Pears!

Faced with the first pristine blank page of a new sketchbook... Pears! You just can't go wrong with pears...

A charm of goldfinches original print

Here's another drypoint with chine colle, a charm of goldfinches (a couple of versions). We seem to have lots here at the moment! Hope your Christmas break (if you've had one!) has been all you wished for, and that 2016 brings health, happiness, and lots of art!

Chinese lanterns drypoint and chine colle

Chinese lanterns original handmade print, drypoint and chine colle. Loved doing this, the chine colle adds a real fizz of colour!

Drypoint hares

Here are a couple of small drypoint prints - 7 by 10 cm. Loving watching my local hares!

Black Combe ink and watercolour

Here's another ink and watercolour painting, based on a pic I took up on Black Combe in the Lake District a few years ago. Enjoyed fiddling around with this one last night for a couple of hours, then spent the rest of the evening on the 'Rightmove' website looking at property for sale in Cumbria...

Ink and wash sketches

An item that has long been on my wish list is a Lamy Safari fountain pen, so for #inktober I decided to treat myself to one at last :-) These ink and wash sketches are based on photos of various places I've visited over the past few years. The ink is Platinum Carbon Ink, which was sold with dire warnings about how it will kill your fountain pen if you're not careful!

More inky fun!

Some more inky fun. This is acrylic ink, dropped into water.

More #inktober scribbling...

Four more scribblings for #inktober :-)

Tufted ducks on Wigeon Pond

A little drawing to start off #inktober

Doodling hares

Started out doodling in my sketchbook. A4 size. Gotta love hares!

P is for pea

This is my contribution to the Linocut Alphabet group on Facebook...

Water shrew studies

Some quick studies of a water shrew. A volunteer doing pond dipping at the local nature reserve  found this recently deceased beastie. I took it home and managed a few quick studies but it was getting a bit whiffy... Did you know it has venomous saliva? Wonderful to find, I have never seen one before!

Hare linocut

Here's a new linocut print, based on a pic I took when out watching hares down the farm track. I've been in a bit of a creative hole for a while, so I thought I'd keep this simple, a one-colour print. Though I will now go and try out some different colours too!

5 by 5 and a half inches approx, on Hosho paper.

Some experiments with collagraphs

I've been playig around with pressed plant material from the garden to create some collagraph prints...

Moonlight hare

Here's my latest reduction linocut print, inspired by the hares in the fields around here - Moonlight hare.

Hope you like him!

Sketching hares

A couple of weeks back I found a field full of hares near to where l live, and took some (fairly distant) photos - not great pics, it has to be said, but good enough for sketching from... Lots to keep me occupied! These are all done using a biro (Bic fine).

Coot collagraph

A couple of prints from a small collagraph plate, with added watercolour, based on a picture I took at a local nature reserve. I do enjoy the slight variation that comes with printmaking (my printmaking anyway!)

Cowslip in watercolour

Here's another addition to my (ahem) occasional natural world journal, a cowslip.
http://www.wildlifetrusts.org/species/cowslip
These are growing in large numbers on the roadside verges locally. Once they would have covered entire meadows...

Cat monotype print rediscovered

Was looking through an old sketchbook from a couple of years ago and found this monotype print that I'd stuck in - I remember making it and not really liking it much, hence it got stuck into a sketchbook and forgotten about. Having rediscovered it I find I quite like it - shame I stuck it firmly to the back cover, where I can't remove it or even scan it easily! Do you ever encounter forgotten pieces and find you like them?

Walks at Wicken

These are drypoint monoprints, based on some of the sights on walks I've had around Wicken Fen in Cambridgeshire... Enjoyed playing around with the compositions for these, lots of possibilities!

A change in the weather

I don't often get the paintbrushes wet these days, but felt inspired to have a go after a wet and windy walk around the fields here the other day. After a nice settled spell of warm weather, this is what it's been like for the last few days!


Watercolour, ink, wc pencil, quarter sheet.

Drypoint paper plates - something different!

Here's a bit of an experiment - this is using drypoint paper plates (these: http://intaglioprintmaker.com/category/paper-drypoint-plate). It's thin card with a coating that you can scratch through with a drypoint tool. You can get nice drypoint lines, and the toned areas (the blue and black here) are made by tearing the surface, exposing the card. I enjoyed trying this out, but the plate doesn't last too long!

 Printed area is A4 or thereabouts.

Spring arrival at Wicken Fen

My latest print, a reduction linocut: Spring arrival at Wicken Fen. The swallows are starting to arrive, spring is here and summer can't be far away!

Reduction linocut on Zerkall 210gsm paper using Caligo Safewash inks.

Crocuses linocut

Hello! Here's another small reduction linocut print, to go with my snowdrops and winter aconites...

Printed area is 2.5 by 4.5 inches approx, and it's printed with Caligo Safewash inks on Zerkall 210gsm paper.

Spring is here

I'm really not very good at promoting/marketing stuff, but here's a quick look at what's available in my Folksy shop - a hint of Spring...

Long-tailed tit drypoint print

Here's a recent little drypoint print, based on a post-mortem study I made last year of a sadly deceased long-tailed tit. I really like it, though I'm not sure how well 'dead bird art' goes down in general! What do you think?

 Printed area is approximately 6 by 5 inches.

Winter aconites linocut

Here's another little linocut, to go with my earlier snowdrops print - this in Winter Aconites, such cheerful little flowers at the end of winter!

Rabbit skull drawing

Been meaning to get around to this for ages - drawings of a rabbit skull that I picked up from the hills in Yorkshire last summer. Another one for the 'natural world' journal.

Pencil studies in Stilman and Birn zeta sketchbook.

Snowdrops linocut

Hello again! Here's a small two-colour reduction linocut, inspired by the snowdrops currently gracing my garden.

It's still cold but it feels like winter is on the way out...