making a sketchbook and sketching in the landscape

A sketch of the Leicestershire landscape, fields of rapeseed glowing with their bright yellow flowers against the hazy blue distant hedgerows and woods in the evening light and clouds of cow parsley in the fields edge. Pastel sketch in my new hand made concertina sketchbook. Vivien Blackburn

I managed this sketch of the local landscape between classes yesterday. It was early evening and the distant woods and hedges had that mauvey blue tinge and the fields of yellow rapeseed glowed. The roadsides are a mass of flowers - particularly the cow parsley. I've been meaning to get out and sketch before the yellow flowers are over. In this part of the county it's grown a lot and some areas become almost totally a glowing yellow - some love it, some hate it and a lot suffer hayfever because of it! (I'm on my Telfast antihistamines, sniff)

I made myself a sketchbook from Lindsay's brilliant instructions - look here: http://straightlinesout.blogspot.com/2008/04/modified-concertina-book-format.html - for this one I decided on a square format - well you may have noticed I like working on squares! so it's 18cm square with a rich cream coloured, heavy cartridge paper. Here is a picture from Lindsay's instructions. They are really clear and easy to follow, do take a look and have a go.

Lindsay's picture from her instructions on how to make the book

I gave mine black covers but you can give them any sort of cover you fancy, fabric, hand made papers, collages ..... the list is endless. This sketch was its first outing.

And do look at the creative artists books Lindsay has been working on lately. There are some really original ideas and interesting stuff going on :>)

And speaking of books ..... if you haven't already, do take a look at my blurb book on my seascapes - http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/218005/?utm_source=badge&utm_medium=banner&utm_content=140x240

and my friend Glen has done a totally brilliant book on Bradgate Park, a country estate left to the city that used to be the home of Lady Jane Grey, Queen for 9 days before being beheaded. The oaks are hundreds of years old. Here's a link to it - do look it's well worth it http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/search?search=glen+heath&x=48&y=15

Robert Genn's newsletter was about the word Kalopsia - a great word! he says:

"Kalopsia" is the condition in which things appear morebeautiful than they really are. It's like where girls (andboys) in bars, for example, tend to look more attractive nearerto closing time. For example: "At 11pm the bar was high onkalopsia."

mmm we've all looked at a painting the next day, that we had been pleased with the day before, only to find it was not quite what we'd thought!

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watercolour seascape: sunset across the beach

Sunset, Ebb Tide, watercolour, Vivien Blackburn

Sunset, looking across the beach as the tide ebbs and the pools of water reflect the sky. I haven't used watercolour for a while and fancied playing with the way that the colours merge and flow and glazes of transparent colour create colours it's impossible to name - just like the sky in real life.

There's a lot of aureolin yellow in there - a lovely transparent yellow when used thinly. There is also a very little watercolour pencil and a little pencil added at the end.

I do like watercolours - I should remember to use them more often and get a bit more practice in!

you can see some other work on Cornwall here http://vivienb.blogspot.com/search/label/Cornwall
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Flowers and sunshine

A lovely weekend at my daughters and I managed to take some close ups of flowers in the garden - the huge tulips had gone over and were losing their petals but looked absolutely luminous in the sun.

I tried to catch the fragile dandelion clocks - not terribly successfully :>) the light and shadows on the eucalyptus tree was lovely with the blue grey leaves and warm reddish branches

Dont' forget to check on the challenge links - there are new additions to see at the top of the list :>)

http://vivienb.blogspot.com/2008/04/sketching-paintbrushes-and-my-day-links.html

challenge update

Just a quick reminder to check back on http://vivienb.blogspot.com/2008/04/sketching-paintbrushes-and-my-day-links.html for updated entries by people in the paintbrush and my day challenges

Do check it out as there are some great sketches in the links.

And it isn't too late to join in :>)

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sketching everyday things part 2

Feathers. Sketches in pastel, pencil, brush pen and coloured pencils. Vivien Blackburn

I'm back at work and feeling distinctly convalescent! not up to tackling a large canvas - but twitching to do something.





so I sketched thisfeather, which was a present from this little tiger - who has eyes for the pigeons but isn't capable of catching one - so she brings any feathers she finds into the house to play with. Hence its rather raggedy state.



