art exhibition

2011-09-16T18:16:00.000+01:00

Pictures from the South East School of Art exhibition, including work by Liz, Marina, and Michael, over here.

Michael: Linocut, stage 3

2011-09-15T11:12:00.002+01:00

Darker green over the previous stages.

Nearly there.

Michael: Linocut, stage 2

2011-09-11T17:42:00.001+01:00

A tricky gradient from dark grey to yellowish green to dark grey across the previous layer.

Michael: Linocut, stage 1

2011-09-09T08:11:00.002+01:00

This new linocut starts with a gradient of grey to grey-brown. The challenge here will be keeping the registration perfect: as the layers of ink build up at each stage, the slightest misregistration will make the white lettering disappear.

Michael: Croydon Art Society exhibition opens

2011-09-05T16:50:00.001+01:00

The Croydon Art Society exhibition at Denbies Vineyard in Surrey starts today, and is open every day until 4pm on Sunday 18 September.

High Waving Heather
Reduction linocut • Image size 15 x 15cm • Edition of 12

Michael: Linocut, stage 4

2011-09-04T11:24:00.002+01:00

Fourth and final stage. Near-black ink printed over the previous three layers.

Jeans, TShirts, Shoes. 10 x 10 cm.

This is another building that I found in the North Laines area of Brighton. The morning sun highlighted the clothes hanging in the window against the dark interior of the shop.

Michael: Linocut, stage 3

2011-09-02T01:00:00.000+01:00

Red is difficult to print on top of. I printed this layer in grey (a mix of cobalt blue and burnt sienna, with white).

Michael: Linocut, stage 2

2011-09-01T14:30:00.000+01:00

Red printed over the previous blue layer.The red ink (T.N. Lawrence's scarlet) is very transparent. If you add white in an attempt to increase the opacity, the red turns to pink. I adding lots (nearly 50:50) of warm yellow ink, which increased the opacity without shifting the colour.

The lamp and window details will have darker ink printed on them later, but I didn't want the red on those parts because I was worried that the slightest misregistration would show up too much. So I used a mask to hide these parts from the red on this layer.

Michael: Linocut, stage 1

2011-08-31T11:20:00.000+01:00

Straight on with the next print... Cobalt blue mixed with lots of white for the first layer. Actually, it's the second layer: first, I printed the square of lino in white with a tiny bit of yellow; I find it easier to print the coloured layers onto an existing ink layer than onto plain paper.

Michael: Pink, blue, and purple linocut, final stage

2011-08-29T15:43:00.000+01:00

Final stage: Darker-still mix of red and cobalt blue over the previous layers to complete the print.

Number 27. Four stage reduction linocut, 10 x 10 cm.

This is one of the houses in the North Laines of Brighton: endless rows of small, late Victorian, urban housing, most of which have been carefully restored. There's lots of inspiration here.

Michael: Pink, blue, and purple linocut

2011-08-25T15:32:00.002+01:00

Third stage: I cut away the sky, the window panes, and some of the pavement, and then printed the block in a mixture of red and cobalt blue.

Oops. Not sure I like the way that this is going. Some of the cutting of the details is clumsy. The windows are wobbly.

As compensation, here's something else in the same colours.

It's a rabbit.

In a flowerpot.

Michael: Pink and blue linocut

2011-08-23T14:16:00.002+01:00

Second layer: I cut away what I want to remain pink, and then printed blue over the pink. I was worried that the blue printed over the pink in the sky area would turn lilac, but luckily the blue was opaque enough to hide the pink. It's a mixture of cobalt blue and white, both of which are relatively opaque.

Michael: Pink linocut

2011-08-21T19:27:00.002+01:00

A new print starts.

Michael: Quiet around here

2011-08-19T14:08:00.001+01:00

It's been quiet around here later. We've all been so busy.

One of my photographs has just appeared in the National Trust guide to White Horse Hill. Here's the cover (not my photo):

My photo's inside.

