Deadfall

Yesterday JP and I went out into the country.

We found a good spot near the river, and JP set out his painting gear and got to work depicting the landscape from the inside out ... that's how I view his process, because he himself so much a part of this place.

After exploring the area a bit, I decided to re-organize some branches which were lying on the ground under a big tree.

   

First I made a circle around the base of the tree.

Then I saw that animals like to gather here and, not wanting to create encumbrances for them or myself, I moved my work off to the side.

I began with the largest branches ...

... which became progressively smaller as I worked toward the centre.

About two hours later, the deadfall circle was finished.

A satisfying job!

Stepping back, I see that there is a nice relaxed sort of communication among the tree and its re-organized deadfall.  If the circle had been around the base of the tree as originally conceived, I think the whole thing may have looked overly contrived.

Response to, rather than control of the elements, that's the key for me.

white world, black book

Last weekend we got a big dump of snow: 24cm at our house, and more in some other places.  "Oh, too soon!" everyone said.

*laughs*  Me, I love snow, and we went for a long walk by the river, where poplar leaves shone in brilliant golds and rich ochres in an otherwise muted landscape.  The river was steaming in the cold air, and distant hills appeared to be floating in the mist.  Such beauty, and how lucky am I to have been out walking in it, and with my favourite person too!

Due to the weather, my shift at the store was very slow, so I perused the sketchbook shelves and noticed a new book of black paper.  Well, comparatively dark grey really.

150g weight, for "Colour Pencil, Gel Pens, Metallic Markers"

My friends, be not limited by the printed word!

Often, words are only suggestions.  In the drawings above, I used oil sticks, gel pens, China markers, pencil crayons, children's wax crayons, oil paint markers and acrylic paint.  See?

A book of black paper, begun in the midst of a snowstorm.  I like that.

Workshop at the LAC

Earlier this month I facilitated a workshop at the Leighton Art Centre:

Ink and Twig Drawing

The workshop was meant to take place during the run of "just turn your head a little" exhibition, but due to snowy March weather it was delayed. 

This turned out for the best, since September is actually a perfect time of year to gather twigs and plant stems to draw with.

We began in the classroom, but soon moved out onto the large deck.

How lovely to work outdoors in the warm September sunshine!

I brought in various types of papers in big sheets and pads (because why work small when you're exploring materials, right?):

crystal clear wet-media Duralar

a roll of "mystery plastic" upon which the wet ink beaded for some cool effects

translucent Vellum paper

140lb watercolour paper

100lb bright white Bristol paper

80lb Mayfair drawing paper

a large yellow-toned Manilla drawing paper pad

We also used the protective tissue sheets that come with the Duralar.

Mark-making possibilities are limited only by the vast array of natural drawing materials available outdoors, coupled with one's imagination!

Drawing, stamping, dilution of ink, wet and dry paper, oil crayon rubbings and resists... and a spray bottle comes in handy too.

It was terrific fun to work with a group of adults and kids together.

I was impressed with the levels of openness to exploration, creative risk, and imaginative play of everyone who attended.

Below, one of my demo pieces, photographed next day in my studio:

I was able to make a few portraits of the kids as well.

Clockwise from top: 

ink + twig on vellum

ink + twig on wetted bristol

ink + twig on duralar

ink + crayon and tape resist on watercolour paper.

Below, the duralar drawing laid on top of the other drawings:

 

Kinda cool, hey  :)

sketchbook : integuments

exploring the possibilities of oil stick blender

with various drawing media

oil paint marker and China marker (similar to litho crayon)

graphite pencil

the book begins to develop character

"Mobile" sketches

Yesterday was all-day, all-in studio.

I was planning to stretch a canvas

and try drawing with oil sticks on it

but I felt too lazy to do all that prep work

and I've been feeling ambiguous about canvas lately anyway

So I cleaned up the studio a bit, and found a pad of bond paper

very lightweight, translucent, and acid-free

and drew on that instead with the oil sticks

plus a bit of oil medium with brushes & a rag to smudge

and: kapow!

I have used these very materials in my portrait books with excellent results (of the materials if not the image at times, haha). However, this bond paper is somewhat different from the various sketchbooks' papers, so just to be on the safe side I will wait a few weeks to see if the oil medium bleeds and/or stains, before going forward with this particular process.  Testing, always testing.

Regardless of the long-term outcome of this particular little body of work, I must say it was a fantastic studio day, very energized and leaving me feeling full of possibility.  Really, I just love drawing, in whatever form.

Now today is errands: tending to the ever-burgeoning garden, mowing the lawn, dealing with a bit of laundry, hitting up the library for more books and picking up groceries on the way home.  Maybe I'll even make dinner!

Ambitious, huh?

:)

Progressions

Hello again!

First off, I'd like to share a few exhibitions and other events which I'm feeling excited about, in my most recent newsletter.  

And now on to some of my studio explorations.

At the encouragement of a friend, a couple of months ago I was playing around with watercolours, perhaps my least favourite painting medium.  *laughs*

First attempt: rather heavy-handed, 

although the silver bits are alluring.

Second attempt: getting better perhaps.  With gold bits!

Perhaps in a previous life I was a magpie...

Third attempt: actually managing a bit of transparency.

No metallic bits, though  :=(

I used w/c tube paints, and also w/c crayons and Inktense pencils.  Although I enjoyed exploring the materials, I've not picked up the watercolours since these attempts.  Perhaps in future I'll give them another go.

Last month I went on a field trip to the Weaselhead Flats with 42 third-grade students, 3 teachers and 5 adult chaperones.  It was a wonderful field trip, and I completely forgot to take any photos of the charcoal drawings we did after our nature hike!  The kids - and adults too - seemed to really enjoy the various charcoal techniques I showed them.

"Who knew you could do all that with the lowly black stick?"

*laughs*  oh the delightful eye-openings.

My own sketches were made from this tree,

on the hillside above the river near our house.

The kids and having fun with shadows at Weaselhead Flats.

Back in the studio, I'd been itching for a bit of oil painting, so I pulled out some small paintings made long ago on MDF panels cut to various sizes, no two alike.

First colour layers over the old paintings.

Laid them in a drawer to dry out of the way

Subsequent colour layers.

Maybe finished, maybe not.

Remember the Fragile Planets work I made a couple of years ago?  There were some extra plates & prints, and I've been thinking whether they might be worth framing.  Here, playing around with random materials... not sure I like this aesthetic though.  Candace Larsen at CKG may have some better ideas.

So, there you have some of the "other work" I get into, besides the stuff that makes it to the galleries & exhibitions.  What fun, eh?  

I love being an artist, and am so grateful that I'm able to spend my time this way.

Thanks as always for reading my blog posts!