A day of exprimenting

It's been a slow summer creatively for a whole raft of reasons. Did get some monoprinting done whilst covering the workshop one day last month though. Unusually, I had no plan before I went, other than monoprinting with stencils. This is what happened. 

Inking up some lace, feathers and string reminded me of dancing figures. I then started thinking about a book I'd read recently, Georgina Harding's Painter of Silence, in which one of the characters makes rather abstract faceless characters from cardboard and winds cloth and string around them. Add PBs estate agents into the mix with a side order of Drownies from Fallen London and this is what came out. A fun and productive day working very freely and spontaneously.

Starting a new plate

Had a day at Red Hot Press this week minding the shop. Managed to make a start on new plate Dramatis Personae. Transfering the basic image onto the plate to make the first line etch. More characters will be added but this is the initial drawing to get started.

Building on a Foundation at Southampton City Art Gallery

 
Prints by members of Red Hot Press are on show at Southampton City Art Gallery at the moment. I have two pieces on display - my dragon roof tile and of course, PB has to get in on the act! He wouldn't miss out! On until 24 June 2016.

Dramatis Personae

All this etching in fits and starts is really frustrating but we're off again, PB and I. Working on some drawings for my next image. This one is a bit of a regrouping... A gathering of the clan. Taking stock of the PB 'family'. New characters coming soon.

Almost there

I think I'm pretty well there with this image now. I'm happy the plate is done and the monoprinted background it more or less there. Too speckly in the top right corner; losing the datamongers a bit but I can sort that in the edition. Which will be variable of course. Yay!

Forging on

More changes of plan this week. Was supposed to be in London today on business but that has been postposed so I had a relatively free day to spend in the studio. Bonus.

Surging ahead with PB7, 'As flies to wanton boys': the rise of the Precariat. My brand new roller arrived today just in time for me to start experimenting with monoprinted backgrounds to pull this image together. It's beginning to take shape now, though there's still a lot to do. I'm clearer about where it's going now so hopefully on track to finish it well in time for Imprint2 next month.

Change of plan

That wasn't the weekend I expected. Had planned to spend Saturday at the art gallery on a life drawing workshop but owing to Act of Aged P, I spent a large part of Saturday cleaning and wading through a mountain of washing. She is fine now but didn't feel I could leave her on Saturday.

Anyway, silver linings, blah, blah, blah, I did manage some time on the current PB. Line etched the skeleton and spit bit the surround with a coarse aquatint. It's come out really well too. I need to get this image finished by the end of January so it was good to have the time on it I guess, though I was really looking forward to the life drawing. Haven't done any for a month so going into withdrawal somewhat. New class starts up Tuesday evening - different place, different teacher though. Will see how that goes.

 

A productive week

Rare luxury. I've spent pretty much the entire Christmas week in the studio; a week of intensive etching. It's the one time of year were everything shuts down - time out of time - and no one really expects that much out of you work-wise.

It was great to get back to etching after such a long break from it and I managed to get a lot done. Still a long way to go with this image but I'm hoping to get it finished for Imprint2 in February. Back to the datamongering tomorrow but I feel quite rejuvenated.

Flying datamongers

After the storm

There hasn't been a whole lot of blogging going on this year so far. Having left the Countarium in January, I immediately started a short but very intense teaching course so have been up to my ears in learning and teaching theory, micro-teaches, coursework and assignments for the last three months almost. Having been teaching for years, I thought it was about time I got a qualification in it. Handed my portfolio in on Monday so just waiting to hear if I've passed...

There really hasn't been time for new artwork but I have managed to finish off Requires Improvement (or petty bureacracy and the things that stop us doing what we should be doing) so that's ready to be framed for our Scratching the Surface special at Cowprint next week.

There are a few interesting creative things coming up over the next few months; postcard exchange exchibition in April, Scratching the Surface in May, a monoprinting workshop in June and the possibility of a Cowprint show in the Autumn. There may well be some interesting developments on the teaching front too but that's up in the air at the moment. I hope to have plenty to blog about over the coming months so keep watching this space.

As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods

Big changes are afoot... BIG changes. It's sad and exciting and scary all at the same time and whilst I'd rather not be experiencing this change right now, it's kind of necessary and unavoidable. Apologies for the crypticness of this post; don't feel able to say too much about the situation just at the moment.

