A New and Auspicious Year..and a Lion’s Tail

Happy New Year… and a modest challenge for myself .

When I first started this blog back in 2008 I was in the USA and starting to discover a whole new world of plants in the beautiful Leu Gardens in Orlando. I had decided to smarten up my observed drawing skills so I started “Leaf of the Day” an almost daily drawing of a leaf from Leu. As well as being a good drawing discipline it was a fascinating journey of research into plants, their histories, myths and medicinal properties. This year I wanted to do something a little similar, if not quite so ambitious!

I decided a small weekly woodblock print might do the trick, somewhere I could indulge my delight in woodcuts of all kinds. But there needed to be some sort of point to it, so looking into images from the history of woodblock printing seemed a good starting point and would make the whole thing more interesting for me. I will not only learn something new (ahh bliss) but will also be able to appreciate and try different cutting styles, albeit with my rather inferior skills and materials. I don’t want to make copies as such but take the images as starting points…who knows where that will go.

Weekly Woodcut No 1 : A Lions Tail

As an illustrator my first choice had to be a small section of the very beautiful Diamond Sutra’s frontispiece, the earliest, dated, woodblock printed, book illustration.

Image from the British Library: Or.8210/P.2  Find details of the Sutra and further links on the British Library website here

Briefly, as there is so much to learn, marvel at and research, the Diamond Sutra is a scroll housed at the British Library. It is dated 868 (CE) and is one of the many documents found in the astonishing Dunhuang Temple Caves complex. Read more about them from the International Dunhuang Project here.
The scroll is over 8 meters long in total, comprised of 7 sections pasted together, printed from 7 separate woodblocks onto mulberry paper, I think. That is something I am trying to verify.  (See a fascinating video of the painstaking conservation of the document at the British Library here: International Dunhuang Project  )

The date is known because of a colophon which reads:

On the 15th day of the 4th month of the 9th year of the Xiantong reign period, Wang Jie had this made for universal distribution on behalf of his two parents.’  (11 May 868)

The text is a conversation between the Buddha and one of his elderly monks Subhuti concerning the purpose of life. Both are shown in the illustration along with various attendants, the altar and two small lions, sometimes thought to be dogs!

The cutting of the wood is fine and complex, the text is beautiful and complex, the philosophy mystical and complex. The illusory nature of everything the main emphasis.

:Image of the Diamond Sutra

So you should view this fleeting world—
A star at dawn, a bubble in a stream,

A flash of lightening in a summer cloud,
A flickering lamp, a phantom, and a dream

         Red Pine, Translator

To me, it was fascinating to learn that the original paper is dyed yellow, a dye derived from the amur cork tree, which has both insecticidal and waterproofing qualities as well, of course, as being a colour sacred to Buddhism.

The Print
For my first trial I chose a small fragment of the print, the exuberant tail of the foreground lion.  My aim is pretty straight forward, to try to cut the outlines more or less as they are in the original.
I’m using shina ply for this which varies quite a bit in quality and chips very easily especially on this small scale. (The block is only 90 x 120 mm approx 5 x 3.5 inches.) Lino is much easier.
I don’t mind this as I like the slightly imperfect quality of woodcuts (as opposed to wood engraving), but it was rather annoying especially in trying to establish finer lines. There are ways to help stabilise the surface but that’s for another time.

I tried two colours and printed on both Chinese and Japanese mulberry papers.

 

A reduction print in two colours printed on mulberry papers.

Then I tried a last few, printed in a more traditional way with carbon black on a yellow dyed paper. As I don’t have any amur cork tree dye to hand I used saffron, of course!

   

Saffron infusing, dying the paper, the strands of the kozo easily seen when wet, the wet and dry paper.

A bit bright perhaps but interesting and it’s a lovely buttery colour when dry.

Printing on the saffron coloured paper using a traditional woodblock technique.

A finished print on the saffron paper, one of only 4 which were successful enough.

I am hoping to make some small sheets of paper and see if I can print onto those. Coming soon…

The printing surface will be important for this project. I’m so looking forward to experimenting with different papers and fabrics.