It's in the middle, at the bottom. Their caption is "Sheep on the ramparts" (of Uffington Castle). Here's the original:

What's everyone else been up to?

Sheri - my latest work

2011-07-21T20:47:00.000+01:00

It's been a very long time since I posted. I've been working on a piece for just over nine months now - just finished - which has taken rather a lot of my time and concentration.

Lottie April

Michael: In the garden again

2011-07-18T15:32:00.002+01:00

Molly and Marlow in the garden. Not quite finished, because Marlow decided that the modelling fee that I offered wasn't enough.
Ink and watercolour on paper, 28 x 9 cm.

Michael: Making books by hand

2011-07-16T19:59:00.001+01:00

I'll be teaching a two day weekend course, exploring contemporary and traditional bookmaking methods at the South East School of Art in East Grinstead.

13 - 14 August 2011, 10.30 - 4.30pm

This weekend course introduces bookmaking techniques from traditional casebound books to more surprising structures. This is an ideal introduction to bookbinding for both creating books as beautiful and useful objects, and as a starting point for making your own artist’s books. All the techniques that you’ll learn can be easily reproduced at home with minimal equipment.

Make a minibook from a single sheet of paper.
Learn how to create books with just a few folds and cuts.
Make your own sketchbooks in ten minutes.
Create your own hardback casebound journals.
Fill and decorate your books with simple printmaking techniques.
Explore the mysteries of books that move and twist.

You’re welcome to bring any photos or drawings that you’d like to include in your books, and plain or decorated papers for covering the books.

Fee: £120 for two days tuition, including materials, refreshments, and light lunches.

To book a place, or find out more, please contact the South East School of Art.

Michael: In the garden

2011-07-14T13:33:00.002+01:00

Ink and watercolour on paper, 28 x 9 cm.

Michael: Sketching in Brighton

2011-07-12T09:08:00.001+01:00

Duke Street, Brighton. 11 July 2011, 11.10am.
Ink and watercolour on paper, 28 x 9 cm.

Michael: Life drawing/linocut

2011-07-10T19:57:00.001+01:00

I made a linocut of one of my drawings from one of our recent life-drawing sessions. Keeping it simple: just black and white.

Linocut, 18 x 18cm.

Michael: Exhibition opens 9 June

2011-06-07T12:34:00.001+01:00

The Sussex Arts Collective "Upfront" Exhibition runs from 9 - 28 June, 2011 at the Fishing Quarter Gallery, 203 Kings Road Arches (on the seafront, right next to the beach), Brighton, BN1 1NB.

Open every day, including Sundays, 11am - 5pm (Monday closes at 2pm).

Michael: The Courtyard, Nymans

2011-06-03T16:48:00.001+01:00

A final dark layer completes the print.

The Courtyard, Nyman's. Five stage reduction linocut, 10 x 10 cm.

Phew. Just in time for the exhibition.

Michael: Linocut, stage 4

2011-05-31T14:23:00.003+01:00

I cut away all of what was left of the view through the door, and some details on the door itself, and more of the leaves. Then I printed a darker green to brown to green blend over the previous layers. Fortunately, the mistake on the previous layers has been successfully covered.

One more layer, and it might be finished.

Michael: Linocut stage 3

2011-05-30T18:17:00.001+01:00

I cut away more of the distance, and the leaves around the door, and then printed the block in green.

As soon as I printed the first copy, I realised that I had cut away the leaves at the top too early: the blue of the previous layer shows through. I should have left the top solid for this layer, and then cut away the leaves on the next layer.

So after I'd printed all the copies for this stage, I cut a paper stencil that would expose just the top of the block, and just used a small roller to put more green ink directly onto the paper and hide the blue.

I think I'll get away with it...

Michael: Linocut, stage 2

2011-05-29T13:34:00.002+01:00

Second layer on this reduction linocut. I've cut away some of the details in the distance, and the paving stones in the foreground.

