Module 6 - chapter 5

Repeats

6.5.1 Cog
Section of cog from old water wheel on the farm This is coloured using Neo oil pastel in brown and cream for the cog which acts as a resist and then a wash of green gouache for background

I used the card template of the cog to feather Markel oil stick over the edge.  Very enjoyable in a Zen sort of way. My husband thought this should be called 'alien audience'.

6.5.2.Weathervane

I got off to a rather slow start with this exercise, but got into it after a while. I found putting the paper on top of a sheet of transparency paper stopped it slipping around. I didn't end up gluing all of them, some were just placed and scanned.  This meant that I felt much freer to keep trying new ways.

a)

b)

c)

d)

This next one is my favourite, the pale tissue at the bottom is taken over by the bright pink background
e)

6.5.3. Fern

Using a grid. The original was a small fern growing out of the wall
a)

b)

6.5.4. Barn

I took an outline of the barn, then used a section of it in a larger scale to use with it.

I thought using a purple marker pen might be more sympathetic than black.

I liked my first arrangement the best, so coloured it as below. Again I have used Inktense. One disadvantage is that sometimes there is more coloured pencil in one part of the drawing than another, which is more noticeable when it is gone over with water.  It doesn't matter really, but what sometimes starts out as fairly gentle colours gets brighter and brighter.   

This variation is the one above, copied and then cut diagonally with the middle reversed.

What a nice way to achieve an abstract composition.  Again a very enjoyable chapter.

Module 6 - chapter 4

6.4.1.   Taking a closer look

There are so many things on the farm that I like to draw, so I had to select something in particular and I decided on foxgloves.

A simple line drawing

a)

b)  pattern, closer up, using my grid.

c )  Using the view finder, closer up still, with  tone

d) Not very interesting leaf. I should have turned it round.

e) & f)

  

I thought it would be interesting to do more than one of each in different media, so the first is done with the flowers in oil pastel and the background Inktense. I found it quite liberating in a way to use oil pastels for this part as they are chunky and it isn't possible to be too 'fussy' with them.  White was used and blended to make the paler parts. The second is just Inktense pencils and blocks.

g) & h)

g)  White oil pastel for a resist inside flowers. Pen and gouache for purple, Promarker for the green parts. Inktense blocks for background.

h) Oil pastel for flowers and stem, watercolour for background.

i) & j)

Once again i) is oil pastel and white is used as a resist. Background is gouache  

j) is a bit scary isn't it?  But just to experiment it is done in felt tip.  Not really my style at all.

K) a leaf in Inktense.

This was a really interesting chapter because it has made me appreciate the advantages and pleasures of mixing different media.  Also I shall be using oil pastel in the future now I have come to love it more.

Module 6 - Chapter 3

Exploring theme in pen and ink

I have a very large collection of pens, so it is good to be able to put some of them to use in this chapter. I will keep these samples below safe as it will save lots of time in the future and also save upset as I will not 'wash' those that are not permanent.

Perhaps its not relevant but one artist I like very much is Eric Ravilious, of course most of his pictures are wood engravings and lithographs, but seem to have the same feel to them as pen and ink.

6.3.1 Mark making
I am sorry that the top line has got chopped off. It should read......

Scribble, Stabilo Write 4 all permanent ...Sharpie Fine point perm...Uniball gel grip

    

.

6.3.2

I thought I would start with part of a couple of the barns and I found it very useful to have done the above to help me decide which pens to use.

I was rather reluctant to put a wash on the original picture, even though of course the paper is a much better quality for a wash, so I have washed a photocopy. That means I still have the option of doing something different to the original.

Another barn, again as above but a very wishy washy wash.

I quite surprised myself by finding that my preferred pen for this sheep was in fact biro. I have done him rather large but got a bit carried away.

I didn't want to colour him, so I put him on a painted background instead.

Oh dear, this next picture of a sheep's head is horrible, the poor thing looks possessed. I definitely prefer the anvil. The fern is one of many growing in the barn walls.

The wash would have been more relevant if I had put in background I now realise.

I am looking forward to doing more drawings around the farm now I have made a start.

We do get to see lots of the sheep here. Even though they don't belong to us, we still get involved. Last week we had to move about 100 from one field to another as a man was coming to spray the dock in their field. Using the 'Mule' - a small jeep, we rounded them up and got them into the next field without incident in about 5 minutes.  However we were then asked by the man who owns them all if we could also move about 50 cows AND the bull.  Again we managed very efficiently and thankfully the bull was the good tempered one, who obligingly walk in after the cows in his own time. Phew.

Module 6 - Chapter 2

Freestanding books

6.2.1. There is an unbelievable number of artists under the headings of hand made books etc.  I have a few favourites and although her books don't pop up or out, I love the work of Frances Pickering. There is something peaceful and close to nature that I find delightful.

I have been collecting 'commercial' artist books for some time, but as usual they are all packed away somewhere.  One that I do have to hand and part of a series is the cute little London by Sara McMenemy, part of a series of cities. It is three dimensional and has a cut out skyline, is double sided and has stand outs. They make lovely souvenirs.

For many years I made a point of collecting advertising give aways that come under the heading 'paper engineering. I have a brilliant one from Honda that just keeps unfolding in different directions.

