Wayland Smithy: Full Frontal 2013

We visited Wayland Smithy just over a month ago, but sitting down to draw at the Smithy was not really an option with children in tow. So I took lots of photographs, a few of which I have already made use of.

Above is the front of the barrow, rendered in those Caran D'Ache watercolour pencils, with a bit of white acrylic ink.

Wayland Smithy: Full Frontal 2002

The last time that I drew Wayland Smithy, it was a warm day in April, 2002, and I sat on the grass in front of the long barrow's entrance with pencil and A5 sketch pad:

I'll draw that ancient monument in 6 watercolour pencils

I recently acquired a small set of Caran d'Ache Museum Aquarelle pencils. It's a special "competition pack" that contains six pencils in a tin with a piece of sandpaper. Basically, there are two reds, two blues, and two yellows.

In theory, these pencils should provide every possibility of colour. In practice, they need some getting used to...  

Rabbit in a Bush

Here's another rabbit for the mural; this time - as well as placing it beneath a bush - I made a point of only using household decorating brushes (2" and 1/2") apart from the initial drawing (marker pen) and the final details (a round artist's brush).

The Hurlers

On Bodmin Moor in Cornwall, there is a trio of stone circles known as the Hurlers (the name come from a legendary game of hurling on a Sunday. In vindictive mode, the Christian god allegedly turned the players to stone). With its multiplicity of stones and ridiculously easy access (road and village - Minions, not Bodmin - are both within spitting distance) it may well be the best known circle in Cornwall.

With some justice.

Woodland Wellies - SOLD

I was asked to paint some toddler wellies, but we didn't have any that small; my children are both at primary school now and we didn't keep the old wellies.
 

So I asked around and borrowed some (these are an infant size 4, UK size; I don't think that either of my two ever had feet this small! They certainly never had shoes this small.). The pattern made the painting somewhat trickier (I did supplement my knifework with a brush stroke or two), but it also gave the painting its context. What is a camouflage pattern for if not hiding out among the leaves?

Acrylic on canvas, 30 x 30 cm
19 July 2013

School Mural Project (Rabbits!)

 Rabbits. Watership Down. Need I say more?

School Mural Project (Flora)

One of the micro-themes for the front of the school is wild flowers in the landscape. Poppies were a given; from there, I got to primary colours (red, yellow, blue). Yellow was going to be buttercups until I reopened my copy of Watership Down. On the very first page, in the very first sentence, the primroses were nearly over. Bluebells were equally obvious, but there was a fourth panel. Which will be white: ox-eye daisies.

School Mural Project (Style)

The germ of the style used in my studies for the mural - and the style that I hope will unify the finished scheme - lies in a Fauvism Portrait workshop held in Newbury back in the late 1990s.

School Mural Project (Themes I)

There are several themes running through the project.

School Mural Project (First Post)

I may have not kept this entirely under my paint-splodged hat, but hopefully the secret has been under control up until now.

Now that the bulletin has been was supposed to have been issued, and everybody associated with the school knows about it (oops) - now, I can tell you about the project and show you some of the peparatory work.

Edge of the Wood

This is a prototype, or test piece, for a mooted large project. More news about that soon...
EDIT: A slew of posts on the "large project" are indexed under School Mural Project.

Poppy posse - correction

That yellow flower I mentioned yesterday? Not Charlotte. Charlock. Still pretty - just not quite "one of the girls".

Sitting in a Poppy Field / Basingstoke Poppies

On Saturday, I drove to Basingstoke. This is neither very exciting (although I did buy art materials) nor very far (less than ten miles), but I did spot a very pretty field very close to the town they (apparently) call "doughnut city." A very pretty field with lots and lots of poppies. And a handy layby nearby to park in...

Daisy, Daisy

Part of the same larger project* as Rabbit in front of Watership Down and the first version of Kingsclere Gallops, this was another quick proof-of-concept painting in acrylic. I didn't measure it, but it's on a vaguely A3 sized piece of emulsioned hardboard. I painted on the smooth side, and I used a permanent black marker to initial it (and to add a few dots to the centres of the daisies).

* All will be revealed in due course. 

LEGO Minifigures 82: Mechanic

Does your LEGO car need fixing? Mark the LEGO mechanic will have it sorted in a jiffy. Or was that a Jiffy bag?

Acrylic on canvas, 7 x 7 cm
1 July 2013