paintings prints and stuff

Vivien Blackburn's work in the Urban/Rural show We've just hung a group show at the The Eye Project, Urban/Rural show.  If you want to come and see it it's on for a month - well worth seeing, 11 lovely artists and some fabulous work. Those large canvasses are 40 inches square. There are rural landscapes, flowerscapes, intriguing textile work including a large knitted building, abstracts .... something for everyone. It's in the gallery below the cafe in the Adult Education Centre at the top of Wellington street, Leicester, opposite Fenwicks.  Meet the Arttists day is Saturday 1st April 10-2.  Come and have a chat with us?

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 ...

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

Rocks at Bamburgh, watercolour and mixed media in S&B Delta sketchbook The geology on the coast of Northumbria is fascinating with parallel ridges of rocks that look almost as though they were constructed by man and sheets of flatter rock and sand between. This one is a study of the rocks to the north near Bamburgh.  It's basically watercolour but with bits of tinted charcoal and coloured pencil in there too. Again I was enjoying catching the very different colours and mood of the north east. More to follow .............

Bamburgh Castle, watercolour. pen and coloured pencil in S&B Delta sketchbook Bamburgh castle from the other side, this time well lit, not the dramatic silhouette of the previous write up.  Those sides are steep, it would be an incredibly difficult place for an attacking army to take.  It really is massive.  Do click on the link there and look at the aerial view, it's amazing. There were fascinating areas of rosy coloured stone amongst the greyer ones.  Not easy to keep track of all those windows and turrets and ins and outs :>)  It was sunny and beautiful but the wind was cold so this was done from the warmth of the car. Harry Potter was filmed here - this is Hogwarts. more to follow .....

Porth Nanven, evening, Derwent charcoal in Stillman and Birn A4 hardback sketchbook  Another from Cornwall.  Attempting to catch the silvery dazzle of light on water.  A little stream tumbles down the Cot Valley to the beach below - Porth Nanven. The new Derwent charcoal sticks are luscious to use and there is a little of their charcoal pencil in there too.  The photo makes the horizon slope - the drawing doesn't . S&B sketchbooks are now available from Jacksons in the UK.   The Beta  paper is lovely , heavy and really well primed so that it takes any medium I choose. Epsilon and Zeta are smooth and beautiful for pen and ink work.  They will take watercolour but if you want to use a lot of  media and layers, then the others are more for you. Has anyone tried the new Derwent charcoals and graphites?  or the S&B sketchbooks?

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 'pur...

The Crowns, Botallack, inktense and mixed media I wasn't happy with this and have worked on it a little more.   You can see the previous stage here .   I wanted to keep the sky as it sets the mood and adds scale and distance  - but for me the composition wasn't really working as it was.   One change was to darken the sky - it needed to be darker to balance the tone of the lower part of the painting.   I gave the horizon a slightly lost edge against the clouds on the right to get away from that hard horizon line.  I also wanted that sense of light coming through a gap in the clouds to light up the cliff tops and sea, with passing shadows so it was important to see the clouds.   I do love that sort of light. I lost the hard forward edges of the buildings where the ink lines were too heavy - watercolour mixed with white gouache helped me to lose them and allow edges to be softer and closer tonally to the sea in places. Then I warmed ...

Porthgwarra from the cliffs, Tide in, Watched by a Seal , oil paint, about 11 inches square, not quite finished , Vivien Blackburn A hazy, windy day, forecast rain stayed away, the tide in so no beach to be seen but a seal swimming out in the surf  kept popping up to look at us. I sat in a sheltered spot amongst the wildflowers on the cliff  - just the sounds of the sea and the occasional gull - heaven.  Even himself was quietly musing, no talking. It needs just a little work doing before I'll call it finished.  I often do just a little more when I get plein air works home - I'm looking at them as a painting then without distraction. details:  the sea seething on the rocks 3 corndered leeks, sea thrift and many other flowers around me I made it to Porthgwarra without incident this time - last time I ended up having to reverse for about half a mile because I met a HUGE oncoming tanker touching both hedges and totally filling the road, followed by a mas...