 

No 1: A Lion’s Tail: from the Diamond Sutra

Printed in waterbased inks on lovely Awagami kozo paper. 140 x 155 mm ..5.5 x 6.25 inches

It’s been a really nice way to start the new year.

I look forward to improving both my cutting and printing skills, but even if that doesn’t happen I will have improved my knowledge and understanding of printing in general.
It’s something we take so much for granted these days.
But just a brief glance at it’s history and I am immediately humbled by the effort, cooperation and skill involved in these early pieces to say nothing of the place of printing in the democratisation of knowledge and information.

 

 

The Return of Light

Amidst the general gloom and malaise of winter and the current state of things, it is a cheering thought that slowly the sun will become warmer and the days will become longer.

I felt the need to summon a magnificent winged sun to rise above the horizon and lift our flagging spirits.

So yesterday that’s just what I did..

The Return of the Sun : A three colour reduction lino print  with an extra spot or two of gold. Image 9 x 19.5 cms

I love this sun. When I was sketching it out I knew it needed wings to help haul itself up and out of the darkness of winter.

 

And so it did. This morning the sun is up and bright after days of grey fog.

A snap of some drying prints this morning with the sun coming up; 9.15 am

I am not one to believe much in astrology but the sun is my sign and I shall be very glad to see it return.

I hope to have a few available for sale .. let me know if you would like one to chase away the winter blues..

Happy Solstice to all!

Some colour… and other trials.

I am just getting back to doing some work after six weeks of dealing with a problem septic splinter in, of course, my right index finger. I am not quite a fully functional model yet but have managed to do a few useful printmaking colour samples.

They are part of an interesting course I was trying to do about colour, but as related to printmaking. Printmaking inks are very specific and come in a more limited range than other paints and it’s only really by mixing that you will achieve the colours you may want. I have been rather lazy in doing swatches and mixes so this has been a good discipline, something I should have done years ago and a bit of a distraction from the poorly finger.

         

It all involves lots of mixing and note taking which is very time consuming but something I could more or less do with one hand. I then managed to get a cardboard strip rolled up with different inks and rolled various inks to test transparency and its effects with overlaying etc. I am hoping they will come in useful when I do get back to cutting blocks etc. which will be a while yet.

Also on this glorious autumn day I got back on the bike for the first time in 6 weeks and went up to the wood for a bit of lovely green therapy and managed a little wobbly mossy sketch.

         
Better than nothing!

Catching Up and Making Book Forms

Hmm its been so long …
But.. things have been busy with gardening, the allotment, looking out for bees, birds and hedgehogs and cycling to the wood to sketch and then on the art front general faffing about with various projects.

But as autumn approaches I do have that “new term” feeling. A little frisson of anticipation at the thought of  learning something new and making yet another attempt at making something really wonderful.
Having never been far away from education and learning, my year tend to begin in September so I am tidying up, organising my workspace and sharpening my pencils in readiness.

Here are a few things that have kept me busy and  challenged over the last few months:-

Daily Drawings.. a heap of them … all sort of subjects, drawings, colours and print trials.

    
   

I have a few more weeks to go until I complete a year  and then I have to decide how to bind them. A nice winter project?

A Book of Bugs

10 bugs from a small booklet, hopefully one of a few about the garden which definitely gets stranger and stranger each year.
Strange Garden :The Bugs. 10 Drypoint etchings 

   

A Book of Ohs...Playing with a rigid concertina structure and some type.

  

Church Graffiti

And a couple of pieces which explore a little about the wonderful graffiti found on the walls of Churches.

One is a booklet of embossed images.
Often the marks and drawings are only revealed by the use of raking light which can reveal the secrets of these fascinating surfaces.The embossed images also need directional light to be seen.

   

The second booklet is based on images from a small church I knew well as a child. There is a beautiful owl and some strange figures… I wonder who made them?
The print is folded into the map form in a protective card booklet.

Some print trials of the owl. echoing the scratched surface of the walls

The map fold..

The simple booklet which opens up to reveal one of the figures and then the folded map.

For some reason this was all very difficult and took so long, much longer than the simple form warranted. I am not sure why but I’m glad to have brought it to a conclusion.

