paintings prints and stuff

the tree with added colour I worked further on the tree - and it's a little bigger now at nearly 14 inches. I kept the colour range limited but added Pitt pencil in a warm sienna colour and a touch of icy blue mixed into the white. Better? or should have been left alone! ?

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 :>)

some of my contributions to the Flying Pictures Project Remember our Flying Pictures Project , sketchbook exchange? Lindsay has just shown an exhibition, in the US, of our completed books (sent off on a wing and a prayer for safe return) and given a talk. She sent us the printout of her words and we would all have loved to have been there - she summed it up beautifully and got across how much fun it had been, the underlying worry of each of us working in books containing such gorgeous work by the others, how we learned from each other, enjoyed discussions on our blog and privately. the buzz - and that we want to do another project together. Lindsay has shown her contributions on her blog - as it was such a good idea, I thought I'd do the same :>) Have you taken part in an exchange?

Norfolk, changing seasons, some past plein air oil paintings, Vivien Blackburn I'm up to my eyes in work at the moment and so paintings are going slowly. I have to wrestle with a printer in a minute - it insists there is a paper jam - and there isn't . I want to print Sam's book. As I'm not managing to get out to sketch I thought I'd write today about the downside to console myself. Like ................... - the winter trip to sketch when the wind howled straight off the sea, usually we could shelter in the dunes and somewhere we'd be able to get out of the wind. Not that day. The top right hand sketch was done in a tiny 6inch square sketch book in oils. It was the only thing I could hold still enough - a larger book just kept flipping in the wind and my hand with it, every time I got the paintbrush near. It's about the only thing I managed that day for a long day out, 200 mile round trip and hypothermia. - a bitterly cold day with uninteresting

I;ve only had a very little time this week for painting and I haven't photographed it yet. Here for the time being is a slide show of Sam's Christmas present book - the cover and illustrations in order. As before, the blue lines and dotted lines are publishers guidelines and text boxes, which won't print or show in the final. My printer is having a nervous breakdown and I haven't been able to print it yet.

front and back cover design for Sam's book NB It's a screenprint, the guidelines and text boxes obviously aren't in the final print I've been working further on 'the book' - sheesh it takes some time - scanning and then building it in Publisher - and the working out with a little torn pages mock up just how the pages work and what number is opposite/on the back of which. A definite left brained activity and not my strongest point! The writing is provisional and needs polishing - I definitely need some more practice at this. centre pages I decided to only show Sam. their cat and the snowman, Mum and Dad feature as off stage voices only. It kept a simplicity to it and concentrated on the main characters. What do you think? I used the font that I created from my handwritin g on a fun programme and the snowflakes from the fun snowflake-cutter-programme - nothing is ever wasted is it? :>) I might have another go at a font - a little less higgledy piggl