paintings prints and stuff

A sketch done looking across at the Farne Islands from the far end of the beach at Bamburgh, mixed media Another from the Norhumbria sketchbook.   A blue windy day.

Rocks and surf near Bamburgh and Howick, ink and charcoal in an A4 S&B Delta sketchbook There were lovely long stretches of sandy beach but the rocks here were so interesting to sketch.   You can read about the geology here , so different from the rocks I'm used to sketching in Cornwall . This was done in a cold cold wind with willow charcoal and grey ink, plus some white FW acrylic ink from Daler Rowney.  I love that white ink.   I like the Herbin Gris Nuage ink to draw with twigs as I was here - but it ruins fountain pens : >(.  It was sold as suitable for them too.    Ah well, a fountain pen wouldn't have given me the expressive lines that the twigs did : >) You can see a drawing done with the grey ink using twigs here . I've now got several projects to juggle.  One for an exhibition and others for Christmas .... more to comel

Up in the hills of the Northumbria National Park, above Alwinton, Watercolour/mixed media in A4 S&B Delta sketchbook I absolutely loved it up in the hills of the National Park. As the single track road rose higher, the land grew wilder, bleaker and more dramatic.  The land folded, carved by glaciers and drystone walls zigzagged, showing the contours of the land. I painted a couple higher up as the sun was going down - I'll show those later. This one is a mix of watercolour, conte pencil,. coloured pencil, tinted charcoal pencil and a bit of white ink.   I wanted to get the different textures quickly and mixing media was the best way for me to achieve this. Below are a couple of photos from higher in the hills. I would definitely like to revisit this area.  The landscape and history are wonderful.

What are your favourite sketchbooks?  Obviously this will vary enormously depending on what you want from your sketchbooks and the media used. For me the quality of the paper is crucial.   I really dislike working on flimsy paper or paper that buckles with water media.  Sketchbooks are an important part of my work, for research, plein air work, thinking around ideas and keeping notes, jotting down interesting information and simply observing and practising.  They need to cope with anything from simple pencil to watercolours, oils, charcoal, pen, pastel, collage, eyeshadow .... anything !  Some sketchbooks are 'general' and can contain a mix of subjects.  Others are themed, like books I take on trips or that work around an idea.  On the whole I prefer larger sketchbooks. A4+, but do also find smaller ones handy for keeping in the car, taking to hospital appointments etc So these are ones that I have chosen to comment on - favourites - and a one big moleskine let dow

A sketch done from our holiday cottage in watercolour/mixed media in an A4 S&B sketchboo We had wonderful views from the house, right left and front .... and even the steep hillside/cliff at the back had primroses and bluebells. This is looking sideways when the tide is high, past a row of terraced cottages that climb up the steep track.  That's 'our' garden ..... for a week anyway! I used watercolour with some pen and a few touches of coloured pencil - oh and a little FW white acrylic ink, a new favourite medium, used with a bamboo pen or brush.  It is really opaque and a clear clean white. so useful for surf etc when you've lost the white of the paper in places,   I work fastish, the painting evolves and I don't always retain all the lights so use this or white gouache to regain them.  I like mixing media, choosing whatever will create the marks I want.  I'm trying to catch a spirit of place and have no interest at all in rules about 'pure

Quick sketch from life, the window sill and silhouetted resident tiger And yes the plant is tipped over thanks to madame there, my perspective wasn't out!   Done using the Pen and Ink app, then opening the image in the Spray Can app.   The trouble with this is that it sprays over your drawing, whereas using Photoshop on the computer allows you to work in a layer beneath.   I used a low opacity so that I could overlay colours - there is a very limited range. I haven't used the spray app much yet other than this. onwards ..................

