Penguins on parade

This is an ink drawing that I've entered in a competition...

'Penguins on parade'
A4 CP watercolour paper, Faber-Castell Pitt Artist pen, Indian ink, dip pen, waterbrush.

It's based on some photos I took at Twycross Zoo of the Humboldt penguins. The main drawing was done with the marker pen, and I went in with the Indian ink with a dip pen, plus waterbrush, to give it a bit more pop.

If you'd like to have a look at the competition entries and maybe vote for your favourite, go here

View from Pencroft Farm

Hello again!

Thought I'd share a recent painting here to see what you peeps think... I am SO not a landscape painter, it really is a bugbear for me. I went out for what was a wet and windy walk a few weeks back, sketchbook in pocket. I sketched the view on site, and painted the painting when I got back. I'd love to get into some plein air painting, but I am such a wimp if it's cold and rainy! It's 8 by 10", acrylic on canvas .

A Brush with Nature - workshop

Thought I'd share a bit about a great workshop I attended at the weekend, at the education centre at my local nature reserve, Paxton Pits. The workshop 'A Brush with Nature' was hosted by the local wildlife trust and led by Sarah Morrish, and the focus was drawing and watercolour painting of natural objects from life.

The day started with a quick introduction and discussion of materials etc. Sarah had brought along a load of yummy natural history art/illustration books too, lovely to browse! We had a tableful of things to choose from, some of which had been gathered on the reserve that morning, and others which Sarah had brought with her. We could choose from items such as autumn leaves, seed pods, feathers, seashells, stones etc.

The first couple of hours before lunch were dedicated to tonal drawing using graphite pencils. I chose a dried pitcher, from a pitcher plant.

I did this using a range of pencils from H through to 2B. It took probably an hour and a half, and an awful lot of concentration! Was pleased with how it turned out. I don't do pencil drawings like this very often (I think I lack the patience) but I really enjoyed this.

















After lunch Sarah demonstrated her watercolour technique, using a limited palette of winsor lemon and quin gold, permanent rose and perylene maroon, and indanthrene blue and French ultramarine (a cool and warm of each primary colour). Again, patience required. I chose to try some feathers - two barn owl feathers, and one from a jay (couldn't resist it, it was like a gleaming
gem!)

A highly enjoyable day. Sarah shared a lot of insight and tips (she also teaches botanical art at her local college). She's based in Hampshire so most of her workshops are run down there, but has connections in with the Wildlife Trust in Cambridgeshire, hence the workshop here, the first of many I hope!

A few photos of the day here

We finished at 4pm, but for me the day wasn't over. It was a lovely warm late afternoon, so I decided to dump the art stuff in my car and head out to one of the bird hides on the lake - and I SAW AN OTTER!! Every time I visit the reserve I sit in that hide and hope to glimpse one, and that was the very first wild otter I've ever seen!

So a fab day all round for me!

Doggie duo

Here's a quick ink and watercolour sketch of a pal's dogs, trying to sleep on the same chair...

Back from my holiday!

Hello blog friends!

I've been away on holiday for a wonderful week on the south coast of the UK, near Charmouth in Dorset. We rented a gem of a little cottage near the coast, and enjoyed unseasonably warm and dry weather too - how lucky! Lots of walking and pottering on the beach looking for fossils, and some sketching was squeezed in too...

This is my sketch of Golden Cap (the highest cliff on the south coast), from Charmouth beach. We had walked up to the cliff top from our cottage, than along the coast path to Charmouth.

Another walk to the beach at Charmouth, on a grey but warm and dry day.

Sketch of some seaweed on the rocks at Charmouth. All these were done in an A5 sketchbook, pen first then watercolour pencils and/or watercolours.

We had a great time - what a beautiful part of the world! Already looking forward to going back there some day...

Couple of little wc sketches

Hello bloggies

Been a bit quiet on the creative front - lots of ideas rolling around my head but not much actual creating! Thought I'd do some little sketches, from bits and pieces lying around the room here...

So, a watercolour of a feather (buzzard I think), and a watercolour and ink of a pine cone, both on postcard-sized watercolour paper. Nice to get the brushes wet, if only a little bit!

The gang

Yay, another linocut print! Inspired by the hordes (yes, there are loads of them) of long-tailed tits that descend on our bird feeders, here's my take on just a few of them...

These guys are definitely the cutest. They seem to go around in large groups - we regularly get at least half a dozen on the feeders, and I could hear more cheeping away in the shrubs...

Print area is 6 by 8 inches, and these are on Zerkall 210gsm paper using Caligo safe wash oil-based ink, an edition (so far) of 8. I've run out of this particular paper, so I might just print a few more on the Simili Japanese paper, which is a lighter weight and creamier paper, to see how they look!