The brook in winter

Hello again! Onto the next and final, I think, layer for this reduction linocut, a warm brown.

The brook in winter
Reduction linocut printed on Zhao Zhe Chinese paper
Printed area 6 by 8"

I don't seem to be able to get a good picture of this - the paper (thus the borders) is actually a creamy yellow, not the grey that it looks like from here. Must try harder...

Hopefully, if the Arctic weather here ever goes away, I'll be doing more linocuts based on sketches and drawings I make out and about locally. My project for the year!

The Brook, Yelling

At last, a new linocut :-)

I started out by making a simplified sketch of my 'out and about' sketch from a couple of weeks ago... I traced this and transferred it to a soft-cut lino block. Printed area is 6 by 8 inches.

 First pass was a pale grey for the reflected sky, the next a darker grey for the water. I'm using a Chinese paper which is a yellowy creamy tone.

I've carved out the sky holes, and the next step is a blend. I don't actually own a roller big enough to put the ink down in one go, so I used two rollers for this:

 And this is what the inked block looks like:

 And here's the print so far, was pleased with the way this turned out, there's a nice smooth gradient:

Next I inked the tree, another blend:

 I have done more but don't have photos yet... will update tomorrow...

A couple of cat sketches

Hello again

I'm currently painting a big picture for my new niece's nursery, so not much going on that I can show at the moment, but here are a couple of ink and wc sketches of my old cat Sophie, plus a quickie of my dinner the other evening (gotta keep my hand in somehow!). Hope you like them :-)

Out and about again, at last

Hello all! Well, finally the weather here seems to be improving. Today was lovely and sunny, if still a bit n the chilly side, so I took my sketchbook out for a walk. First Out and About sketch of the year. So nice to get some fresh air!

Quick watercolour and ink sketch of the little brook that goes through the village, sketched from the footbridge.

Looking forward to more clement weather and more sketching opportunities!