paintings prints and stuff

Ogwen Valley in the mist, charcoal, a bit bigger than A3 Ogwen valley in the mist, charcoal plein air We revisted the valley later in the week.  The clouds were low over the tops of the mountains and the distance melted into whiteness.  The little river Ogwen wound its way across the valley floor and the single track, switchback road disappeared off over the side of the mountain. All the recent rain meant the waterfalls were beautiful.  I did a watercolour/mixed media with one in the afternoon, while the group climbed up to a higher lake.  Next post ........

2 studies from the clifftop between Hells Mouth and Portreath in different light, watercolour/mixed media in S&B Delta sketchbook I do love the changing light and the different colours and moods.   I could paint along here again and again through the seasons and each image would be different.   Flowers, sea colour, skies always new. There was a massive cliff fall at Hells Mouth that I didn't know about until I got home - thankfully!   Video here - do watch, it gives an idea of the scale and drama.  I ended up mostly using my watercolours on this trip for some reason, though I had taken oils and used them  a little.  I made the decision early on to mainly work in the S&B sketchbook and fill it, which I did : >)  rather than try to complete larger works in changing light.   I can work from these sketches at home to produce the larger works, with time to consider format/medium etc at leisure. Already I'm ...

 Waves on the rocks, very quick sketch in S&B delta sketchbook A very quick sketch of the waves breaking on rocks a little way out.   I just love moving water.

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.

Rocks and sea in Stillman and Birn Gamma sketchbook, with Derwent Artbars and Neocolor II I decided to try some collage in the Gamma sketchbook today while the class were working - tearing up old demo sketches,   The rocks in this one started life as undergrowth and tree trunks.   Marks in trees, rivulets in wet sand and the cracks in rocks can be so similar in pattern - turn them round and the subject changes.  :>) The grass, sea, far headland and a few strokes of vegetation were added with a mix of Derwent Artbars and Neocolor II. This book has the 100lb ivory paper, which held up to the washes extremely well.   I do rather like ivory or cream paper - it has character.   How about you?

  Wreck, sketch with Derwent Inktense block, tinted charcoal and white oil pastel This was a play to try out some new brushes (Christmas present from himself).   So, I thought I'd continue using the Derwent materials I was given, to test mixes of these as well. I used a photo of a wreck we found when cliff walking a few years ago.   From this side it looked whole - from the other side it looked as if someone had sliced it in half, almost totally hollow.   First I laid down a few areas of colour for cliffs and boat.   Once I knew where they would be, I laid down scribbles of surf with a white Sennelier oil pastel - no other brand works as well for a resist to water media as the Sennelier, they are lush.   I used Inktense blocks , partly drawing and partly for lifting colour from, to wash further colour in the sea, the cliffs and the boat..     I then drew into the dried painting with Derwents Tinted Charcoal to add furth...

Incoming Tide, Near Porthgwarra, mixed media, approx A4 Working from sketches done plein air and memories  - I felt in need of a virtual trip to the coast. Sketching and painting plein air really helps to fix colour, movement, the shadows of rocks  underwater, the swirling water around rocks where air bubbles turn it milky and the ripples of incoming waves as the tide comes in on a warm, still day  -  - I want to be there now. Working plein air is really important to me because of what I remember from  sitting studying a scene and working out how to catch movement, colour and mood.   I can then play in the studio with those sketches and memories, developing ideas from them.  If I simply looked but didn't sketch, then I wouldn't remember a fraction of the information that sketching fixes in the brain.

A quick glimpse of secret project - to prove I'm working!

The Crowns, Inktense blocks, ink and coloured pencil sketch, approx 9 x 6.5 inches I've been given a set of Inktense blocks and wanted to have a play, see how they behave and what they can do.  I've got about 6 of the Inktense pencils and like them, so I was interested to see how the blocks behaved.   I worked loosely from the charcoal sketch I did plein air and the ink sketch - using memory for the colours. I do like the way the Inktense colours layer and their translucency - in this one I used the blocks mainly as you would watercolour pans with very little drawing with them.   I think to draw with them (then use water to wash) I'd need to work A3 to have room for big gestural marks.   Something I may try next.   I used ink and coloured pencil (Polychromos and Lyra Rembrandt mostly) over the washes and scribbles of Inktense and the rough paper surfacew meant these flicker across, touching the high parts of the paper, missing the dips...

  detail of Rocks at Porthgwarra This painting was done with just the colours above - blue, red, yellow, black, brown plus white. The whole painting  done on A4 cartridge paper but with white paper round, so a bit smaller: and a further detail Sometimes a limited palette is a really good exercise to make you work to achieve the colours you want :>)

detail of the sketch below   A quick sketch on a very windy day with Rotring pen and watersoluble ink, with a little brush pen (waterproof ink) and a touch of gouache.  I do like watersoluble ink for those lovely washes.    The Crowns, Botallack, pen and ink sketch in Canson sketchbook.  Vivien Blackburn And turning 180 degrees this was the skyline, with another ruined mine engine house in the distance. This one was done in carbon pencil.

The edge of Dartmoor, a stream tumbling down through a wooded valley, coloured pencil and Rotring Art Pen in Moleskine sketchbook We'd been exploring up on the bleak high moors, which I love, small herds of wild ponies and sheep, stunted trees and rocky crags, narrow roads and ancient stone bridges.   Now we were at the edge of the moor - lush wooded valleys, streams the colour of whisky tumbling over rocks on their way to the sea - equally lovely in a very very different way.   I stopped to catch the dappled sunlight on this old bridge and the warm amber glow of the peaty water. It was an incredible tangle of wildflowers and branches, great contrasts of light and dark and not at all easy!  so it maybe got a bit overworked.  This is the hotel we stayed at - just for a day on the way home - right on the borderline where the wild, bleak, high moor descends into lusher green fields and wooded valleys.  One side of the road is the high moor, the othe...

