Whelks

I found a number of whelk shells on a beach the other week.  I hadn't seen them in numbers or larger sizes previously. They were near a fish plant so I presumed they were probably part of a test fishery.  I took them home and let them steep in some water with bleach more to get rid of the strong smell than to whiten them.  I guess leaving them in the sun in the greenhouse would have worked too but I wanted to speed up the process.

The white shells are now rather like casts and perfect for drawing.  Examined closely they seem to have the start of coral growing on them, or perhaps its simply a layer of shell that is sloughing off naturally.  Whichever the case, it gives an interesting effect and texture to the shell.

I played around with the blank shell canvas with the idea in my head that these shells could make interesting decorations.  I added watercolour washes of quinacridone gold and red to the shell then touched indigo and turquoise to the edges to enhance the texture.  I like the matte finish but it likely will need to have a coat of varnish of some kind to protect it. 

Potential for Christmas tree ornaments perhaps.  I'll work on a hanging mechanism next then see how it balances. 

This was all done under the watchful gaze of Tripod, so during the news, I sketched him.

Christmas is coming - for artists

Yes I know that phrase strikes hard into most people, but if you are an artist, and you sell your work, as most of us do, you need to prepare for Christmas collectors in the summer and have your options in place by November 1st at the latest.

I've been considering my Christmas market and what I will offer.  This year I will be setting up a separate holiday page on the blog with a variety of options for individuals looking for holiday related art.  There will be items at all budget levels and some free things as well.

I will create a marketing plan and a mini business plan for the season that may well become cross-seasonal and useful for other times in the year.  Planning is the only way that I can achieve goals and have measurable results.  I'd really encourage those who don't plan to sit down one day and just jot down some ideas of what you want to achieve, how you will do it and how you'll know if you did it.  You'd be surprised what you can achieve.

Some things to look for from me for the holiday season?

• A new holiday card, as well as the 2009 Christmas Hares one.  I like the concept of having a series of cards created over time.
• A series of holiday related paintings, drawings, and gyotaku prints for sale.  These will range from $20 upwards.
• Gift certificates will be available 
• A special commission price will be made available only for the holiday season for portraits of animals or people.  These will be 5 x 7 pieces only.
• Sets of gift tags using some of my paintings.  Some will be for sale, some will be free for the asking.

I have more tricks up my sleeve, but for now, that's a few to start with.  All will be revealed on November 1st.

What are your artistic marketing plans for the holiday season?

A view on a summer's day

 Swiss Chard growing in the vegetable garden

This is the jewel of the veggie garden, especially when the sun shines on it.

Its my first day back at work after a couple of weeks off and it was pretty hectic.  I take a week to unwind, then a few days of relaxing, then the last few days thinking of what I have to do when I get back to work.  I think I need a month instead.  Unfortunately in the business I'm in, that would make my job even more stressful if I had a longer absence.

I'm fitting in a couple of flounder prints tonight and haven't a lot to share in regards to art but thought I'd share a couple of images that I took the other day around the farm. It was a perfect summer day and everything seemed bright with vivid colours.

There's something wonderful about big fluffy clouds on a summer's day

 Tripod relaxing on a little path leading through the woods to the meadow

The view from my kitchen window 

(minus moose, rabbits, coyotes, foxes,or other wild creatures - yes they've all been out there)

Amongst weeds in a crack in the stone, millet grows, dropped from birdseed in the winter

One hour self portrait

 
I'm hopping all over the place lately due to my fish printing not cooperating or more like, me not concentrating on it enough.

Today I was going to throw the remains of some oil paint away.  It was the remainder of a previous painting and I had over squeezed.  Instead, I decided that I'd do another one hour painting with whatever was left on this limited palette.

This is a self portrait, done from looking into the webcam of my laptop.  Its not a perfect likeness, but close, considering my limitations of time and paint.  Its on a 6 x 8 canvas panel.

I like self imposed time limits for paintings.  They really loosen up strokes and colour value decisions and prevent me from futzing around on a piece forever.