Trying out Derwent's inktense, watercolour pencils, Graphitint, Graphitone, Artbars and more on their new watercolour paper pads Derwent Watercolour Paper Derwent have brought out some new watercolour paper pads , perfect for their water soluble pencils and crayons.   It's 140lb which is heavy enough for the amount of water I'd normally use with these - I wouldn't normally have huge wet washes. I tried out sketches of items from my sketching roll and various coloured pencils and crayons.  All worked really well, the surface was a delight to work on with colour flowing freely, with the potential to lose or keep marks as I wanted. Products used here were  Derwent watercolour pencils Derwent Inktense Derwent Graphitint Derwent Graphitone Derwent Artbars Derwent Aquatone Derwent Charcoal Pencil Rotring Art Pen ....  with sketches of their electric eraser, sharpener for pastels and waterbrush, just some of the things from my pencil roll of sketc

Across the Fields near Great Bowden A4 Stillman and Birn Alpha sketchbook, willow charcoal and Derwent charcoal pencil A charcoal sketch on a hazy but sunny morning with layers of spring growth.   First the long grass and cow parsley of the verge, some light against dark, some dark against light.  Then the hawthorn hedge - a complex mix of light and dark and gaps between twigs where the field could be seen through.  Then a field of growing wheat, a further hawthorn hedge, a bright yellow field of rape, a further hedge beyond which the land falls away to a valley -  and then the far hills, blue and hazy with a few distant fields outlined by more hedges and more yellow rape.  On the right a distant wood looking deeper blue.  Patern and tone. I had actually gone to sketch more sheep but they'd been moved to another field. Every year I mean to sketch the fields when these vivid areas of bright yellow are there and usually don't make it in time.  Soon the petals will fal

  The envelope from Ronelle Van Wyk These exuberant, lyrical, expressive - so alive - sunflowers brightened a bad day enormously :>) and the cards received so far. This exchange has been so much fun - and it still has a long way to run :>) You can see all the cards in the exchange so far,  here at Postcards from my Walk .

Sketches in a waiting room The elderly Sikh gentleman was fated never to be finished - first my brush pen ran out of ink, then they moved him before I finished the carbon pencil sketch.   He remains wheel-less in his wheelchair.  All in a little 6 x4 inch sketchbook.  Smaller than I like, but unobtrusive in this situation. The top right hand sketch is the only one I was anything like pleased with.

Waiting outside the surgery, Pentel Brush Pen, A4 quick sketch Waiting for my mother to have her blood test done - a regular trip - I sketched the view from the car again.   Music on and a sketchpad and I don't mind the wait :>) This one was done with a Pentel Brush Pen - unforgiving but lovely to use.   I decided to use the brush pen as I knew it would be fast - last visit I only got this far and she back out and ready for home ........ sketch done in biro A4 From a different parking space, obviously. It isn't easy to keep lines straight when leaning on the steering wheel is it?

seagull weighing up whether or not I had any food to offer, a quick sketch with a Rotring Art Pen and coloured pencils in a moleskine sketchbook Just the sound of gulls instantly takes me back to my childhood in Cornwall.   They seem the essence of freedom, gliding on the the wind, light shining through feathers.

  Across the bay, blue afternoon, coloured pencil in moleskine sketchbook pale pearly dawn across the bay, coloured pencil in moleskine sketchbook  Two more colour/light studies of the view across the bay.   A vivid blue afternoon and a pale pale morning (which was almost impossible to scan because it really is very pale).

Wells next the Sea, blue blue day. oil on paper , (old painting ) What do you call your sketchbooks - journals? or sketchbooks? For me they are definitely sketch books, gathering and recording information and working through ideas. Some rough and quick, some much more 'finished'. Even though I do often write in them about the day, the light, the history or interesting facts that add to the feel of the place and the memories for me. (not to mention shopping lists of art materials, artists quotes, information on exhibitions, things stuck in and lots more) They are a resource to draw on in the future. Sometimes I take work out and frame it - that happened to the one above. If I remove it, then I do a scan and put a print in its place so the information and link to the work before and after isn't lost. Usually it remains in the sketchbook though. Some make journals with text and image beautifully balanced - it's an ongoing diary, a stream of consciousness. So w

Digital variation, Vivien Blackburn I fancy working from this one with scumbled paint over a coloured background. It needs to be either oils on canvas or pastel over paint I think. I love it when underlying layers of colour show through :>) And google ar t is waaay too addictive Look at the close up you can achieve of paintings, like this one of Turners. It's a fantastic site - how else could I visit the Tate, the Hermitage, The Rijksmuseum and the Uffizi and see pictures by moving around the gallery, and then closing in for a better view, without moving from my chair?

