Deeper through the forest

Deeper through the Forest   mixed media diptych  19x28cm each   ©2017Lisa Le Quelenec

Thinking about hard and soft, lost and found edges using pencil, oil pastel resist, watersoluble pencils, inks, and new to me pigments from Daniel Smith - sodalite genuine and lunar black. These two are fast becoming favourite colours. I love, love, love the soft inky denim of the sodalite.

I might leave this as it is or work into it again at a later date....it may even be the starting point for something else. The half term week has thrown me off kilter a bit. It's funny how just a few days off work can make you lose your thread. For now back to sketchbooks to find myself again I think.

If you go down to the woods today.... monoprint and mixed media via a digital sketchbook

Birch Study III   monoprint and mixed media   ©2017LisaLeQuelenec

Sometimes I like to experiment digitally with images - it can be a quick way of trying different crops of an image without commiting to changing physically a piece of work. I like how I can change tones and colours in seconds and so can be a useful tool to progress a project.

I scanned one of the birch tree monoprint and mixed media pieces from the last post, cropped it, changed the tones and then started to adjust the colouring. I rather like the warmer version and also the darker more moody version that came last. I chose the last idea to explore first wanting to go deeper into indigo with a bigger contrast in the tonal range for more drama.

Birch Study III digital sketchbook experiment page  ©2017LisaLeQuelenec

birch sketchbook sample ©2017LisaLeQuelenec

This is a small sample that I made using a scrap from a failed print and adding washes of watercolour in varying strengths. The oilbased printing ink resists the watercolour in unusual ways giving nice textural effects - something I want to use to my advantage although difficult to control.

If you go down to the woods today...   monoprint and mixed media   ©2017LisaLeQuelenec

The above image is the result of the experiment so far. On top of the monoprint I have used drawing ink, coloured pencils and watercolour. The surface qualities and textures of the materials resisting each other are producing some lovely marks. I think my next step is to return to my sketchbook and work through some composition thumbnails maybe also to see how some of these marks can be translated into pure paint. Fun and messy times ahead I think...

Birch tree monoprints and mixed media with a dash of freezing fog

A few days of thick freezing fog the other week has inspired a different avenue to explore. I don't ever remember seeing such thick and persistant freezing fog before. It has caused quite a bit of disruption to travel but has had an element of surprising beauty to it. The little one was fascinated by the 'crunchy' sparkles on the spider webs on the way to preschool. Simple looming silhouettes and subtle greys have inspired a very different feel to the series.

A Progression of monoprints and monoprint mixed media pieces - Birch Study I & II ( last two images) ©2017LisaLeQuelenec

The two mixed media pieces at the bottom have been made by using ghost prints. (a second print made from the printing plate from which a print has already been taken. Due to there being only residual ink left on the printing plate the second print is much more subtle.) As you can see from these two I was lucky enough to get two ghost prints the one on the right was the first to be taken.

I often prefer the ghost prints as I like the subtlety and delicate textures and they are often interesting to work into with other media. I think my next stage may be to take scans of these two and then play digitally with them and see what happens. 'Birch Study I & II' are available as reproductions at Redbubble here.

monoprinting birch trees

Night Watchmen  monoprint 15x21cm  ©2017LisaLeQuelenec

The first monoprint of the year! I have been really enjoying markmaking with monoprint recently experimenting with a combination of applying ink and different tools to take the ink off and draw into it. Birch trees are a favourite winter subject and feel a good fit for these first pieces.

Initially I rolled a layer of ink mixed with extender for a little transparency onto the plate before wiping off some trunk shapes. Then applying ink with a stiff brush I added the trunk markings in. The rough grassy floor was fun! I added a little more ink and scratched into it with sharpened sticks, a supersharp pencil point and toothpicks.

I wanted a really sharp and bright white moon so cut a paper stencil for this. The thickness of the paper has meant a darker edge to the ink surrounding the moon but I quite like this as it adds to the contrast and I think it needed something hard amongst all the lost and found edges through the rest of the image.

This image is available as a reproduction and stationery on my Redbubble site

It is also available here on Fine Art America.

I managed a ghost print (running the plate with leftover ink again through the press with some slightly damper paper) only adding a little extra ink to the trunk markings and lower corner of grass.  Once the print had dried I worked into it with watercolour and coloured pencil introducing some colour and neutralising some of the harder darks adding more form into the trunks. I liked the way the pencil picked up the texture of the inks where it had printed thicker in some areas. I think this is an avenue well worth exploring - a big adventure for the start of the year - the results could be very exciting...