Fish and chairs

I'm at a stage of frustration with the gyotaku project I'm working on.  Not being able to find the supplies I need locally always frustrates.  Not finding whole fish easily frustrates.  Fish prints not turning out as I want frustrates.  Mounting not going well frustrates.

I am experimenting with mounting pieces using both wet and dry techniques.  The dry is an iron on silicone paper and my first attempt was not great, leaving wrinkles in the painting.  So I peeled it apart and salvaged the painting - I hope. 

The wet method involves wheat or rice paste as the 'glue' that binds the painting to another piece of similar paper to reinforce it, ready for printing.  It works more effectively than the dry method, at least in my hands so I will be sticking with it for now.  My concerns were with using the wet mount when I have watercolour on the paper, however, it hasn't seemed to affect it in the pieces I've used so far.

So while pieces dry I always have something else on the easel, several things usually.  This is the start of a new watercolour on 18 x 24 200lb paper.  I've had these Adirondack chairs in the garden for years and they're coming apart a bit and need a lick of stain.  On a hot sunny day, the shadows caught my eye and I thought they may make an interesting painting.

I've drawn the chair and shadows in detail and have now added masking fluid in white areas and around the edges of the shadow and parts of the chair so I can use the paint a little more freely.  Sorry the image is rather dark, I had to increase the midtones to make it more visible.  Better image tomorrow in daylight, I promise.

Early morning start

I pass by this view most days and have become a little immune to it. 

But early this morning the light was hitting the water and softening the cliffs so I decided to try a quick oil sketch of it.

Here's Torbay harbour or the start of it on an 8 x 8 canvas. The ocean currents here always form lovely shapes across the water.

And yes, the table in my studio is always this full.  I need more space.

Toby Jugs

Dick Turpin

pen and ink

When I was a child, I recall my grandmother having a small collection of Toby Jugs.  I would be allowed to carefully examine them and to me, they were a world of characters that would help me create stories around.

I have acquired my own Toby Jugs now and this is a sketch of one of them that I did this afternoon, and is of Dick Turpin, the infamous highwayman. The jug was produced in the 1930s and shows Dick with his mask pushed up against his tricorner hat and his pistol forms the jug handle.

A feature of character jugs is their handle which often shows an elaborate diversity of applied decoration. However, this is a feature which has developed over the years. The first jugs generally had plain handles, with one or two exceptions, for some of the clown jugs had multi-coloured handles, Dick Turpin had a gun for a handle and the Cellerer a bunch of keys. It was during the 1950s that the handles achieved greater creative significance when Max Henk was involved in their production. His Long John Silver had a parrot handle and for the sake authenticity does not have an eye patch, sticking to Louis Stevenson's book ' Treasure Island'.

Rejects

Not everything that falls off the brush or, in this case, the fish, works well.  That is all part and parcel of the process of making art. Some pieces that don't work get trashed, some are put away to be looked at later and some are worked on further to see if they are salvageable.

I was printing a herring using a variety of supports and with not quite enough ink on the fish, I rolled it onto a small piece of watercolour paper that I had nearby.  The result wasn't great.  The ink didn't print well onto the paper and I didn't press the fish firmly enough into the paper to get a strong impression.

I sloshed on some watercolours randomly and this emerged.  Still not great, but interesting merging of colours and shapes. 

So why am I showing you my rejects?  Simply because I want people to know that not everything I do is good.  Not every stroke I make is positive. Not every print is successful.   And that's a good thing. 

It may frustrate me at the time, but ultimately it helps me learn and keeps me humble.

Ferryland Islands

On the southern shore of the Avalon Peninsula is the small, but historic town of Ferryland.

Just offshore lie a group of small islands, some of them no more than rocks jutting out of the ocean.  Others are large enough to support plant life and a couple have a gravel beach where kayakers sometimes land.

On the day I was in Ferryland, the weather was warm but grey and still as a thunderstorm had passed through. The sea and the sky were very similar in colour and the ocean was the calmest I had ever seen it.  If the islands have names I do not know them and names don't seem to be listed anywhere.  But if anyone knows if they have names, I'd be interested to know them.