I simply had a play with various materials, looking at the feather again and again in pastel pencil, 2B pencil, Pitt brush pen and coloured pencil.

With the brush pens and coloured pencil I just decided on an equivalent tonal value of pen for the various greys and blacks of the original and substituted a warm amber/honey for the lightest parts and deeper umbers for the blacks with no attempt to use the original colours.

I really like the texture of feathers to draw :>)


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quick update on the challenge :)

I was talking to Liz Minichiello and gave her the links to your 'my day' posts - she was really interested. :>)

She's looking to produce something with a whole lot of different peoples 'day' and could possibly contact some of you in the future for permission to use your work. I can't say too much about her plans but it involves potential prestigious exposure - she hadn't explained this at the meeting - simply asked us to have a go and send her the results - but has now gone into more detail.

So .... if you want your work to be considered you need to stick to the brief (if you want to do it purely for fun and not stick to it, that's fine) Her rectangles are 10cm wide x 6cm deep and the sequence needs to be of 12 of these in the format of my original 'my day' post.

so why not go for it?

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experiments with the seascapes - looking at different light

Cool Day, Warm Evening Light Across the Bay. Vivien Blackburn - digital experiment

I'm at last on the mend :>) but didn't feel up to painting yet - so I thought I'd work through some ideas in Photoshop, looking at different lights across the beach. I really like the subtle muted colours in these and will certainly do some work in paint or pastel from them - I'm feeling they would work very well with a loose acrylic or watercolour underpainting finished with Unison pastels. What do you think?

Red Pools, Evening Light Across the Bay. Vivien Blackburn. Digital Experiment

or the heightened Expressionist colour of this one? this would be fun to play with as well.

Passing Clouds. Across the Bay. Digital Experiment. Vivien Blackburn

or this one with the cliff under a cloud apart from a flash of light catching the top and the front of the beach?

Symphony in Greys. Towards the Sea, digital experiment. Vivien Blackburn

I want to do one in the subtle greys, blues, pinks and mauves of this one - a steely winter evening on a calm day.

Do you experiment with Photoshop or Artweaver or any of the graphics packages like this to work through ideas?

and .......... if you like my work you can always buy The Book! http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/218005/?utm_source=badge&utm_medium=banner&utm_content=140x240 or the link in the top right column - over 40 paintings and sketches in a 40 page loverly little book ;>)

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update

apologies for not posting much this week but I've been laid low by a truly vicious killer bug - I'm hoping desperately I'm on the mend now.

In the meantime there have been som great responses to the My Day and Paintbrushes challenges - I'm really enjoying seeing all this lovely work and I'm going to have to call in a panel to choose the winner in the paintbrushes as there are such great contenders. The panel don't yet know they are to be called on! You've got until the end of May if you haven't yet had a go. Just post your links in the comments section and I'll add them to the post below for everyone to see.

Please check out the new additions at http://vivienb.blogspot.com/search/label/challenge they are well worth a look.

update on the challenge

I've been really ill since Saturday (you don't want to know the icky details) so I've only just managed to pick up your emails and comments and links to the brushes and my day challenges. What a great surprise - several fun new ones to add - so don't forget to check back on the 'challenge' tag to see new additions - I add them as they arrive.

Below is my friend Glen's version - she and her husband have a fishmongers (very good one too) and she has an incredibly busy life delivering to businesses like hotels and homes and working in the shop, visiting her elderly mum and finally managing a little bit of time to paint, often late at night. She doesn't have the time for a blog.