A blue to green blend over the previous layer: Still trying to keep the colours light, so that later stages don't get too dark. Some of the design starts to appear.

Michael: New linocut starts

2011-05-27T10:46:00.003+01:00

And we're off again! First layer: I cut away the highlights which will stay white, and then printed a blend from pale blue-grey to brown.

(Fingers crossed that it will be finished in time for the next exhibition.)

Michael: The Dovecote, Nymans

2011-05-24T10:23:00.003+01:00

A dark green-brown-green gradient over the other layers, and suddenly the image comes into focus. Final stage, I think.

The Dovecote, Nymans. Linocut, 10 x 10 cm.

Michael: Linocut, stage 4

2011-05-20T20:23:00.002+01:00

Fourth layer. Cut away the grass and more details in the leaves and the building, and then printed a diagonal gradient from dark green at the top left, through brown in the centre, to a lighter green at the bottom right.

Nearly there.

Michael: Linocut, stage 3

2011-05-13T18:15:00.002+01:00

Third layer: gradient from dark green to brighter green. All looking too green now. I will try to work in some grey/brown colours on the stonework on the next layer.

Michael: Ashdown Forest 14

2011-05-11T16:13:00.000+01:00

While I try to work out what to next with the linocut that's in progress, here's another of the small paintings from the Ashdown Forest series.

7 October, 2.45pm. Autumn sun on dry bracken, fire gold.
Acrylic on canvas, 15 x 15 cm.

Michael: Linocut, stage 2

2011-05-09T09:37:00.001+01:00

Second stage of the new print: a green-to-grey-to-green gradient over the top of the first layer. The block is only 10cm square, so it took some careful thought to get the gradient to align correctly every time.

Michael: Ashdown Forest 13

2011-05-08T11:08:00.002+01:00

Another of the small paintings from the Ashdown Forest landscape series.

10 December, 3pm. Winter's afternoon quickly turns to evening.
Acrylic on canvas, 15 x 15 cm.

Michael: Starting a new print

2011-05-07T13:31:00.003+01:00

I've had to put the experiments with solarplate etching to one side for a while. It's only four weeks to the next exhibition, so it's time for lots of hard work on what I know best.

Here's the first stage of a new linocut, a cobalt blue to burnt sienna gradient, both with lots of white added, to make sure it's light enough. Or is it too light? Or too brown? Or the wrong blue?

Michael: Ashdown Forest, summer days

2011-05-06T17:33:00.001+01:00

27 July, 3pm. Long hot summer days stretch beyond the horizon. Another of the small paintings from the current Ashdown Forest exhibition.

Acrylic on canvas, 15 x 15cm.

Michael: Solarplate etching, Ashdown Forest

2011-05-05T11:12:00.001+01:00

Another experiment with what can be done with solarplate (photopolymer) etching. This time, I started with a photograph of one of my recent paintings of the Ashdown Forest landscape...

...converted it to black and white, and then etched it on the solarplate.

I like this. The solarplate has picked up all the brushwork and even the weave of the canvas. (Click the picture for a bigger version.) These are much clearer in this etching than they are in the original painting, where the colour grabs the attention. The result has got the quality of a traditional, pure aquatint plate.

I printed the plate again in dark blue.

I like this. I like this a lot.

Michael: Ashdown Forest 10

2011-05-04T20:41:00.000+01:00

3 April, 11am. In the distance, yes, the first sight of gorse.

Acrylic on canvas, 15 x 15cm.

Michael: Solarplate etching of pencil drawing

2011-05-03T12:39:00.001+01:00

Inspired by how well the solarplate etching technique has reproduced my pen and ink drawings, I tried it with one of my pencil drawings.

This is the original drawing:

I strengthened the contrast and added some flat tone by using Photoshop.

And then etched this version onto the photopolymer plate.