The soft light highlighted the vegetation colours on the islands and the cool greys of the water and sky and I knew I had to paint it.  This is painted in oils on a 6 x 12" gallery canvas.

This painting is available for sale on the Available Original Work page of this blog.

Capelin whispers

 Capelin Whispers

18 x 22 watercolour

I seem to be in capelin overload right now and all I want to do is draw or paint or print these little fish.

They each have their own character built into their little faces and provide me with endless inspiration for more paintings and drawings that I could ever have time to produce.

This watercolour is complete and measures about 18 x 22 on 200lb paper which I love.  I spent ages arranging capelin for this piece until I hit on something that spoke to me.  I originally had them all facing forward, but preferred the rebel in the group going the other way and the middle two seemed to  be 'whispering' about him.  Hence the name of the piece.

Now onto another piece that is on the easel.  What else?  A fish!

Vacation mode

I have been wandering and relaxing and doing some work and some drawing and generally being in vacation mode. 

Today I wandered around the southern shore of the Avalon, through tiny communities that even through the thunderstorm that hovered overhead, still appealed to me.  (I think Mount Carmel could be my new second home...)

There is a lovely orange seaweed strewn across beaches in the region that I don't see in other parts o the island.  On this beach, there were large strands, looking for all the world like wet lasagna noodles!

Home again, I am still sorting images and found this little one done with on online sketch program that I play with now and then.  I enjoy the freedom of using this program and the results it can have.  It is yet another tool to help me work out composition, values and subjects before they translate onto paper.

Deadlines

I know that I produce more effectively if I have a deadline to meet.   It can be a self imposed deadline or one set externally but either way, the clock is a prime motivator.

Today was cool and damp so I spent it in the studio drawing and sorting images for upcoming exhibition opportunities.   I decided to give myself a little challenge and see what would come of it.  I took a 12 x 24" gallery canvas, oil paint, a herring and a timer and gave myself an hour to produce something that I hoped would approximate a fish at the end.

This is the result.

I can fiddle something to death sometimes.  You know how it is.  You have a piece painted and you continue to add layers or change colours and before you know it, its something entirely different, and often not what matches the vision in your head.

Like a gut reaction that is often right, first strokes, done alla prima can often be the best.

Bugs

I'm not a fan of any creeping, crawling or especially, flying insects. And to me butterflies fall into the latter category.  I recall years ago having to go to a butterfly sanctuary in the UK with one of my children's school outings where these insects fluttered around your head or landed on you.  I think I died a thousand deaths that day as I resisted the urge to swat and flick them away.

I still don't like them.  Butterflies are simply a more attractively coloured bug in my eyes.

On the edge of one of the meadows on the property is a section of herbs and flowers that were transplanted very haphazardly and left to grow wild.  There's sweet cicely, meadowsweet, motherwort and other herbs mixed in with a variety of traditional 'cottage garden' flowers such as Sweet Williams, baby's breath and Shasta daisies. 

The daises were attracting a large number of butterflies - monarchs I believe and I took some photos.  I even got close(ish) to one to photograph it.  I had never seem these butterflies in large numbers in the garden before and at one point it seemed as if every flower head had an insect on it.

Study for a painting

I'm working out an idea that I have in my head and to do so needed the help of a model.  I have always used friends and family but am running out of people I know who are willing to pose or be photographed, so the time has come to go up a level to hiring a model.  This morning she arrived for a short photographic session.  The weather was perfect and so was the lighting so we wandered in the garden and field and I got some good photos to work from. This girl has beautiful Celtic colouring pale freckled skin and light titian hair so she should be wonderful to paint. The sun shining through her hair gave her skin a warm reflection too.

The concept that is in my head may not work but there is only one way to find out isn't there?   I sat down late this afternoon to do a small study from one of images that I narrowed my choice down to.  The final piece will be in watercolour and may be layered - or I think so at this stage, but you know how things change sometimes.  I used my kraft paper sketchbook with charcoal and white pencil to put down form and base values so I could see if this would work as a larger piece.  And I think it will.