You can see more of her work on http://sitekreator.com/glenheath/index.html , http://sitekreator.com/theassociationofleicestershireartists/glen_heath_1.html and http://www.leicestersocietyofartists.co.uk/artists_of_leicester_society_of_artist/lsa_members_template.php?LSAMembersCode=43

Keep those sketches coming - please :>D

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sketching paintbrushes and my day links

Here are links to the blogs of those who responded to the paintbrush challenge and the 'my day' challenge - some nice stuff to look at :>)

and EJ http://community.livejournal.com/merry_fates/

Katherine Tyrrell has done a fun one on her cat http://makingamark.blogspot.com/2008/05/4th-may-2008-whos-made-mark-this-week.html

and Lindsay has done a great painting of her paintbrushes here http://straightlinesout.blogspot.com/2008/04/viviens-paintbrush-game.html

Lindsay has updated and is working on another version :>) http://straightlinesout.blogspot.com/2008/04/comic-book-reprise.html

and Katherine is working on one

Cathy's set of brushes at http://asketchintime.blogspot.com/2008/04/brush-project.html

Barbara's recent addition http://bjhome-drawings.blogspot.com/2008/04/day-in-my-life-in-12-frames.html - cats seem to be a recurring theme as an alarm clock :>)

a beautiful sketch of a paintbrush and story to go with it from Jeanette http://illustratedlife.blogspot.com/2008_04_01_archive.html#181761402518323289

http://illustratedlife.blogspot.com/2008_04_01_archive Jeanette's great sketches of her day - and see what it's led to! and those geese look downright scary

http://elizabethfloydstudio.blogspot.com/2008/04/memory-sketch-exercise.html Elizabeth Floyd's busy day

Rose's imaginative arrangement of paintbrushes http://rosesartlines.blogspot.com/2008/04/paintbrush-fun.html

Lindsay at http://straightlinesout.blogspot.com/2008/04/comic-strips.html a fun look at her day

Maggie at http://greywarenart.blogspot.com/2008/04/maggie-on-art-materials-part-iii.html a fun visualisation of a day juggling her busy writing and art life with every day life and toddlers.

http://boogiestreet.blogspot.com/2008/04/blog-brush-sorry.html Mr Zip's sketch of a well loved and lived brush

http://havedogswilltravel.blogspot.com/ some beautiful dogs feature strongly in Robyn's :>)

http://idlethoughtsofanidlewoman.blogspot.com/ Not 2 Weeks in Another Town by Dinah

http://havedogswilltravel.blogspot.com/2008/04/brush-sketch-challenge.html Robyn's lovely paintbrush sketch

I'll update this as people add to it


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sketching simple subjects - paintbrushes

This is a challenge for those who would like to take it up - with a prize for the work I like best.

Your task grasshopper, should you wish to take it, is to sketch your paintbrushes. They can be simply laid out in a row - look at Jim Dine's beautiful etching http://www.tfaoi.com/am/12am/12am38.jpg . He also did a fantastic etching of a row of cans with large paintbrushes standing in them that I'd love to own. (any rich sugar daddies out there take note ;>) )

I often get the total beginners in my classes to sketch paintbrushes - they can be put right next the drawing area so it's easier to do the hand-eye coordination bit and build observational skills. Gaining confidence in achieving the shape and texture of the brushes - making the hair look like hair and the metal look shiny and reflective etc is excellent practice. I find them really interesting to draw and often doodle them if the class are occupied and need no help. The ones above were then used for the title pages on my main and sketching websites, though at the time I sketched them I was just doing them for their own sake, they interested me.

If you feel like having a go please leave a link in the comments to your blog post with the sketch you've done - the one I like best will win one of my paintbrush sketches.

Anyone want to have a go? Timescale? the end of June? to give people time?

please remember the book is out for those blissfully unaware! preview it on http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/218005/?utm_source=badge&utm_medium=banner&utm_content=140x240

UPDATE:

links to those posting their sketches/paintings of paintbrushes

Mr Zip http://tinyurl.com/5oplnu
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my day - cartoon strip

I went to an artists talk by illustrator Liz Minichiello on Thursday, which was interesting. After the talk about her work she gave out A2 sheets of paper with rectangles printed and asked us if we would do sketches of our day, with detail and tone, and email/post them to her. 12 rectangles, each about 4 x 2.5 ins. The brief was to do this from memory rather than observation.

my day, mechanical pencil, Vivien Blackburn

The friend I went with and I thought it would be fun to do so here is my day

• woken by lousy alarm jangling and cats telling me to hurry up

• one cat wants to pursue his hobby of ornithology NOW!