Creative time has been pretty thin on the ground over the last few weeks. This is not a cheery thing and I am feeling exhausted and diminished. Hopefully this will be rectified soon though and I'll get my creative mojo back again. I have three projects to work on so it'll be good to get stuck in to those once Christmas is out of the way. May 2015 be a much better and creatively fruitful year!

Harpies

Been thinking about harpies lately, as you do, and other mythical monsters. Been doing some doodling and have come up with the nasty piece of work pictured here, who accompanied by her henchspider, will be making an appearance in my next Pirate Baby image. Poor old PB; he's going through the ringer at the moment... He's growing up, accumulating experiences, coming up against The Things That Stop Him Doing What He Should Be Doing. Question is, am I going to allow those things to overcome him or shall I set him free again?

Requires Improvement

Pirate Baby marches on; or rather dances on in this print. Gradually working in tone with spit bite. It's a bit too light at the moment but it's heading in the right direction. I can keep reworking and reworking it. 

I need to decide what to do with the windows next. Got a couple of ideas but need to make some sketches first. More soon hopefully.

And on we go

I made a start on my next Pirate Baby print the other weekend at the Red Hot Press Open Studios where I was demonstrating etching all day. This one is titled 'Requires Improvement (or petty bureaucracy and the things that stop us doing what we should be doing)'.

Looking back at the images I've made over the last few years, it struck me that most of the time, they contain solitary figures. That's fine - there's plenty of scope for narrative there - but I think I want to start introducing more characters into my images to explore the dymanics between them and how they interact with each other. There doesn't seem to be much interaction between the figures in 'Requires Improvement' but that is how it's meant to be. Lack of communication, lack of interest in what one is trying to say, futile hoop-jumping... That's what Pirate Baby is trying to convey here.

Nearly there...

I'm very nearly there with PB4. Dear me, I don't think I've pulled so many different proofs of a plate before. The problem was, it seems, that I was wedded to colour with this one; sepia, orange and blue. I tried it and tried it and tried it but it just looked like something from the Museum of Bad Art in Boston (sometimes I scan its pages half-dreading, half-hoping I'll see one of my own works in the collection. I wonder if any other artists do that...?) - see below.

 

I gave in finally and went back to fewer and more subtle colours and I think that's what it needs (apologies for the badly-inked proof by the way). Maybe it was too much of a leap for Pirate Baby. It needs a couple of small tweaks but then it's good to go. At last! Thank goodness for that.  I can start on something new now.

 

Ten Public Hangings

This linocut will be overprinted with drypoint

Pirate Baby is taking a break whilst I work on some other projects. Having messed up his solar plate, I got a bit stuck about where to go next. The fog is slowly lifting on that one but in the meantime, I'm making headway with the Cowprint postcard project in preparation for our exhibition as one of the Ten Public Hangings at Red Hot Press over the next few months. Intrigued? More details soon.

Pirate Baby trots on

Two more aquatints done and a little testing of colour. These won't be the final colours... just testing to see if the colour would lighten the image as it seems a bit daerk at the moment. Still too dark so some burnishing needed and a little line work to add detail. Overall though, seems to be coming on okay. Think it's time to make the solar plate for the background next though, to see how the etching looks against it. It will affect the colour of course. Still struggling to motivate myself with this one... but onwards and upwards.

Pirate Baby and the Plastic Bag Pharaoh

Managed to get the first acquatint done on PB4 this week; proof below. It looks a little dark but with successive etchings and some burnishing maybe, it'll work well I think. It's a good state. It won't be printed in black... sepia probably. Well, Pharaoh anyway. Still thinking about colour for the other elements. That won't come together until much later in the process. I'm pleased with it so far though.

I've been feeling a bit demotivated with this etching the last few weeks. It's partly looking at all the Meadus paintings I think, got a hankering to paint. Silly excuse really. And I can't think of a subject to paint either - even sillier excuse. 

Anyway, the first Cowprint meeting of the year is next week and I wanted to have something to show for the two months since we last met (other than the Chicken Murderer) so that spurred me on. There's nothing like a deadline to get you working, even if it's self-imposed.