And of course more drawings from the wood and the reservoir … just a couple from earlier this year.

   

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So.. the pencils are now sharp, the rollers are cleaned and some new inks ready for the next “term” .. 🙂 hurrahhhh.

 

 

Recent Sketches and Mason Bees

I don’t have too much to report at the moment. Days slip by seemingly faster than ever and I am busy with some commercial work and a bit of gardening. 🙂
The mason bees have woken up at last and things are reluctantly growing.

    

A busy female mason bee making up for lost time I hope and the empty cocoons. Hope springs eternal!

But I am continuing the daily drawings and the quick sketches in the wood which are both a record of what is happening and information gathering for projects-yet-to-be-started. I have a long list of those, as well as the half started ones. It seems to have been even more difficult to actually finish projects this year but I am hoping to attend my favourite City Lit course in June. Covid permitting. A book will hopefully happen.

Daily Drawings

The daily drawings/prints/ sketches are a mixed bag as usual!

     

Sketches in the Wood
I decided to add a bit of colour to the sketches in the wood and needed to find something simple enough for the 15 min sketches, which I can use standing up. I did try taking some paints but it was just too faffy. Eventually I decided to take a few pencil colours. They, of course, have such a different line quality from the pen but nice for that.

As I have said before it’s more about just being out there than the drawing. A shame I can’t share the birdsong and the smell of damp woods and new nettles.


A little sunlit cowslip and some colours

     

The bluebells have been particularly beautiful  this year. Especially as I missed them last year due to lockdown.



 

Today 18th May 7.30 am
A very quick sketch of the beautiful nodding heads of the pendulous sedge accompanied by exuberant birdsong and a tiny scampering mouse. Then a couple of notes for daily drawings. I am yet to identify the bug!

 

Keep well and safe !

 

 

 

Frogs and Sunshine

In the garden, the natural world, blissfully unaware of any human misery, is preparing for spring. The arrival of the frogs is a particular delight. What exactly brings them back to the pond is still a mystery to me and I’m often anxious when they seem to be late. So in their honor and to encourage their return I reworked an old woodblock a bit and added some possible lunch. I also made some small frog prints for the DDs

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Of course they came as usual to fill the nights with loud purring and the days with much splashing and frolicking.

The hedgehog has returned, big queen bumble bees and honey bees are busy.  The gorgeous hairy footed flower bee is all over the pulmonaria and the solitary bee box is out full of last years cocoons.  Hurrahhh.  I saw a beautiful brimstone butterfly a couple of weeks ago, the birds are singing their little hearts out and rushing about with twigs and bits of straw . It’s all go in the garden and we are promised some sun this week.

On the work front there have been lots of stops and starts with nothing resolved. But yesterday I reached no 100 of the mossy hump drawings in the wood. Yes!!!

I will just carry on but hopefully with a bit of colour here and there.

I’ve taken a couple of online Zoom classes which have been OK but I find them difficult and often just hijacked by the pushy people in the group. There are always one or two who talk over everyone, go on interminably and are unfailingly the most boring.
But I am so grateful for being able to tap into very interesting talks and demonstrations which are now online. Possibly one of the very few good things to come out of this awful situation.

One very early ray of sunshine was the arrival of the book “Achahha!” from my friend Gill. See more here: https://ipaint2.com/2019/03/23/261/

        
        

It’s a fabulous collection of her Indian paintings and notes about her travels.  So full of life and humour as is all her work, gorgeous colours and a keen eye for human and animal behaviour. It made my day!
If you want some inspiration, sunshine and cheering up do check out her website. https://ipaint2.com/

Thankyou Gill!!

More Daily Drawings and Some Owls

I am not quite sure what happened to February but I have been plodding along trying to keep positive and dutifully making a small daily drawing. It’s quite a while since I posted those and so here is a bit of a mish mash, catch up of DDs. As usual they are just things I am looking at, sketches and studies here and there. They are not a conscious record of the days but of course some first things have to be recorded, first snowdrop, first bees, first aconite etc etc.

     

     

Owls

I also made a small booklet of owls. You can see some of the initial thumbnails in the above.