6.2.2 Samples

I have some very good quality paper that I bought some long time ago that I could use for these samples. Although it takes more work to fold neatly, it does make a strong shape.

The first is just a very long zig-zag. I could sew signatures into this, cut the top to shape, stick flags etc. So the base part is very important.

The second is a star book.  This is obviously rather limited, but can be very effective.

Another zig-zag or accordion fold book, this time with windows in various sizes cut out and pushed through to the other side. A hard covered board is stuck to each end with a ribbon slotted through before fixing one end to fasten the book.

The last one is a double slotted accordion book, again with covers as before

Just for fun I thought I would end with something I did in a 2 hour workshop at my favourite Contemporary Craft Fair, the one at Bovey Tracy. It was on paper cutting and this is one that turned out quite well.

Mind out Sue Blackwell!

Module 6 - A place in my heart

6.1.1  Choosing a theme

Viv is so right about writing down choices and key words. My first thought was St Lucia, where I spent 5 years of my childhood and it is a place very close to my heart. Then thinking about it I realise I have millions of memories, but only black and white photos. There are lots on line, but I can't pop back to see things for myself.

Next was the church at Brentor, called St Michael de Rupe. It is only 5 minutes away, I have already done many projects on it and it is an amazing place.

Finally Home is where the heart is. There is so much to say and show about this lovely farm with it's history going back several hundred years and the present house 200 years plus.

So I am going with Pittescombe Farm. It is literally on my doorstep and has lots going for it that I would love to record in some way.

Notes attached.

Now that I know where I am going and have lots of materials on hand, I am really looking forward to getting started.

Module 5 - chapter 10

Degas and Pastels

Luckily all my pastels are in there own boxes and have survived being moved from pillar to post over the last year. My box of Conte soft pastels must be about 20 years old, but they are still going strong. I love the way these blend so very smoothly and come is such beautiful colours. They are a bit delicate and can break easily. My Daler Rowney oil pastels are good to use in a more vigorous way and can to held more firmly. Lastly the Caran D"Ache oil pastels. These seem like cream compared to the Daler Rowney and are lovely to use. I already had a set of torchon but have wondered if you can clean them, perhaps with a craft knife or sandpaper?  They look as though they should be able to to in a big pencil sharpener.

5.10.1
I started off with the Conte soft pastels on drawing paper and can see that the paper being a bit rough or having tooth, shows off the texture well

The next sort I used were Caran D'Ache Neopastels

Then Daler Rowney

Sticking to the oil pastels, both sorts. I used some of my collection of ready made stencils that I collect from food packers with holes in them.

Just the Conte now, gosh they certainly do need fixing with spray but perhaps this sugar paper isn't rough enough to hold it.

I was lucky enough to get a book on Degas out of the library, although the illustrations of  his ballet pictures were limited.  However it was interesting to read about his life and how his work developed.
Back to my sketching paper

A mixture of some of my files, using the different methods of construction. I still don't have a favourite, but lean towards the origami.

This has been a fascinating module to do and I am much happier with the idea of drawing figures and faces after this. I love my home made articulated figures and will definitely been using them again. Also it has been great to use some of the things that have been put away for years, like my pastels.

Hopefully I will be in my new room by the time I get to the next module and will have rescued my stuff from the barn. It will be lovely not to have to go out in the rain, unlock doors, trip over in the gloom and generally be put off doing things.

Module 5 - Chapter 9

Crowds

5.9.1.
I made a large collection of crowds, many of which I decided were not suitable later when I thought about what I was going to do with them.

Stencils and templates
I got off to a bad start by selecting some runners. Having made the stencils and done a couple of pictures with them, I realised that the poses were too similar.

Back to the drawing board. But I still didn't find any figures I liked, so in the end I made up my own by going back to my articulated card figures and (since I did Tai Chi for some time and liked it) decided to use these poses.

This first one is done on a page from a newspaper that seemed appropriate with the background and the second with the  figures cut out of hand painted papers is done on a paper bag that I got when shopping in Hong Kong. I knew it would be useful one day

This green/blue one is done on a lightly collaged background, the next one painted background and the green background is a copy of a quilt back.

Monoprinting
This is the first time I have done monoprinting using many colours together on the same piece of paper by flipping it back and forth. I rather like the effect though I think the fabric paint used was a bit to runny in some of the colours. The blue topped lady looks like a turnip head.

Well fabric paint is not too bad, but then when I went to acrylic things got much worse. I tried some Liquatex medium to thin down the acrylic, but it still started to dry so fast that I ended up with a very quickly done rather fat outline.

Next another mixture, but still no good

The previous week-end which was very hot, I had been trying and got a lot of rubbishy results, when I looked at the temperature in the conservatory it was 24 degrees!  Oh I will be pleased to have a room of my own - soon. However I have made a lot of notes on the various mixtures used so these will be useful in the future.  My folder is absolutely bulging with pages that  are failures, but it isn't a waste if I remember what went wrong.

A while ago I was using someone else's printing inks and although it is not relevant to this module, I thought I would add a couple of dry point pictures that I did then.

I have got some printing ink of my own, but the barn didn't want to give them up when I went searching this time.  I will find them and have another go at this monoprinting. Perhaps by then I might have a "place of my own" and a little of my sanity back.