Saturday, May 29, 2010

Printmaking Workshop

A week ago today I attended a printmaking workshop run by Michele Wright and Jane Ashdown, at the Porthmeor Printmakers studio above the Penwith Gallery in Back Road West, St Ives.

We 'novices' started off experimenting with intaglio techniques, using engraving tools on flexible, glossy faced card. The fine lines in my first attempt below (hmm, pears again) were created using sandpaper whereas the black areas were created by drawing an outline with one of the tools and then tearing away the top layer of card allowing the under layer to absorb a large quantity of ink. See the bird and the solid black contour on the left side of the pear.

Yesterday (Friday) I applied finishing touches using pen and ink to create cleaner lines and enhance contrasts.
To produce this second print I cut and tore more of the card 'plate' - a little too enthusiastically - and later worked into it with pen and ink and collaged a small area to improve the right hand pear shape.
This next plate below was created by engraving on clear, flexible plastic from a sketch of tulips and then printing with black ink.

For this print I painted a mixture of screen filler and carborundum in the negative spaces, which absorbed the ink and printed black.

The technique was the same for this print, which I later had great fun transforming with pen and ink, watercolour pencils and gouache.

Finally we produced a collagraph - the most complicated procedure of the day - which involves gluing anything from string, card and fabric to leaves, petals and seedheads onto greyboard or mountboard, which is then sealed with shellac and allowed to dry before being inked up and printed.

For my collagraph I used sand - see the top very dark layer - and anaglypta for the Moon and Venus. The tulips were cut from beautiful paper doillies given to Jane by her Mum. The turquoise coloured ink is a signature colour used by Michele when creating her lovely collagraph prints. The painter in me couldn't resist using white gouache to brighten the Moon, Venus and tulips.
There was just time on the day to produce one more print from the collagraph plate, having quickly applied a roller-ful of yellow ochre. At my leisure yesterday - having made all of the other modifications above - I used watercolour and gouache to define the tulips and leaves, which I think improved the composition no end.


Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Evening Seascapes

Three new mounted seascapes on primed board. Click to enlarge. Hope you like them. I'm off to read some blogs! x


'Pink Sky and Headland' mounted size, 61 x 41.5 cm.  SOLD


'A Fine Evening Sea & Sky' oil on board, mounted size 32.5 x 55.5 cm.  SOLD



'A Fine Evening Sea' oil on board, mounted size 32.5 x 55.5 cm.  SOLD

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Miss Jane

Several comments made on older posts by Sea Blue Sky Abstracts have been made by 'Miss Jane' - all of which (hopefully) I've removed. Miss Jane based in Taiwan, according to her profile, is the front for a sad spammer - which I'd suspected anyway when the only word to appear in English was 'sex' and confirmed when Google enabled translation before speedy deletions ensued! Because of this I have introduced comment moderation on posts that are over 14 days old and apologise is this causes inconvenience.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Venus, the facts.



I gathered the following information for 'Venus, the facts' from the web. Credits: the first article comes from http://stargazing.suite101.com (click the link to view) and the second, which provides a step to step guide to identifying the planet, has been written by Douglas Christian Larsen for Ehow. Also included below are links to some other very informative sites. Enjoy!


How to Locate Venus in the Night Sky

Contributor

By Douglas Christian Larsen, eHow Contributing Writer

Article Rating: (1 Ratings)

·

Locating the planet Venus in the night sky is usually not difficult. Venus is the closest planet to Earth, and it resides between the Earth and the sun. Therefore, after the moon, Venus is the brightest body in the night sky. Known as "the morning star" when seen just before sunrise in the eastern sky and "the evening star" when seen in the western sky at twilight, Venus is most easily seen during its cycles of moving farther away from the sun.

Things You'll Need:

· Clear night sky

· Binoculars

· Telescope

1. Step1

Situate yourself in a dark location with an open view of the night sky, preferably away from city illumination.

2. Step2

Depending on the time of day you are viewing the sky, you will view either the western or eastern horizon. Since Venus is closer to the sun than is Earth, it helps to imagine that Venus is following the sun; so in the evening, Venus is in the west following the setting sun, and in the morning, it's in the east running ahead of the sun.

3. Step3

In the evening, Venus should be visible in the western sky for approximately 3 hours after sunset. Toward morning, Venus should be visible in the eastern sky for approximately 3 hours before sunrise.

4. Step4

Venus will always appear brighter than any other star or planet. Once Venus is located with the naked eye, the planet may be viewed through either powerful binoculars or a telescope. Seen through a telescope, Venus may be seen in phases, similar to the moon (from full to crescent), depending on its position in relation to the sun.

5. Step5

Venus will also appear brighter, and larger, when closer to Earth.

Star

Astronomy Central

Monday, May 17, 2010

Moon: Yes, Venus: Yes, Bat: No!

Another beautiful night sky that I just could not resist photographing. Yesterday evening (Sunday) there was not a cloud or a bat to be seen when these photos were taken, at around 10.30 pm.


Click to enlarge.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Riverford Pears

Another painting from life, this time the pears that arrived in the Riverford organic box! I'm uncertain what variety they are - 'Williams' pears, perhaps - but love their craggy forms and the symmetry of the negative spaces between them. The pears turned a beautiful shade of yellow eventually. They tasted delicious and were very juicy! Click to enlarge. 'Riverford Pears' oil on canvas, 30 x 30 cm/12" x 12".