I have just finished this drawing of a Kookaburra.
Again it is drawn using light washed of watercolour and many many dots made with a fine nib rotring pen.
It is a drawing I started last year and is part of my mission to complete unfinished projects.
I am still carving one of the unfinished projects in my linocut work but am still keeping it low profile until it is completed. But it is exciting and I am hoping to get it completed in the next couple of weeks.
I am also designing a few new things. I have to take regular breaks from carving lino and so am mixing it up a bit with the illustration work, new designs for linocuts, some extension design work in relation to more commercial projects like cards and drawing. It sort of suits me to work this way in many respects I just need to be careful to aim to complete work as well as look at all the new possibilities!!
I have finally started to get back to work – although slowly – and have just updated my website with the final version of the ‘Tawny Expressions’ linocut which I have called ‘Evry Move You Make…Watching YOU’.
The local ‘tawnies’ as they are affectionately known are back of an evening hunting under the street lights and sending out their thrumming oom-oom. Each year I hope they will find the trees in our yard to nest in but so far no such luck! But I look forward to thei summertime visits and hopefully they will bring a young one or two around again for a visit.
We spent some time in Bellingen NSW yesterday.
A lovely warm winter’s day – and I managed to photograph just a few of the local birds. Think I have identified them correctly but any corrections welcome!
This Lewin’s Honeyeater – Meliphaga lewinii – was one of many flitting around feeding on nectar from a Eucalypt flowers. It has a strong repetitive call.
Catching the corner of my eye was this flash of yellow from the brilliantly coloured breast of this Eastern Yellow Robin – Eopsaltria australis. It has the prettiest call.
Continuously on the move and very hard to photograph was this Grey Fantail – Rhipidura fuliginosa. It’s call is a bit more shrill. It was a challenge as it constantly was moving and despite trying I was unable to capture it actually ‘fanning’ it’s tail. All a bit blurry I’m afraid.
It is wet windy and cold here at the moment with a ‘weather event’ looming – according to the weather forecasters. Nice weather for being inside drinking coffee, making winter comfort food and well procrastinating which seems to loom large for me in recent times.
I have however managed to complete one set of colour drafts of the set of 12 tawny expressions linocuts. I wasn’t sure how much to hand colour at this point so have gone in this set for the full colour with glowing yellow eyes look.
Below are the template images with just yellow eyes…
Tawny Expressions Linocut Templates
I was planning to have them framed using black core black mountboard with a black frame so the second image here is to give some idea of that.
I will probably sit on these images for a while (yes more procrastinating!) so I am going back to carving some more work and also further working on the Barn Owl image. I did the original drawing of this barn owl about 5 years ago and it has waffled around for all that time. I have come up with a whole new way of looking at it and may even drop the orginal idea in favour of developing the new images. I will post the process at some stage as it can be valuable for an artist to look at their own processes in a more ordered fashion required for blogging and may provide some small insights for others. Well hopefully anway!
Having finally carved, printed and now coloured this linocut (after working on the original drawing over a year ago and the pre-sketch ideas are over 2 years old!) I finally have finished!
I had hand painted the emu first as you can see but it felt a bit empty so added a graded wash of ‘Australian Red Gold’ which I am quite pleased with. I must say this one of my favourite watercolour pigments as it just seems to have a glow about it. I think the background colour can make a huge difference to any work and often it may take several tries to create the effect you want. So now it is a matter of completing the edition of this design.
Oh and still deciding on a final name for this work? Any ideas?
As I indicated in yesterdays post I have finally printed some of the numerous unfinished designs that have been sitting around on the ‘to do list’ for in some cases years!
So here are the black and white versions- can’t wait for the ink to dry and starting playing with some colour ideas on these 2 works – I already have the framing ideas.
Firstly is the set of 12 tawny expressions. These started as drawing studies of Tawny Frogmouths which I couldn’t resist taking into linocut designs.
The second is a madcap emu that was originally what I considered a less than successful drawing. In the end I went for the slightly unhinged quality of the drawing – especially as emus seem to have this quality about them. As for the design I decided to extend the lines created by the feathering into the background to add to this whole mad type impression.
Any suggestions for the title of this work? “C’mon, make my day” for some reason springs to mind!!
Here a few quick tips on getting your linocut block prepared ready for printing.
* Before you start carving or printing a linocut block you can gently remove the waterproof coating. Linocut blocks are coated in a waterproof coating – if you place a drop of water on the surface it will bead and not soak in. I remove this coating with a superfine grade ‘wet’ sandpaper – using a small amount of water I gently rub the surface with the sandpaper. You will see the coating coming off easily – I then towel dry the block. If you then place a drop of water on the surface it will soak in.
