A little blue book of blue

Sketchbook pages from my little blue book. I'm about halfway through this little square sketchbook (14x14cm) it has a blue cover as apposed to the usual black ones and so I am using only blue inside....a bit easier for me I know. Maybe next time I will brave a red cover and only use red...only joking!  I don't think I could manage that.

From my Little Blue Book  ©2024LisaLeQuelenec

From my Little Blue Book  ©2024LisaLeQuelenec

 

From my Little Blue Book  ©2024LisaLeQuelenec

From my Little Blue Book  ©2024LisaLeQuelenec

From my Little Blue Book  ©2024LisaLeQuelenec

From my Little Blue Book  ©2024LisaLeQuelenec

Shining seas - Old Harry Rocks acrylic on linen board

 

Shining Seas - Old Harry Rocks   20x20cm acrlic on linen board   ©2022LisaLeQuelenec

 

 

Something a little different from the prints I have been making of late....a return to acrylic. The inspiration for this painting came from an evening walk a long while back when the world felt much different. I have been thinking about how life felt back then...it feels like a lifetime ago. Covid-19 didn't exist and Russia was staying within its own borders. I do hope the people of Ukraine can feel safe in their homes once more in the not too distant future and the trauma of recent days comes to an end.

Shining Seas - Old Harry Rocks details     20x20cm acrlic on linen board   ©2022LisaLeQuelenec

Etchings and drypoint prints shop updates

I have been catching up on printing for both SeasidestudiosUk on Etsy and Seasidestudiosuk on Folksy. There are now prints from both the 'Summer's Eve' , 'Ammonite' and 'Feather I' editions available for sale. All three are variable editions and each print that I do is unique in the handling of the ink and the overall effect of the print.

Summer's Eve   6x6cm etching   ©2019LisaLeQuelenec

Feather I   14.5x8cm drypoint   ©2019LisaLeQuelenec

Ammonite   15x20.5cm solar etching   ©2019LisaLeQuelenec

FOG!

Sailing through the mist II  watercolour on paper 14x19cm   ©2018LisaLeQuelenec

We had a little early morning fog a couple of weeks ago. Fog is soft and silent. It muffles sound, confusing the listener. Things loom in and out of focus making everything soft and silhouetted. Yet every time I see, hear or read the word fog in my mind I hear Brian Blessed too much watching Peppa Pig - he is the voice of Grampy Rabbit, and I smile. (I have included a link to a wikipedia page for anyone not familiar with his name or the variety of his achievements - what a life!)

Sailing through the mist  watercolour on paper 14x19cm   ©2018LisaLeQuelenec

I will leave you with a quote from the 1980 film Flash Gordon and Brian Blessed's most famous catchphrase;

'GORDON'S ALIVE!!!'

I hope it brightens your day ;o)

Time and Tide - a mini art book

I continue to think about the effects of time and errosion and the part they have played in shaping the coast where I live. How the pebbles that I pick up along the shore were once part of the land and how much the coastline has changed over thousands of years and how it could change in years to come. Old Harry Rocks was once joined to The Needles on the Isle of Wight....Harry has already lost his 'wife' a chalk stack that fell into the sea circa 1896 and at some point Old Harry will probably join her though I shouldn't think that will be in my lifetime especially as UNESCO has teams working to try and protect him. I wonder just how they can stop the tide... or even if they should? What treasures lie waiting for the tide to reveal?

Time & Tide collages 8x14cm ©2018LisaLeQuelenec

Time & Tide collage 8x14cm ©2018LisaLeQuelenec

I started to play with ideas on small pieces of card only 8x14cm using collage and drawing. I ended up with quite a collection and wanted a way to order and present them. Whittling it down to just five I have mounted them into a concertina book that I have made. A book as a finished piece is not a format that I have worked in before but it feels 'right' for this mini project. In my mind I am not thinking of it as a book as such but maybe more of a small chapter in a much longer narrative that I will never see completed.

Time & Tide   a mix media and collage concertina book   ©2018LisaLeQuelenec

Time & Tide   a mix media and collage concertina book   ©2018LisaLeQuelenec

Time & Tide   a mix media and collage concertina book   ©2018LisaLeQuelenec

Time & Tide   a mix media and collage concertina book   ©2018LisaLeQuelenec

On the final page is a small explanation about the inspiration behind the work which you can read below.