• the other says her throat has been cut and noone has fed her for a week - hmmmm - see her shape!

• Cup of tea in attempt to surface and deal with day

• Drive to work, nice, watch the sky and the light of the early morning on the fields.

• Teach

• Look at students work

• Paint

• Lousy rotten hateful ^**%** paperwork

• work on computer

• collapse into bed

Does anyone else fancy doing this? Leave a link to your blog in the comments if you do :>)


http://www.lizminichiello.co.uk/ a link to her site if you are interested in seeing her work.

It was interesting that she quoted several of my favourite illustrators as those she admired - Raymond Briggs and John Burningham were amongst them.

UPDATE:

links to those who have done their own version

http://havedogswilltravel.blogspot.com/2008/04/day-in-my-life-cartoon-strip.html Robyn has done a great one with large woolly bear - sorry dog - featuring >:>D
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THE BOOK IS AVAILABLE!

I've edited the book a little to improve it now I've seen my copy and it's available on blurb - anyone interested in having one, just click on the link on the right there and you can see the first few pages in a preview. (those who subscribe will need to actually go to my blog to see the necessary widget as it doesn't show up on the posts you receive so click here to take you to the blog post http://vivienb.blogspot.com/2008/04/book-is-available.html and the widget is on the right.

evening at the beach, charcoal on grey paper with white pencil, Vivien Blackburn. one of the images in the book

Their programme does need some work, it's a beta version and it crashes from time to time and after working for a while it gets slower and s l o w e r - closing it down and reopening it seems to help but it does get annoying. Working with a lot of large image files has got to be using a lot of memory so maybe those of you with nice new computers won't find this a problem - my elderly laptop did. It's a good easy programme though and their print quality is great so I'll stick with them and hopefully they will iron out the glitches as they go along.

Now for the next book project ....... and some painting ....... and some teaching preparation :>(.

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the book has arrived! Seascapes: Vivien Blackburn :>)

front and back cover of the book - Seascapes: Vivien Blackburn

My book arrived today! I'm very happy with it apart from a couple of small silly errors that I'd made - very minor ones like forgetting to change the font on the back page so it doesn't match the title page. So once I've put them right I'll make it available for those who have emailed to say they would like to buy a copy.

so - if you'd like one - watch this space :>)

I can definitely recommend blurb. The one thing I don't particularly like is the payment system - a bit like imagekind, where they don't pay out until a certain sum is reached. Blurb are fairer though, they pay monthly (for anyone interested) but don't pay until the money owed to the author is over £12.50 and they charge a £3 admin fee for sending it. That's £3 for sending payment for 1 book sold or 100.

The colours are true and the quality and binding is good.

I will definitely make some more, including one on sketching with more text. This one is more a catalogue with over 40 paintings and just a little text.



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making a monotype or monoprint

seahorses. monotype. approx 14 ins tall. Vivien Blackburn

This is an old piece of work that I have on the wall in the bathroom - a monotype I did in the first year of my degree. It is actually a normal rectangle but as it's behind glass I had to take the photograph at an angle because of the reflections.

it was made by rolling out a varied mix of turquoise printing ink onto a metal plate and printing it onto the paper using an etching press (rather like an old mangle with a flat bed but rather more expensive :>( ) - inking up the whole plate with a thin layer.

It was left to dry overnight and then I made stencils, cutting and tearing newsprint freehand with no drawing to make the sea horses and weed. These were positioned on the turquoise print.

Then I rolled up the plate with a dark midnight blue and put it through the press again - where the newsprint was it remained variegated turquoise and the deep background appeared. This was the first time I'd used this technique - in fact the first printmaking I'd tried.

I really enjoy printmaking and I'm seriously wanting a little press of my own. I don't have the funds or space for a big one ........... but a little one would be fun and enable me to do more printmaking - lino, collagraphs and monotypes.

Monotypes are one offs where the image contains no repeating element. Only one print is possible.

Monoprints are one offs with a repeating element - like differently inked up collagraphs or dry point with monoprinting.

Blurb say my book is on it's way .............. I do hope the colours are ok

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