A quick demo done for my class of splattering watercolour wet-in-wet and drawing through with the brush handle as a pen One of my students, just starting watercolours, was doing some very heavy, one dimensional trees. This was a quick demo to encourage him to consider them as 3 dimenstional, with branches coming towards him as well as sideways :>) and to leave 'sky holes'; to consider colour variation, texture, light and shade and different intervals/areas of colour. It's very important not to let marks become same-y and standard sized. Colours were splattered wet-in-wet by holding the paintbrush horizontally, only an inch or two above the paper and tapping it sharply with the forefinger of the same hand. This means the area that the drops land in is fairly controlled but with the lovely randomness of nature. 'Throwing' the brush Jackson Pollock style results in more directional marks - and more mess :>) and isn't always suitable for small pai

Sam feeding chickens, Pitt pen and coloured pencil. Vivien Blackburn I've done the above sketch of Sam feeding the chickens for his book and the pencil drawing below, that needs colour adding (with watercolour/mixed media) of the house they were staying in - just a few yards away from 'ours' shown a couple of posts back. I've including Lucky the farm cat, his parents peeping out of the windows and a bird on the wall. Tomorrow I might get the colour added. I need to keep a balance between the cartoon figures and the style of sketching.

Sam goes to Bosworlas , initial design for front cover, subject to change :>) Vivien Blackburn back cover I think I'm going to make a book for my grandson for his birthday about his holiday with us there. I'm using the painting of the farm as the cover and I'll include the painting he did. Now I need to do sketches of his activities there, like jumping down the steps, the farm cat, the farmer and his tractor, the chickens and cows, the beach ....... The painting wraps around front and back covers like this screenprint of opened cover for Sam goes to Bosworlas . Vivien Blackburn I think I need to move it up slightly on the page before printing. Unfortunately I can't take images right to the edges - unless I print A3 - or design the book a little smaller and cut it down when printed. I don't think I like the vertical type with the image when seen folded either ..... all is subject to change at this very very early stage. The font is based on my handwriting.

Thank you for all the advice on graphics tablets. it was very helpful. In the end I went for the Bamboo as some were just too expensive for me to justify. It has just arrived and I've been learning what it can do. I'm very glad I bought it - I love the variety of marks that the pressure sensitive tablet allows. I'm still on a learning curve at the moment but these are my first attempts at playing with it. It came bundled with Corel Paint Essentials - these were done using this. (fun!) Detail of doodle above: I can see this being very very useful in illustrations particularly. And other doodles and close up: I find the way you can change tools fascinating - oil paint one minute and pastel the next, meaning a wide range of marks to draw on. This last one is a mix of oil and acrylic brushes, pastel, pencil and smudging tools. Sorry it's been quiet here for a while - due to a bug (me, not computer) and feeling washed out after I was over it, plus pressure of work. Som

Quick sketches of pebbles and shells all done with a Parker biro in a moleskine sketchbook, Vivien Blackburn The first one is, I think, flint* - are the holes softer elements that have eroded away in the sea? it looks as though something has been eating it! like a potato attacked by slugs with smooth even tunnels. And a very bad sketch of a mussel shell covered in barnacles and with the flat pattern ?where one had been. Another piece of ?shell ?coral was delaminating and was full of holes, again as though something had bored through it - all over. Curious. and another not wonderful sketch of a shell - I find it quite hard to give this flattish shape of shell any sense of 3D - especially when drawn in biro - why didn't I go and get a pencil? *further inland, near Thetford, are the Neolithic flint mines of Grimes Graves. I visited them as a teenager with my school (Thetford Grammar School - we lived in Norfolk at the time) and crawled through the very small passages - I could