Like many coastal areas Dorset has a wealth of tales of myth and legend, some of which centre around Old Harry Rocks. These are chalk stacks formed by coastal erosion that lie at the gateway to the Jurassic Coast – a World Heritage site. The erosion that formed the chalk stacks also threatens their destruction and teams from UNESCO are working to save them.

One legend states that the rocks are named after a man called Harry Paye (d. 1419) a privateer and smuggler from Poole who intercepted hundreds of French and Spanish ships bringing his spoils back to the busy port of Poole.

Another naturally occurring phenomenon are hag stones which are pebbles with holes also made by erosion. Folklore states that they provide protection from witchcraft, disease and by looking through the hole you can see the fairy folk. Dorset fishermen used to tie them onto their boats for luck. I wonder if Harry Paye and his crew kept a hag stone or two on their ship…

Time & Tide   a mix media and collage concertina book   ©2018LisaLeQuelenec

Well weathered - a series in mixed media and collage

Well weathered 1 - 6   10.5x16.5cm collage and mixed media   ©2018LisaLeQuelenec

I can get up to all sorts of mischief whilst waiting for ink to dry ;o) I have been working into some drypoint and etching prints with pencils, paint and collage - looking at them afresh and thinking about time and errosion.

The original six are available here.

Well weathered I 10.5x16.5cm mixed media ©2018LisaLeQuelenec

Well weathered II 10.5x16.5cm mixed media ©2018LisaLeQuelenec

Well weathered III 10.5x16.5cm mixed media ©2018LisaLeQuelenec

Well weathered IV 10.5x16.5cm mixed media ©2018LisaLeQuelenec

Well weathered V 10.5x16.5cm mixed media ©2018LisaLeQuelenec

Well weathered VI 10.5x16.5cm mixed media ©2018LisaLeQuelenec

They are also available as prints, cards and notebooks on RedBubble here.

Well Weathered VI by LisaLeQuelenec as prints, cards and notebooks on RedBubble

The coast is clear! Etching of Old Harry Rocks

The Coast is Clear!   A/P I etching 14.5x11.5cm   ©2017LisaLeQuelenec

Quite some years ago His Nibbs and I went for a walk along the beach at Shell Bay down the way in Studland. We have been many times before and since but there was something about this particular day that sticks out. The sun was out but it was a little hazy, it was neither hot nor cold and there was just a gentle breeze. The water looked glass-like - but with strong contrasts in tone on the surface ripples. Colour was bleached out everything reduced to tones of blue grey. What I remember the most was the stillness and quiet. The quiet sounded loud but gentle if you know what I mean.

Old Harry Rocks photograph ©2017LisaLeQuelenec

I took this photograph and along with the memory of that day it has been the inspiration for many drawings, paintings and now an etching. So far I have made two proof prints and have used paper masks to add some sail boat shapes. I think I could make variations of work on this one memory for many years to come.

Light Across the Bay   acrylic on paper 25x25cm   ©2011 LisaLeQuelenec

Above an older painting from 2011, long since sold but one of my favourites.

Old Harry Rocks  snippets and ideas in mixed media   ©2017LisaLeQuelenec

I wonder do you have a memory or lasting impression of a time and place that you revisit in your work again and again?

The Coast is Clear!   A/P II etching 14.5x11.5cm   ©2017LisaLeQuelenec

Isle of Wight and Old Harry Rocks - etchings

Two etchings in sepia showing views from one end of the bay to the other. The Isle of Wight in the east and Old Harry Rocks to the west were once joined together in the days before the Ice Age. The effect of weather and sea has shaped what we can see today in an endlessly, to me, fascinating way. I love the shapes that are left and how they stand like guardians protecting the sweep of coastline. (In a very literal way with the light house on the Isle of Wight Needles.)

Across the Bay   etching 6x6cm ©2016Lisa Le Quelenec

Summer's Eve   etching 6x6cm ©2016Lisa Le Quelenec

Both etchings are available in my Etsy shop here.

Summer evening

Summer Evening   acrylic on paper 14x14cm   ©2015Lisa Le Quelenec

Sometimes the sea here is so still, quiet and calm it is unrecogniseable as the same body of water that menaces the coast during the October storms. As the days of summer are coming to an end and a coolness begins to stir in the evenings I look forward to the storms but for now it is good to reflect on the quieter times.