Night Watchmen   monoprint and mixed media 15x21cm ©2017LisaLeQuelenec

Night Watchmen detail   ©2017LisaLeQuelenec

Full moon and birch tree drypoints

Silver birch moon   30x40cm acrylic on canvas ©2012 Lisa Le Quelenec

The above painting is an old favorite of mine, I really do like this theme and often revisit it. So I thought I would use it as a starting point for a small drypoint using a metal plate instead of acrylic. I have also been enjoying working in a circular format so set myself the challenge of combining the two elements.

Moonrise metal plate 7cm diameter  ©2015LisaLeQuelenec

 A set of five prints is the result. Each one a variation in colour and tone. I am doing these as an open edition as I might do another few impressions. I don't think there will be many more than this as each time the plate runs through the press the burr gets more worn and the prints will be less clear.

All are for sale at my Etsy shop seasidestudiosuk.

Moonrise   open edition drypoint  7cm diameter on 15x21cm paper   ©2015LisaLeQuelenec

Moonrise I   open edition drypoint  7cm diameter on 15x21cm paper   ©2015LisaLeQuelenec

Moonrise II   open edition drypoint  7cm diameter on 15x21cm paper   ©2015LisaLeQuelenec

Moonrise III   open edition drypoint  7cm diameter on 15x21cm paper   ©2015LisaLeQuelenec

Moonrise IV   open edition drypoint  7cm diameter on 15x21cm paper   ©2015LisaLeQuelenec

Moonrise V   open edition drypoint  7cm diameter on 15x21cm paper   ©2015LisaLeQuelenec

Through the woods

Through the Woods   acrylic on paper   37x15cm   ©2013Lisa Le Quelenec

It feels strange to be posting a snowy painting today when outside the sun is shining. It's so beautiful and I feel like I'd nearly forgotten what it looked like.

The silence of snow

The Silence of Snow   acrylic on paper 16x15cm   ©2013Lisa Le Quelenec

The sky always seems to look dark against the whiteness of the snow. The silence - it's deafening...

Winter Woods adventures in linoprinting part 2

Winter Woods II   linoprint and coloured pencil 14x15cm   ©2013Lisa Le Quelenec

Two further experiments with the lino prints from the weekend adding in some colour with coloured pencil. Two different moods I think but still quite wintery. 

Winter Woods III   linoprint and coloured pencil 14x15cm   ©2013Lisa Le Quelenec

For some really IMPRESSIVE blog posts about linoprinting please visit Sherrie York's blog and read these posts;

link 1     link 2    link 3

This series is a real nailbiter of suspense. I can picture this fearless printmaker with nerves of steel zipping around her studio with a superhero cape flowing behind her.

Winter woods - adventures in linoprinting part 1

Sketchbook page ©2013Lisa Le Quelenec

This weekend I thought I would try my hand at a linoprint, something I haven't done for a long time. I thought I would start small and simple and the birch trees seemed to me to be an ideal subject to give it a go. After doing a couple of quick pencil sketches to decide on the main shapes I got started.

I had a piece of lino but it was so old I wasn't sure if it would be too hard and crumbly to carve. Luckily it didn't seem to bad and I spent an hour or so happily cutting away. I was very excited when it came to proofing the block and mixed up a rich dark sepia colour from my prussian blue and burnt sienna. I printed a couple of copies and sat back to look.

1st proof

As giraffes

The image looked quite busy for it's small scale, I had over done it with the trees and needed to reduce the number. In passing His Nibbs commented that the trunks looked rather like giraffe necks. As you can see, whilst it was so busy, he had a point ;o)

Out came the cutting tools and I removed a few of the trunks to make a bit more space. The second proof was much more my intention. I think the extra space gives the eye a bit more room to find a path through the forest.

2nd proof

I started playing around with the ink colours mixing them and making graduated colours. I loved this soft smokey colour and settled on that printing up a small batch to experiment with further. The image feels wintery and rather topical whilst we shiver here in the UK. We have had a little snow in Dorset and it feels like we may be in with a chance for some more.

Winter woods linoprint 14x15cm ©2013Lisa Le Quelenec

Just a quick mention, this is the last week to see the exhibition 'Light Space Time' at the Red House Museum in Christchurch. The last day is Saturday. Due to the snowy weather, please do check with the museum for any changes to their opening times and please stay safe whilst traveling. To see the Red House Museum website and opening hours please click here .

An experimental recipe for 'failed' work

 Take one failed ghost print (a second pressing of a monoprint with no re-inking) and add some coloured pencil.

 

Add a little more coloured pencil and a little more each time it will burnish the colours underneath building a nice patina of marks.

Add a few extra marks to suggest the patterns on the tree bark.

Crop.

Adjust contrasts a little by digital means.