Sketching

SOLD

I can never emphasize enough the need to keep drawing and sketching to keep your skills from becoming rusty.  I know there is the school of thought that says drawing isn't needed to paint, but I belong to the school that says drawing is the backbone of all art.

I know I am biased as my background was drawing and its where I cut my teeth and it still is my comfort zone.  I can't begin to describe the level of satisfaction I get from graphite and paper and seeing something emerge from a blank sheet of paper.

I am buried in fish both figuratively and literally lately and now have two weeks off work.  That means I devote two weeks more or less to producing, marketing, printing, drawing and painting.  I may be glad to go back to work at the end of it!

While I know that fish aren't everyone's idea of good time, they are predominant in my life and art right now but even so, I still wander over into other subjects and tonight was this sketch of a young woman before her wedding.  This was an image from the WetCanvas All Media Weekend Event.  I haven't participated for awhile and really had a need to draw something.  Go on over and see Valri.  Tell her I sent you.

And go draw something!

Models

I'm busy working on a painting that I can't share right now.  Hopefully in the future I will be able to let you see it.  It, of course, involves fish!  However, I have been sketching as well as painting and there's never a sketchbook too far away from my hand.  This little fish in pen and ink with touches of coloured pencil was the result of the evening news.

I have other ideas brewing and they seem to come fast and thick at the moment.  Having time and ability to get them all in place is the challenge.  This weekend I have a model coming to the house so I can take some photos.  Until now, when I draw a portrait, its usually someone I know or an unknown photographic reference that represents a pose I need or like.  I have a specific idea and want to work that out, so I needed to hire a model to ensure that I get the pose and lighting correct for the composition I have in mind. 

Controlling my own images gives me a lot more freedom and hiring a model may be something that I do more frequently to get images that I need for future paintings.

I'll be asking the model to sign a simple model release form which will give me permission to use the images and create derivatives from them.  I know the likelihood of there being a problem in the future is very unlikely, but I'd prefer have that document in place.

Organizing production

There are so many ideas in my head right now, I'll be busier than a one armed wallpaper hanger by the time my holiday rolls around.  Productivity and deadlines suit me. Without them, I'd slide into a level of comfort that would soon lead to discomfort by not producing.

However, producing creates its own level of chaos and work when I'm trying to juggle several balls in the air at once.

I've been spending some time this past weekend organizing myself.  I start off with good intentions of cataloguing pieces, sales, workshops, etc. but it tends to slide in favour of more interesting things.  However, this time I will put the system in place and make myself use it regularly so that I can have a history of what I have produced, sold, sketches, etc.

My production count so far is 38 pieces so far this year.  That is not counting sketches, photographs, gyotaku or other printmaking pieces.  What I class as a production piece is something that is saleable - at least to my eyes.

I've created a simple spreadsheet to track information which consists of the following headers:

1. Title of artwork
2. Date completed
3. Medium
4. Support
5. Size
6. ID #
7. Exhibited
8. Purchaser's Name
9. Price
10. Date Sold
11. Reproduction quantity
12. Cards or prints

Like many artists, I take a lot of photos and lately that is coming together for me as I play in Photoshop to find the perfect composition, adjustment of colour or contrast to make my mark on the world.  Black and white images, especially of simple objects or scenes appeal to me.  I drive regularly past an old farm that I keep meaning to stop and photograph.  There isn't much stopping space on the side of the road and the road is fairly busy, but on a Sunday traffic is slower and I was able to get a few shots.

This one of the old gate posts, a vestige of tried elegance against the backdrop of a fading barn I found interesting and poignant.  The concrete shapes belonged in another era, and the roughness of the workmanship said country through and through.  It is solid and has withstood the elements, but its partner not so, either through weak concrete or an accurate hit by a tractor or wayward cow going through the gates in the past.