Old tree growing in amongst rocks and a drystone wall, charcoal, carbon pencil and chinagraph pencil I painted this tree in ink and watercolour a few years ago and decided to do a slightly larger version in charcoal. I added carbon pencil for the darkest and most calligraphic marks and white chinagraph pencil for the highlights, on a soft beige pastel paper. I liked the way it merged into the rocks, almost part of them. The tree itself makes me think of Japanese prints, something about the gnarled branches and the pine needles. I've been really tied up with work and family health issues so it was good to be drawing again :>)

Rocks between Sennen Cove and Lands End. Watercolour, biro and coloured pencil. 10x11 ins approx. Vivien Blackburn Jeanette has issued a challenge for people to paint/draw rocks. These are some-I-did-before plus a new one from today. I had to work from a photo for this new one as sadly I'm 320 miles away from Sennen Cove right now :>( The figure gives the scale of those massive rocks though and gives me vertigo as well! I couldn 't stand that close to the edge. To see the stages as a work in progress go here Why not join in and leave her a link to your rocks?

Pearly Dawn, Sennen Cove, Cornwall. 10 inches square, oil on canvas, Vivien Blackburn A calm sea, pearly colours of lavender, apricot and jade. This one is another oil on a 10 inch square canvas, It was a total nightmare to photograph as the subtle jades kept disappearing and the apricot highlights - not helped by photographing it while it's wet! The sky glows a bit more and there are subtle bits of the apricot sky reflecting on the tips of the swells that aren't being picked up very well in the photo :>( The last one I showed, of the harbour, has had the lower section of sky lightened and I think is finished. Botallack mine is moving onwards but large areas are still just blocked in. The foreground has a long way to go and the far cliffs and mine houses but the sea and sky are further forward. The sea is going to be wilder, crashing onto the rocks and cliffs. Work in progress, Botallack Mine. 16x20. Vivien Blackburn c&c????

Sennen Cove, Windy Day, oil on 10 inch square canvas, Vivien Blackburn I worked a little more on the 10 inch canvas today - the photograph annoyingly doesn't bring out the viridians enough. I'll try again tomorrow. Adjusting in photoshop alters too much and has tipped it towards turquoise too much but I thought I'd show that I am working! I will lighten the bottom of the sky a little when this paint is dry. I started another 10 inch canvas with an underpainting - it's from a sketch of a subtle pearly dawn -all soft peachy colours in the sky with mauves and pale jades and soft grey blues in the sea, all very pale. I think I may do a series of these little 10 inch canvasses as they work well together. I also worked on the 16x20 canvas below. It's just at the blocking in stage as yet and it all needs finishing and pulling together. Botallack Mine, 20x16, oil on canvas, Vivien Blackburn I decided to make the weather wilder and stormier in this one. It suits the ru...

Flooded slate quarry, Swithland Woods, Watercolour/mixed media, 11x14 ins approx, Vivien Blackburn The pale colours here in the ground are a little bleached out - they should have a pale pink/amber colour. Old flooded slate quarry, coloured pencil, approx 11x14 ins, Vivien Blackburn I've been looking at the old flooded quarry near Swithland woods in watercolour and coloured pencil. The slate that was quarried there is very ancient pre-Cambrian rock - the oldest rocks in Britain. Until recently it was thought that no fossils were preserved in this ancient rock - but recently fossils of ferns have been found (details of this and the geology and history of the area are in the links below). It's thought that the woods are the remains of primeval forest, having been there from at least 5,000BC. Links: The history of Swithland Woods, which may be the remains of primeval forest from 5,000 years BC Geology/History/walks in the area Photo of a larger pit nearby

Pencil and coloured pencil sketch, Clovelly, going down the steep cobbled street to the harbour, North Devon, Vivien Blackburn Working in coloured pencil and graphite, planning a future painting. I don't normally like working from photos but I've wanted to do some paintings of Clovelly for some time. I took lots of photos when we were there on a misty day - it was very moody and atmospheric and it really suited the village which is built with rocks from the beach, the incredibly steep streets cobbled with smaller rocks. I liked the composition in which the stone walls frame the view of the harbour and its curving harbour wall made of more of the rocks - huge ones, wrapping around and framing the sand, sea and boats. You can see some photographs here http://sitekreator.com/vivien/coast.html Normally I wouldn't go for this 'every stone' approach but the stones are so chunky and so important to the image that I thought I would. Charcoal with coloured pencil for ano...

across the beach, last light, monochrome, Vivien Blackburn I was having a play in PS with this painting and after cropping, simplifying, darkening and tweaking I took the colour out - I like this and plan to do some large charcoal drawings. When I started that painting using charcoal I did intend to keep the colour quite minimal and to make the charcoal do most of the work - but got seduced by colour! I'm off to find my charcoal. .

Across the Beach,Early Evening. mixed media on paper. 16 in sq. Vivien Blackburn acrylic ink, acrylic paint and charcoal A view across the beach in the early evening, warm tinted clouds, pools reflecting the light and the rocks - heavcn :>) if only I could win the lottery and live there. The light was terrible here today, grey and dismal - and I need a decent light to finish those ongoing canvasses as I need to look at them from a distance as well as close up. I thought I'd work on paper and work close to the window. I finished (I think) the one above The following one is at a mid-way stage. work in progress, approximately 18 ins tall acrylic ink and acrylic paint The last one may have some touches of pastel added. acrylic ink, acrylic paint and charcoal. Vivien Blackburn . .