Result: either a good starting point for a new painting or something that could be digitally printed as a finished piece. Of course it is very likely that this piece will be filed into a sketchbook where it will either mature resulting in a mellowed, full bodied and well thought out concept or it will be chucked out never to be seen again like yesterday's moldy bread. The jury is out.

Winter II monoprint & coloured pencil 16x19cm ©2013Lisa Le Quelenec

The proof of the pudding: Whilst I don't think this will end up as a digital print, I think the original is far to rough to scan well, I am intrigued by certain aspects. I really like the way in which the trunks run off the bottom of the page - they seem to disappear into a snowy foreground which is somewhat topical at the moment. (I saw at least two flakes fall this morning which is a bit of an event in my part of the world.)


For anyone interested below is the first print that came from the plate. I'm still trying to get to grips with getting the consistency of the new inks right for successful prints but I am having a lot of fun trying. I will have to put in another order for paper soon as I am really getting through it. Keeping things simple and thinking in very basic shapes and marks is the way forward I think for the moment.

Winter monoprint 24x17cm ©2013Lisa Le Quelenec

Birch tree monoprints

Three birch monoprints ©2013Lisa Le Quelenec

I'm still exploring this technique, I think it lends itself well to this linear subject and I like the way certain elements run outside the borders of the traditional rectangular frame. I think I will be exploring this more. The lovely thing about these kinds of experiments is that it is a very fast method of exploring ideas and generating new paths to tread. This will be a month well spent.

Forest Gloaming complete WIP

(The first three stages of this painting can be seen here)

Forest Gloaming 21x28cm mixed media on paper  ©2013Lisa Le Quelenec

By the end of stage 3 I had a very cold painting. I wanted to bring back some warmth and a little more light into the piece and so scumbled some yellow ochre and zinc white to take the edge off the very blue greens. Neater yellow ochre in the foreground warmed up the forest floor and added to the sparkle of the more purple/blue greens. Overall I have kept the cool atmosphere and the warm ochre has only served to emphasise this. (For some reason when I photograph this painting the warm ochre has been exagerated, it's not quite as obvious looking in the painting and the whole thing is quite a lot lighter. The camera is emphasising a higher contrast than in real life.) Very gently, I have strengthened the trees that stand against the light they are barely there and are suggested with broken line.

Using a NOT watercolour paper has meant that the surface has more of a texture than I would normally use but has been advantageous with some of the media. I've rather enjoyed mixing it up a little and think I will do some more work exploring mixed media.

A new year and a new WIP

stage 1

stage 2

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a lovely time this holiday season. I've had a lovely break and feel raring to go. 

With no pressing deadlines coming up in January I have decided to take a little time out for experimenting and play. During December and most of November I had so many ideas flitting around my head and not enough time to explore so I'm rather looking forward to this month. January is still so cold and dark and feels decidedly flat after the glitz, sparkle and excitement of December what better way to cheer up the month than to hole up in the studio and play.

In the spirit of experimentation I thought I'd start this years posts by sharing a wip. This piece has been inspired by a walk in the New Forest, I wanted to capture the feeling of walking through the dense trees, their thick canopy overhead, into the bright light of a clearing. The word that kept coming to mind on this particular day was 'gloaming'. Whilst not strictly correct the lack of light in the thick of the forest can often feel like dusk.

Stage 1 - I began with a quick pencil drawing lightly plotting the shapes of the trunks and then adding oil pastel to this which would act as a resist to the watercolour layer that was to come. I scratched back into the oil pastel with a sharp pencil adding in the markings on the birch trunks. The watercolour stage was rather fun, soaking the paper and adding lots of dilute paint, tilting the board and letting gravity have it's way, encouraging back runs. Whilst the paper was still very wet I added some trunks very lightly with the side of a pencil. The extra pressure on the paper was sufficient to give a subtle tone indicating but not over stating the trees presence against the brightest light.

Stage 2 - Building up the trunks with a mixture of coloured pencil and acrylic. I scratched into wet and dry paint enjoying making marks and building up the darker tones, adding in highlights here and there. Then I took stock - the painting felt a little too warm and didn't have the cool and damp feeling that I associate with the forest, I need to shift the colour temperature. Also the left hand side needed more trees to counterbalance the weight on the right.

Stage 3 - More trunks but with less detail on the left, I made these darker in tone to balance the weight on the right. I added light glazes of a phthalo turquoise mix to cool down the temperature which got progressively stronger towards the right away from the light source into the denser trees. With a dry brush and acrylic paint I've added the suggestion of foliage from the forest floor. Finally to contrast against the cool blue greens I've added light touches of cadmium orange (I was feeling reckless, I wouldn't normally use this colour but it felt 'right' in this painting.) I'm leaving this piece here and will return to it next week with fresh eyes.