Field and studio

While I'm busy in the studio, life outside on the farm is also busy.  Early this morning I walked over to the vegetable garden and amidst gorgeous zucchini blooms and sprawling squash plants, rose scarlet veined beetroot, rainbow chard and these lovely French breakfast radishes.  Can you tell that I grow things that have drawing potential?   The colour of the radishes appealed to me so I brought a couple in and sketched them with coloured pencil.  I don't like the taste of radishes but they're very pretty in a salad and make wonderful drawing models.

I was given a bucket full of capelin and have been busy printing and freezing lots for later in the year.  These little fish always appeal to me and also keep me ensconced in the studio.  The are small and delicate and the colours in them are wonderful when they're fresh and these were literally gathered off the beach before ending up in my hands.  Blues, greens, violets and silver make them perfect for drawing painting and printing.  You will be seeing lots more of these.  But I also have a freezer full of other fish that need printing.  These I hope to make some progress on when I get some holidays in a week or so.

Fish box

I found this long slim box awhile ago and thought it could be useful to decorate at some point but I wasn't sure with what. Inspiration hits me at the most ungodly hours sometimes.  Today it was at 5am.  Tripod was outside, it being a very warm night and he decided that there was an cat intruder he should see off.  The sounds of hissing and spitting and growling woke me and I had to get up to sort him out and haul him inside.

Once I get up, I can't go back to sleep, no matter what the time.  So at 5am, armed with coffee and a box sitting in front of me this little capelin appeared on the box.  It is the perfect size and shape for this fish and with the seeming lack of capelin on the beaches this year, it may be all I see of them or it can preserve the one fish that I get!


Tonight I added some colour to it.  I am using watercolour.  On wood you say?  Yes, I like how it stains the wood instead of painting it and gives it an antique feel.  The initial layers are down along with a little silver gild for fishy sheen. Tomorrow I'll add some details and deepen the colours.  The box is 8 1/4 x 2 x 2".

Fish wrapped in newspaper

In my quest for interesting supports for my gyotaku prints, I had an idea of using Japanese language newspapers.  That sent me on a quest to find an accessible newspaper that would fit the bill.  Vancouver Shinpo contacted me and provided me with some back issues of its papers which are perfect for what I want.

I promised them a fish print on their newspaper as a thank you for sending their papers to me.  So tonight I printed a yellowtail flounder on it using Prussian Blue Caligo ink.  Caligo make lovely oil based inks (Safe Wash) that are water soluble, making clean up so much easier.

I know newsprint does not age well and there are a few things I can do to try to preserve it as talked about in this article.  However, I look at this as a temporary and interesting support that should look even better when the paper ages under glass.

Prepping a fish for printing

 

When presented with a challenge you sometimes have to just face it head on and do it. 

That was the case today with me and a sculpin.   I was given a short horn sculpin caught last night and have to say that I found it pretty daunting to consider for printing. These are strange, prehistoric looking fish that most people toss back in horror when they catch one.  The sculpins have a defense mechanism of nasty barbs and spines on their dorsal fins that inflict a very painful sting. Protective gloves and careful handling were a must.

So here I am, faced with this fish.  I figured I'd have a go at printing it and use the opportunity to do a little view of how I prep a fish for printing. 

Fish are covered in slippery mucus.  This helps them glide through the water and protects them against disease.  The sculpin seemed to have an excess of this so the first step was to wash it off.  Salt acts as an abrasive and helps get the mucus off the fish with the help of a scrubbing brush.  Not too roughly as I don't want to break the skin.

Rinsing off the fish under cold water brought back its colours, but another couple of layers of salt and scrubbing were required to get all the mucus off the fish.

Because these fish are voracious feeders, they always have distended stomachs.  That, combined with the large bony head made it a candidate for a sand bed for printing.   This means that the fish is embedded in sand that has been covered with plastic wrap.  It makes the fish more level for printing and allows the fins to be splayed out as they would be when the fish is swimming.

I ink the fish using a brush, then even out the coating of ink with a foam brush or piece of kitchen towel to make sure there isn't too heavy a layer of ink.

Once inked, I insert paper under the tail and fins to get a clean print and prevent any excess ink that was on the film from transferring to the paper.