Haze at Old Harry

Haze at Old Harry   acrylic on canvas 50x50cm   ©2012 Lisa Le Quelenec

I definitely seem to have been going through a blue period this summer. It has taken a lot of experimenting with layering glazes of different blues but I finally feel close to capturing that special glowing blue you see at dusk. When I see it in the sky I drink it in greedily knowing that it won't last long and I will have to wait for completely clear skies to see it again. The white water isn't as stark in the painting, it's warmer and bluer. I wanted to show a lazy kind of movement in the wave - sometimes they build up slowly and fizzle out in a short distance as they near the sand.

Turning the painting into a grey scale in editing software is useful to check the tonal values. I've been doing this at different stages throughout this painting and it has helped particularly in getting smooth graduations of tone with the different blues.

Haze at Old Harry grey scale ©2012

Just for fun I flipped the photo horizontally, a slight adjustment to the land mass and it could be the other side of the bay showing the Isle of Wight and the Needles. It could be an idea for another painting for another day...

Light across the bay

Light Across the Bay
acrylic on paper 25x25cm
©2011 Lisa Le Quelenec

Stage 2

stage 1

Stage 1&2, blocking in the basic colours using buff titanium, azure blue and indanthrene.  This painting is on HOT PRESS 300lb Arches, my favourite watercolour paper. Then using a lot of dry brushing I built up the tones I needed to give shape to the waves in the bottom section. I made the horizon especially dark using indigo mixes knowing that this would become much lighter at a later stage as more layers were added. I wanted to have tiny, subtle touches of dark in this area that would blend into the haze.

Stage 4

Stage 3

At stage 3 I could add in the silhouette of Old Harry Rocks and the delicious bright light that underlined it. Once dry I added more dry brushing to soften and lighten the dark at the horizon. I used thick blots of paint to suggest the sparkles, a lot of them were pure colour and unmixed titanium white. Touches of phthalo blue were also introduced at this stage. It doesn't really show up in the photo but I lightened the bottom wave shape with patches of the darker blue still showing through but in much smaller amounts.


Stage 4 and more dry brushing and glazing over the the whole of the water adding back some warmth. I am happy with the patina of the surface that is building up now. All the layers gel together each one partially hidden from the next but with dots and dashes showing through for a shimmering surface of colour.  A new wave shape had suggested itself and was painted in, the shadow of both of these two waves was added with glazes of indigo and phthalo. A very pale dilution of the wave glaze was used in the top of the sky.


Finally another layer of a predominantly azure mix over the water to inject a bit more colour and warmth, some dark added into the bottom wave and a few highlights..... and I'm going to call it finished. I think there will be a bit of a crop to take out a little of the sky when it comes to framing, but I won't think about that until I've gotten some distance from it.


I mentioned earlier about the patina of the surface that built up with the layers of paint. This is an aspect that is very important to me in my acrylics. As I started with a completely smooth surface for this painting, the texture that you see is just made from paint giving me more control. Had I used a paper with tooth it would look completely different and more uniform, this is something that I can find quite constricting. I've tried to get a photo of the textural qualities of  the painting - it was hard to get a close up with my camera. ( my camera skills still need improvement - the painting has a straight horizon too ;o) ) In contrast the sky area is completely smooth where it had been built up with glaze.

So this is what I have been up to over the past week or so, the short days we have now make for much shorter painting time. I've never been very good at painting by electric light despite using daylight bulbs. It does mean more drawing is back on the schedule though which is my silver lining.

Light across the bay - beginings of a painting

sunlight on the sea
coloured pencil on mid toned paper

This was a sketch done form memory, I've sketched this view from the beach at Branksome Chine many times. The overwhelming memory that I have from this particular day during the summer was the light. Full cloud over head, small breaks over the sea which cast lines of sparkle and the band of light that seemed to underline the distant silhouette of Old Harry Rocks and at the horizon a clear and hazy sky. I've painted this underlining band of the light before but this time I want to emphasise all of the sparkly light that glitters along the surface water. There wasn't much swell at all just a few lazy little waves close to the shore.

Old Harry Rocks

Old Harry's Blush
acrylic on paper 12x12cm
©2011 Lisa Le Quelenec

  

Evening, Southbourne
acrylic on paper 12x12cm
©2011 Lisa Le Quelenec


Above are two of the paintings currently on exhibition at Priory House in Christchurch.

Work continues on reflections and reeds at a slow pace, more on that tomorrow....