This version is printed in dark blue (ultramarine plus a bit of black), so the contrast isn't quite as strong as it could be if I'd printed it in black; but nonetheless, it's very interesting to see how much detail and line quality has been carried over from the orginal drawing to the print.

More to come...

Michael: Ashdown Forest 9

2011-05-02T12:47:00.001+01:00

Start of a new series of the Ashdown Forest landscapes. I'm trying to push harder to the boundary between naturalism and abstraction. This series is on smaller size of canvas, to see how much information can be packed into the smaller space.

9 January, 1.15pm. Searching for colour in the depths of winter, and finding it everywhere.
Acrylic on canvas, 15 x 15 cm.

Michael: Solarplate etching again

2011-05-01T15:47:00.000+01:00

For my next solarplate etching, I've enlarged my drawings before processing them onto the plate. (In the previous etching, the drawings were slightly reduced.)

The original drawings were about 6 x 4 inches. On the plate, they are about 8 x 5.5 inches (A5). I etched them onto a single A4 plate, and then printed it.

Then I cut the plate, and printed them separately.

Room 511, Ambos Mundos Hotel, Havana. The room where Hemingway wrote “For Whom The Bell Tolls”. Solarplate etching, approx A5.

Havana backstreets. Solarplate etching, approx A5.

Again, it's exciting to see how well the solarplate picks up every mark and nuance of the drawn line and watercolour washes, particularly at this larger size.

You can see the original drawings here and here.

Michael: Ashdown Forest - High horizon

2011-04-28T15:28:00.001+01:00

A hard climb to the high horizon.

Acrylic on canvas, 25 x 25 cm.

Michael: More solarplate etching

2011-04-27T10:42:00.001+01:00

After I saw how much detail the solarplate etching technique picked up from photographs, I wanted to find out whether it work as well with my drawings.

I chose two drawings out of my sketchbook from Tibet, created a transparency, and then etched it onto the photopolymer plate.

Lhasa. Solarplate etching, A4. Click for bigger version.

Again, the plate has picked up every detail of the original image. The top drawing, of Barkhor Square, was drawn in pen and ink; the bottom one, of the Jokhang temple, was in pen and ink, with watercolour washes. All the lines and tones are there.

I then printed the plate again in dark blue and red.

Lhasa. Solarplate etching, A4, second version. Click for bigger version.

Michael: Late summer rain

2011-04-26T10:42:00.002+01:00

Late summer rain threatens to spoil the afternoon.

Acrylic on canvas, 25 x 25 cm.

Exhibition panoramas

2011-04-25T08:35:00.003+01:00

Panoramas of the London Road Group exhibition at the Ashdown Forest Visitor Centre. Click the pictures for a bigger version.

More information about the exhibition: londonroadgroup.blogspot.com/p/exhibition.html.

Michael: Solarplate etching - Paseo del Prado, Havana

2011-04-24T12:31:00.004+01:00

Because I had nothing better to do last week, I went on a course at the Ink Spot Press in Brighton to learn solarplate (photopolymer) etching.

Unlike tradition etching, photopolymer etching uses no acid, no wax, and no sticky smelly stopout varnish; produces no fumes and no dust; and doesn't turn your hands yellow. In short, it's safe.

The plate is etched by projecting ultraviolet light through a transparency of your design onto a polymer-coated aluminium plate. The light hardens the exposed polymer; you wash the plate in water, removing the soft parts, and revealing the etched lines. You then print the plate in exactly the same way as a traditionally etched plate.

Photopolymer etching seems to be promoted primarily as a means of creating etchings from photos, so my first plate was based on one of my photos.

House on the Paseo del Prado, Havana.
Solarplate etching on paper, approx A4.

I chose this photo because I wanted to see how much detail the etching method would pickup. Compare it with the original photo:

Almost every detail!

Then I printed the plate in different colours.

This last one shows one of the problems with solarplate etching: if you cut the plate to size by using a Stanley knife, the polymer coating can split from the plate at the corner, leaving a gap into which ink creeps, and then spills out when you print.