* I trim the edges of the block to make a clean line for the print using a steel ruler and a sharp bladed knife. Traditional linocut blocks have a hessian backing.
* When you trim a linocut block this hessian backing needs to be further trimmed back to ensure none of the hessian stringing is left – this string can easily pick up ink when you are printing and create unsightly marks onto the surface of the print.
* I use scissors to trim – first from the front and then I turn the block over and check of there are any pieces of string that may slowly come undone whilst printing and I trim these back as well. I regularly check the block whilst printing to ensure no stray fine hairs are still there and picking up ink. It is easy to miss one and it is not until it marks the print that you realise it is there.
Within the black and white section of the above image on the left you can see a fine white line – this is one of the small and often extremely fine hairs that can easily ruin a great print – just ask me I know!! The image on the right shows the fine marks that can occur from these hairs picking up the ink. I have discarded many prints (which is quite costly) because of this. I try to keep a particular standard to the prints I include within an edition and work at improving my skills on an ongoing basis. I am finding that as my actual printing technique and knowledge of printmaking improves so the standards I want within each print of an edition, also increases. I am always seeking to learn new and improved techniques and tips through a variety of sources. I am very aware that over time my printmaking skills have improved and as a result so have the prints! I hope this information helps other linocut printmakers in identifying this and other common printing mistakes.
As you can all guess I finally got to print my Tawny Expressions blocks tonight – after spending time in Sydney, being unwell and the awful wet weather (that I tend to try to not print in – now that’s another issue of damp, limp paper in wet and humid weather) I have managed to do some printing this afternoon – fine sunny and actually quite warm for this time of year. Speaking of weather tonights printing listening music – Crowded House!
I have finally finished carving the linoleum blocks for the “Tawny Expressions” linocut print. They are smaller blocks but a lot of smaller complex carving with the No 1 blade so fiddly and time consuming. Carving larger expanses of open “white” space is far quicker and a bit more dramatic really.
So here they all are!
If you look at the edges around the carved designs you will see I haven’t as yet trimmed the blocks back. A good tip for carving is to leave a small edge that can be cut back with a knife when you have finished carving. As linoluem is a softer material it is easy to chip off an edge or even wear a corner off whilst carving. So if what you are looking for in a design is a nice even neat edge (well as best you can get given the pliable nature of the lino) then it is a good idea to leave a little around the edge of the design to cut back just before printing.
It has been extremely wet in our little corner of the world for a few weeks now so I will wait until it dries out a bit before printing them…in the meantime I am carving the Emu as well as continuing with finalising the alphabet designs.
Last week we were visited by a pair of tawny frogmouths – taking sleepy refuge in the daylight in our poinciana tree.
They seemed to appreciate the cool shaded tree safely away from prowling felines that seem to have recently taken to attacking local native birds. We have 2 dogs that quickly skittle any cat but pay no real attention to the local bird life at all.
This pair sat quietly all day fluffed up perched on the high branch above our deck.
As evening came they fluffed, preened, stretched and just after dusk fell, looked around more alert catching passing insects with their wide beaks. Then silently without any real warning flew off further afield for their night hunting.
As usual I took many photos – thank goodness for digital cameras! Mine saves me enormous amounts of money without the need to process and print the films I can take as many photos as I like. Needless to say these are just a few examples…
Just love this expression of droopy drowsiness compared with the wide-eyed – what are YOU looking at below!
On the way home from the Coffs Harbour Butterfly House on Sunday on one of the back roads we were amazed to see 4 large Wedgetail Eagles – Aquila audax. They were down on and beside the road – of course we had to pull over (again the husband mumbling about obsessive tendencies!). To see 4 wedgetail eagles all together was just too amazing to pass by. I was also concerned about whether they were all down as one might have been hit by a car.
Fortunately (although the fox who was the roadkill probably didn’t think so!) they were all fine – but were screeching and not impressed that this car with that annoying person with camera were interrupting their feeding. I am guessing that perhaps they were 2 parent birds with their young – although they were quite well grown. I do not know much about wedgetail eagle behaviour – I am aware of a pair of birds who I frequently see in the 2 valleys surrounding this area but I have only ever seen 2 together in this territory. There is also a pair of wegetail eagles in the valley on the road to Kyogle.
These four birds on Sunday were very much a group and flew to a nearby tree together where they carried on with their screeching and then took off again.
I managed to get some photos but it was right on dusk – about 7pm which made it more difficult. I have a long lens but not one of those wonderful super dooper ones – maybe one day. So the photos are a bit grainy but a wonderful sight!
I have just finished this drawing of a Kookaburra.