The booklet started with a very small book maquette which I have had for a while.
I needed a few images to see if it would work and as I had heard an owl in the wood in early Feb I took that as a bit of a hint. 🙂

The main booklet opens a bit like a matchbook from the bottom.

So I cut the owls, complete with moon phases…

…and printed them in two ways. In singles on a strip for the “match book” binding and in a traditional form, double sided, to make a traditional codex book.

It all sounds so easy. But making prints into a book is nothing like as easy as just making one print. There are many things to bear in mind and as I have said before you need to keep the backs of the prints clean, as often you will be printing on both sides of one piece of paper.
All I can say is that I am getting a bit better.

Anyway here are a couple of results;

Front and back….

     

Left, centre, and right.

Then I made a traditional sewn booklet.

….please note pristine verso pages!

Then to give myself a bit more stress and anxiety I made a slip case for the first book.
Nice fit! Shame about the bit of glue on the back but hey I am sure I am improving!

I’m going to reprint and add some type and maybe a bit of second colour here and there…and make a perfect slip case.

Meanwhile spring is slowly getting here, there are bees, and new shoots and a glimpse of a frog in the pond.
Hurahhhh!

 

Bad Weather Days: A Prototype.

Bad Weather Days is a small (hard won) prototype booklet, reflecting both a bit of meagre progress and I think my general mood from the last few months 🙂

Weather Words

The project started life as just a few “weather words” printed on my Adana. I have a very limited amount of type having just one or two complete founts and those so limited in the numbers of “e”s and “a”s that I can only print a few words at a time. But I do like to play around with things now and again and I have some gorgeous chunky Centurian caps which I have wanted to use in some way.

Short words were necessary, 4 or 5 letters at most, and I realised that many weather words are quite short, enough to make a small series. When I made a rough list, the bad weather words were really the most interesting as bad things often are!

I paired them up with some adjectives using what letters I had from another small fount have. A real “making do” process.
But sometimes, making something work using just what you have is SO much easier than trying to make decisions from thousands of possible variations, if very frustrating at times.

The prints sat around for a few weeks before I could think of what to do with them. I thought of combining them with abstract prints, some small watercolours or some lino cuts, but that seemed impossibly complicated in the gloom of winter and Covid.
I wanted to show the weather in some way and I think I was was having a particularly miserable week, with awful weather stopping me getting out, so I thought about a doorway framing the different bad weather images  But that seemed a little too impersonal so I decided to add the little dog, who is also hoping to go out.
It was only after working on it for some time that I realised the dog was really me!

The Weather

Initially I was just going to draw an open door but felt it would be more interesting if the door opened to reveal the weather. Nice idea, but making it all work together as a booklet has given me many headaches, a couple of bins full of rejected stuff and a lot of swearing, both at myself and the various bits of software and hardware I have had to get to grips with.

I made the mistake of using some cheap horrible scraperboard for these first image ideas. Now I know the book will work ( more or less) they need to be done a little better.

The Dog

I am very fond of the dog, It is one I would like to give a home to. I think a bit of a mix of dachshund and terrier.  I sketched him in my sketchbook,  hand coloured a printout and scanned them into Photoshop.

Assembling the book

There was no way I could make the book from the original prints so everything was scanned in, adjusted to print and assembled using Photoshop and Affinity Publisher. Phew. These two programmes really don’t like each other. After many tests and faffing, just as I was poised to print the prototype, the printer died. Then the replacement, just a cheap but Ok printer, printed darker than my last one so it filled in some of the detail and picked up some strange very pale grey background tones here and there. HELL! Back to Photoshop and Affinity.

Eventually I had printed enough to “put together” this prototype. I can’t really use the word “bind” because that would imply something completely OK.. but I do know it works.

I cut the doorways and added the weather insets then glued the text block

   

Because the book is made in spreads with inserts between the pages I used the drumleaf binding again. This involves glueing the spine and foredges and I just tipped the top and bottom of the pages to keep them together. I know from trials that glueing them solidly causes real problems of warping.

I trimmed the book by hand (not a great idea) so it is now a little shorter!! 🙂 but still Ok to assemble.