More pictures later.

Michael: Drawing at Nymans

2011-04-23T20:57:00.001+01:00

At last, a change from painting Ashdown Forest. A warm sunny day spent at Nymans Gardens in West Sussex. First, I drew the ruins of the house, and then crossed over to the wild garden.

Pen and ink on paper, each approx A5.

Michael: Ashdown Forest — Last of the sun

2011-04-22T19:14:00.002+01:00

The last of the sun going down over the hills catches the edge of the bracken.

Last of the sun. Acrylic on canvas, 25 x 25 cm.

Ready to go

2011-04-21T17:59:00.016+01:00

Here are pictures of the final hang for the exhibition, just before the crowds rushed in for the private view at 6pm.

Richard

Lynn

Marina

Caryl

Sheri

Liz

Karen

...and Michael: Last to finish, as usual. Just managed to hide the hammer, tape, cardboard boxes, carrier bags, nails, and bottle of water before the public arrived.

..and today was Lynn and Marina's turn ....

2011-04-20T18:23:00.004+01:00

Lynn's sculptures...they look great through the beams!

... Lynn's paintings...

and Marina's corner....

Richard - Putting up pictures

2011-04-20T08:02:00.007+01:00

Yesterday Sheri, Karen, Caryl and I spent a hot afternoon starting to hang pictures for the exhibition. First of all we had to decide where to start:

And then what should go where:

And finally see how far we had got:

With hindsight my arrangement looks a bit rigid. I might try to break it up a bit before the private view on Thursday.

Michael: Ashdown Forest 4

2011-04-19T08:06:00.002+01:00

Dusk comes early to the forest hills as autumn draws on.

Acrylic on canvas, 25 x 25 cm.

Richard - Winter Birches

2011-04-18T13:22:00.011+01:00

Just one day away from starting to hang the exhibition. From the last few months some pictures of the forest in winter.

Preparing for the exhibition

2011-04-17T19:28:00.001+01:00

We spent a happy afternoon arranging the exhibition, which opens on 22 April, 2011 at the Ashdown Forest Visitor Centre, East Sussex.

Michael: Ashdown Forest 3

2011-04-17T13:53:00.000+01:00

A sunny afternoon in early Spring cut short by storm clouds moving northwards from the English Channel and across the downs.

Acrylic on canvas, 25 x 25 cm.

Michael: Ashdown Forest 2

2011-04-16T19:17:00.003+01:00

Another painting for the Ashdown Forest exhibition. Dark clouds at the end of a late autumn day. Sheets of red bracken stretch up to the horizon.

Acrylic on canvas, 25 x 25 cm.

Richard - Pictures for an exhibition

2011-04-15T11:59:00.006+01:00

With the exhibition fast approaching, we're all busy finalising our pictures ... This is my set from last year as autumn set in.

Michael: Ashdown Forest landscape

2011-04-13T14:39:00.001+01:00

Our exhibition at the Ashdown Forest Centre opens soon. Next week. It's about time that I got on and did some work for it. Here's the first of my paintings.

29 July, 2pm. Acrylic on canvas, 25 x 25 cm.

For more information about the exhibition, click here.

Michael: What colour is the forest?

2011-04-04T19:08:00.002+01:00

Maybe it's black and white.

Linocut, 10 x 10 cm.

Liz: almost got one finished...

2011-03-30T23:07:00.002+01:00

...nearly.

Michael: More multiple linoblocks

2011-03-29T15:41:00.000+01:00

Another, more abstract, image based on Ashdown Forest, realised as a three-block linocut.

The first block is the paler pink (it's actually burnt sienna with lots of white); the second block is the darker pink; and the third block is the black. The "black" it actually black with quite a lot burnt sienna added: pure black is too cold and hard on its own.

Then I tried printing the blocks on coloured paper. The yellow makes the image much warmer.