Next I lightly dampen the paper I'm using and lay it over the fish, molding and patting it so it fits the contours and gives a good print.

Then its the moment of truth and I peel back the paper to see if the print has worked well or not.  There are usually three or four prints taken before I get one that I'm happy with.  Wrinkles in the paper are irrelevant and shouldn't be worried about.  They will be eliminated once the piece is wet or dry mounted later.

Lincoln

I'm nearly back to the point where I can work on some fish printing and painting, having caught up on commissions and sales.  It really is quite a lot of work keeping on top of the non creative side of art, but the benefits let me sleep at night and not worry that I've forgotten something.

Printing keeps me busy, but I also do other pieces to keep my interest level high and to ensure that I don't get too rusty in other techniques.

Elaine of Cedar Knoll Farm has some beautiful horses that I always admire.  One of the horses was frolicking in a new pasture and  the image caught my eye so I asked if I could try my hand at him.  I'm considering a watercolour, but drawing also seems to be pulling me.  I hope to decide tomorrow what direction it will take.   I may not be quick on this, depending on what else I have to accomplish but I wanted to make a start.

Here is the line drawing of the handsome Lincoln.  The shadow patterns from his mane onto his body interested me.  I can see a bit of masking fluid in my future if I go with watercolour.  Or a bit of indenting if I try graphite.  Decisions, decisions...

Slow Herring

Time has gotten away with me this week and there are lots of pieces waiting in my head to go onto paper.  Unfortunately having the available chunks of time to make a start on this is the challenge.

However, this herring is determined to make its presence known to me.  The sleek shape and amazing shine and colours in the fish keep pulling me back to it and giving me inspiration for different media and sizes.

I played around with this simple sketch of the fish in pen, blocking in shapes and values to get an idea of where I'm going with it.  I find more and more how preliminary studies of a subject help me problem solve and save me so much time on a full piece.  I know we often rush ahead, wanting to get into the 'meat' of the piece and sometimes then get stuck in composition or value or colour palette which can all be worked out in a small piece that often has a lot of merit as a painting or drawing in its own right.

Rennies Mill River

Here is another of my 'hidden' rivers from the series that I'm producing of overlooked tributaries to the sea within the city  of St. John's.  Its in soft pastels on Canson paper and measures about 10 x 12 inches.

This is truly an urban section of the river but with a touch of greenspace to it too.  It is flanked on one side by a larger supermarket and carpark, on the other a soccer field. This is part of a larger section of Rennies Mill River which empties into Quidi Vidi Lake then on through a rocky river to the sea.   This section of the river does have  walking trail next to it, but at this time of year is well disguised in green grasses, trees and weeds. 

My view west into this river is from the bridge where the river flows under to the lake.  Quidi Vidi Lake is littered with ducks and many make the high grasses their homes in the summer seeking out shady spots in the heat of the day.

View Larger Map

Wordless Wednesday

 

OK, nearly wordless.  I am up to my neck in fish and prints and commissions, but couldn't resist this little bowl of tiny tomatoes in the sun this evening. The first cherry tomatoes from the greenhouse.  Yummy. I love the contrast in colour with the darkness of the bowl as well as that shadow.

Now I wonder if I can exist on 2 hours of sleep a day...?  I could fit everything in then.  Just about.

 

And a glimpse of a herring caught quite accidentally tonight by the tail.  The iridescence of the scales is beyond amazing on this fish.

...good intentions...

I haven't done a lot of drawing lately and I miss it.  And even when I get a chance to draw, they are more sketches or studies than finished drawings.

I started this little portrait of a whippet and his cat pal. Again, time got the best of me and good intentions to complete it lost and it joined the pile of other good intentions to be finished at a later date.

I loved the expression on the dogs face.  The cat was so unique, all wrinkled and hairless.  Poor thing would freeze here or roast in the summer. However the pose was interesting and I *will* return to this to create a full portrait soon.

This study was done in coloured pencil, Coloursoft, in an 8 x 10 sketchbook.