The cover boards are made with original prints, created by printing the words on the Adana and overprinting with a lino cut. Because this binding style leaves exposed edges near the spine I added some red bookcloth edges….then realised I had not inset them! .. so started again.

The spine piece was added, then the covering prints, then the book was assembled and pressed. This is the most nerve racking part especially as I had printed the endpapers on thin paper which both warped and stretched. Oh dear another lesson learnt.  Next time it will be thicker!

 

 

But it works! Now I know all the problems I might try a couple more books. I might just get a perfect one.

The Dog again

In making this book I have rather fallen in love with the dog, So I made a wired felted model. Ahh .. because I think I am going to use him again!

  

Here are a couple of spreads from the book. I will make a full set when I can get some good photographs.

Sad dog….

…but of course, in the end, there has to be fair weather and hope !

 

It was a coincidence that the day I put the book in the press..(Friday 29th Jan) I had my first vaccination. Hurahhhhh..

“An Accurate Judgment and a Tender Touch”

In my effort to try and keep up with the daily drawings (and the positive thinking) I decided to return to John Ruskin’s “The Elements of Drawing“. I am very fond of Ruskin’s beautiful sensitive watercolours and drawings and I thought that possibly by going through the exercises laid out in his book I could learn more about his techniques and sensibilities.

It’s a delightful read and, although I have only arrived at exercise nine,  I am struck by his constant use of the word “tender”. It seems perhaps a curious word to use when talking about drawing, but reading through the texts emphasises his deep affection for the natural world and his concern that you the artist should firstly appreciate that world before you attempt to interpret it.

In the opening lines of the book he says this:

.. sight is a more important thing than the drawing; and I would rather teach drawing that my pupils may learn to love Nature, than teach the looking at Nature that they may learn to draw.

and later, when talking about shading a square of a window pane in pen and ink:

.. try to gradate a little space of white paper as evenly as the light you see coming through the window pane—as tenderly. If you get impatient with your spots and lines of ink, when you look at the beauty of the sky, the sense you will have gained of that beauty is something to be thankful for.

Lovely advice I think. I do find myself looking skywards for a bit of sanity at the moment.

Doing these simple first exercises with as much care as I can has also reminded me how very difficult “simple” is. But there is a certain satisfaction in doing a simple thing as well as you can. He places great emphasis on initial slow and careful observation which is always worth it.

“Simple” exercises: shading and outline with with pen and ink and pencil and a bit of smooth watercolour tinting.

     

I know many may find doing things like this (as he acknowledges ) “tiresome”, but it’s a wonderful thing when you arrive at a point where your hand actually obeys your brain’s instruction to make a single beautiful line, a controlled wash or a sweeping loaded brushstroke across a huge canvas It’s just practice and control of your tools, but without it, trying to realise ideas, either abstract or representative can be very frustrating. I am not even half way there.

He acknowledges the value of speed and “dash” for  “results which cannot be had otherwise” but advises using these speedy techniques while still “retaining an accurate judgment and a tender touch”.

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Then of course there are a few random Daily Drawings as well, including a wobbly left handed drawing of the little horse thing which I like as much as the more carefully controlled ones, 🙂 some moss, and some fish. I just draw what I find delightful, interesting or make sketches of ideas.

 

There is also another favourite little model from Japan, the goddess Benzaiten riding her sea dragon. The very sea dragon she tamed and married in order to prevent him eating humans! Go girl. He still looks a bit hungry though.

     

 

 

 

 

A New Year

It’s bitterly cold, grey and icy and to be honest I don’t find much to celebrate on this particular New Years Day, but any small achievements have to be acknowledged at the moment I think.
I was determined to make a drawing in the wood today so gingerly cycled along the lethally slippery track to my favourite spot and made this quick sketch. Mossy Hump no 73.

It was quiet, cold, still and lovely. It’s never really about the drawing it’s more about being there. I am very grateful for woods.

My small daily drawing is a rough sketch for a character I am working on and is a nod to a bit of spring cleaning…

….shaking procrastination from the cloth of creativity perhaps? Hmmm …hopefully.