I liked this, so I experimented a bit more. This time, I used another square of uncut lino to print a plain black background, and then printed the blocks in a different colours:

And then in completely different colours...

Michael: Multiple blocks, multiple colours

2011-03-27T20:19:00.002+01:00

The good things about making linocuts with multiple blocks is that you can try multiple colours...

Pink...

and purple...

and green...

and brown...

and yellow.

Then all you have to do is decide which one you like best.

Michael: Multiple block linocut

2011-03-26T12:02:00.001Z

I've been trying multiple block linocuts; never got them to work satisfactorily before, but that's no reason for not trying again.

This one is printed from three blocks. I cut this block first:

I transferred this block onto the other two blocks, and then cut those. The first block has just the moon cut out.

The second block has some distant hills and a track between the trees.

Then I printed all three blocks together.

Forest moon. Linocut, 10 x 7 cm.

Michael: Happy sheep

2011-03-25T12:20:00.002Z

Happy sheep!
I've got those hap-hap-happy sheep!
Give them a low-down bleat
And they begin dancing!

Acrylic on canvas, 15 x 15 cm.

Well, somebody had to do it.

Michael: Another collagraph landscape

2011-03-23T09:36:00.001Z

Another collagraphed landscape, and I'm at last getting somewhere that I want to be.

Approx A4.

Except it isn't really collagraph: there wasn't any sticking. It's printed from strips of foamboard, which has two useful features: the smooth surface makes it easier to print flat even colours; and when you bend it, it creases, breaking up the surface and creating unpredictable textures.

Michael: More collagraph landscape

2011-03-21T21:28:00.000Z

This is another landscape, made from string and card and tape and paper, printed in white and black inks onto brown kraft paper, and then the sun stencilled on.

Approx A4.

Perhaps collagraph is starting make sense now.

Michael: Collagraph landscape

2011-03-19T12:48:00.002Z

Still fighting to get collagraph to "work". I managed to stick enough paper and string and card and foil and even leaves to a couple of backing boards to make a landscape.

I experimented with printing the first board in white ink onto coloured paper, the second board in black, and then stencilling a circle for the sun.

It's difficult to get enough ink onto the uneven surface of the collagraph plate; you can see how the density increases with successive prints, but it's possible to have some control over this with careful burnishing.

All: Collagraph on paper, A5.

Michael: Tractor collagraph

2011-03-15T20:56:00.000Z

Still struggling with collagraph. At last, I managed to make this image by printing individual textures separately.

Tractor, A3

For example, the furrows of the ploughed field are printed from corrugated card; the clouds with a kitchen sponge; and the trees with, appropriately, leaves.

Michael: Owl collagraph

2011-03-13T11:51:00.001Z

I tried collagraph: printing from found textures. You stick stuff onto a board, and then print from it. It's a lot more difficult than it sounds.

I printed an owl.

Paper owl. Collagraph, A3.

The printing plate is made from paper, kitchen towel, tin foil, corrugated card, kraft paper... anything I could find. The interesting thing about collagraph is that makes you see things differently: anything with a texture you pick up and think, "I could ink that".

But I'm yet to be convinced that all the work involved is worth it.

Michael: Cello and collé

2011-03-11T13:33:00.001Z

Looking for easier ways of applying colours to black-and-white linocuts, I tried the chine collé method which is more commonly used in etching.

I cut the tissue paper to shape, glued the back of it with PVA, put it on the inked linoblock, and then printed it.

It didn't work. Glue everywhere, except on the tissue paper, which floated and moved around.

Then I tried sticking the tissue paper to the printing paper. When it was dry, I printed the block on top. The extra thickness of the tissue paper made it more difficult to burnish, so I tried thinner printing paper. This was more successful. For this example, I used kraft paper instead of tissue paper.

Fiddling with tiny bits of tissue paper gets frustrating quickly. So I cut larger pieces, aligning them only roughly with the image.

This is starting to work.

Even better when I didn't trim the paper to the shape of the block.

Michael: Bella and the cello

2011-03-09T12:55:00.001Z

I made this black and white linocut, inspired by a recent session at our life drawing group.

Bella and the cello. Linocut, 10 x 15 cm.

As a quick way of adding some colour, I printed the block onto yellow paper...

... and then onto brown kraft paper...

... and then in ultramarine ink on white paper.

Michael: Hummingbird again

2011-03-07T11:48:00.001Z

More colour experiments with the styrofoam print.

I printed the background in different shades of green, cut away the leave outlines, and then printed it again in a different shade. Then I printed the bird shape on top.

I think this last one is the most successful:

Finally, I printed the bird on its own.

Michael: Hummingbird print

2011-03-05T11:33:00.001Z

More experimenting with sytrofoam prints: this time, trying to work out how to get more colour into the print. First, I checked that the drawing was adequate by printing it in black.

I applied coloured ink using card tabs and paper.

Then I cut out the hummingbird from the background, and inked the parts separately.

I carved more of the background, and then printed the plates again.

More experiments to follow...

Michael: Printmaking with styrofoam

2011-03-03T12:28:00.000Z

In preparation for the printmaking course that I am teaching at the South East School of Art, I've been experimenting with styrofoam printmaking. Styrofoam is the soft plastic that you find under pizzas sometimes. It's very easy and quick to work with.

I started with a drawing of a street in Trastevere in Rome. I indented the drawing onto an A4 sheet of styrofoam, inked it, and then printed it by hand. I first printed the block in black; the lines that I indented onto the block appear as white.

Then I printed the block in white ink onto black paper, so this time the lines that I indented show as positive marks.

The ink is a bit blotchy in places where I applied too much.

A quick way of adding colour is to print onto coloured paper. Here's the block again, printed on red paper.

Finally, I cut away some of the block where I wanted bigger light areas, and printed it in warm brown sienna onto light brown pastel paper.

Richard - Work in progress

2011-02-23T11:56:00.002Z

With our Ashdown Forest exhibition just confirmed to open the week before Easter, its time to buckle down and finish some pictures. At the moment I'm working on another group of four. Nearly there ...

Sheri - Ashdown

2011-02-22T22:32:00.000Z

Here are my latest two Ashdown paintings - driven a little more to abstraction with each one.

Michael: Linocut, stage 3

2011-02-15T10:08:00.000Z

Burnt sienna and red printed over the second layer. I used a paper mask to isolate the areas where I wanted these colours to appear.

Lynn - 2nd Devon painting - early stages

2011-02-13T11:15:00.004Z

A way to go with this one as well...

I also mentioned on Tuesday about the small, postcard sized ultra quick studies we did in class. It was a usefull exercise, though obviously much easier to keep things simple when so small (as opposed to A1 full size paintings).

Just a few, we did about 20..

Lynn - some of the work I've been doing at Emily's this term.

2011-02-13T10:52:00.003Z

Our theme this year has been New Work from Old, taking inspiration from classic works to create work of our own. Last term I concentrated on making studies/paintings from The Fighting Temeraire by Turner. All about mood, atmosphere, new versus old themes, seascape, boats and luscious paint. This term I'm building on this with work about Devon seascapes, predominantly Newton Ferrers where we holiday.

The first painting above (3 stages in reverse order for some reason!) is supposed to be about being out on the water on a still, misty morning. Still more work to do.

Even more work needed on painting 2, which I've worked on twice so far. Will post separately.

Sheri - Ashdown 2

2011-02-09T22:21:00.000Z

And here's the painting I finished last time:

Sheri - Ashdown

2011-02-09T21:57:00.000Z

I continued work on my latest Ashdown painting last night. There's still a bit more to do, but not to much, I promise. This is acrylic on canvas.

Michael: Chrysanthemums and tulip

2011-02-08T22:24:00.001Z

Ink and watercolour on paper, A4.