Stage 3 Forest Gloaming 21x28cm mixed media on paper  ©2013Lisa Le Quelenec

Light, space and time

Silver birch moon   30x40cm acrylic on canvas ©2012 Lisa Le Quelenec

I've just found out that both paintings I entered into the Red House Museum's open exhibition have been accepted. The subject for this years show was 'Light, Space and Time' and I submitted Silver Birch Moon and True Blue.

I'm looking forward to seeing the show when it opens on Saturday as I'm sure there will be a wonderful mix of work as in previous years. It's always interesting to see how a group of artists using different media and sources respond to the same theme. The exhibition runs until 26th January and details about the opening times of the museum can be found here.

True Blue acrylic on canvas 30x60cm © Lisa Le Quelenec

Silver birch moon

 

Silver birch moon   30x40cm acrylic on canvas ©2012 Lisa Le Quelenec

Although my last visit to the New Forest was during a perfect summer day it did inspire me to return to an older theme of the forest lit by the full moon. This seems to be a series that I am not quite finished exploring yet. The strong back lighting of the trees and capturing the depth of space keep pulling me back to explore further.

This painting will be amongst the works I am exhibiting at the Hayloft Gallery in Christchurch from 7th - 20th September. A percentage from all the sales will be donated to two local wildlife charities. Do pop along if you are in the area and support this worthy cause.

March moon

March Moon
15x26cm acrylic on paper
©2012 Lisa Le Quelenec

We have been having very clear brightly moonlit nights here the last couple of days. I had started work on a moon painting and whilst the moon was full last night I completed it.

This painting joins a series of four others that I began last year. You can read the posts for them here , here and here . It seems apt that the next painting for the series should be painted in March.

All the songs of spring are being sung by the birds in the garden and in honour of this I am starting a spring clean of the studio. It's amazing how piles of paper, unfinished paintings, quick notes and sketches etc can pile up. Not to mention the pile of framing that has grown.... Methinks it will be a big job despite having tried so hard to keep on top of it. So I'll leave you with an early wish for a very happy and creative weekend.

And the trees whisper

And the trees whispered
13.5x13.5cm acrylic on paper
©2011 Lisa Le Quelenec

We are being treated to some amazing cloud displays here in Dorset. One minute blazing sunshine the next heavy cloud bursting with rain. Celebratory bright sunlight that turns the rain silver and makes the yellow in the trees sparkle against purple/blue skies. Inspiration for the above painting, the wind picks up and the trees whisper, I hold my breath...

Trees For Life

A little while back whilst reading a post on Jeanette Jobson's blog Illustrated Life she spoke about a charity fundraiser for Trees For Life who work to restore the Caledonian Forest in the Highlands of Scotland. A fellow Canadian artist now based in Scotland, Trevor Jones , was organising an exhibition to raise money for the charity by asking for donations from artists. So I emailed Trevor to find out more.

Trevor was looking for 140 artists from all over the world to join him in contributing an original artwork or signed, limited edition photo print in 6”x9” format, each of which will be sold for £45 either online or during an exhibition to be held in Edinburgh in November 2011. So far just over 100 artists have answered the call. You can find out more at Trevor’s blog , the deadline has now been extended until 15th August and there is still time to contact him for details about contributing. All the work is available to view and purchase here.

Below is my contribution, a mixed media piece. The trunks have been mono printed with an oil based paint, giving a slight texture to the bark and then worked back into with pencil. The land and sky began with a watercolour wash which the mono print resisted and then layers of colour pencil added which has given a more diffused effect. My aim was to make the background soft and less focused to give full emphasis to the trees.

It's inspired by one of my favourite areas of the New Forest. I love birch trees which at first glance look like their trunks are straight and true, I find the more I look the more I notice how uneven they are with their ridges and textures. I've enjoyed trying to capture the subtle differences in colour from one tree to the other.



Standing Guard
6x9inch mixed media
©2011 Lisa Le Quelenec

The moon is bright tonight II

The Moon Is Bright Tonight II
acrylic on paper 20x20cm
©2011 Lisa Le Quelenec

The moon is bright tonight

 Four stages of the first painting in a mini series. (I'm working on the second at the moment.) It's painted using acrylic FW ink and acrylic paint. You can get watercolour-like thin washes with the ink and lots of water and still have quite intense colour, although I did build it up in some areas with some glazing.

The area by the moon which on screen is showing as a mustardy brown is diluted gold ink I added this to have a bit of warmth against all the blues and tie in with the trees.









The Moon Is Bright Tonight
acrylic on paper 20x20cm
©2011 Lisa Le Quelenec

I like the contrast between the
fluid loose washes and the hard edges of the trunks which I will explore further in the next painting.

(Apologies for the formatting on this post, I can't seem to get the pictures to go where I want them to.)


In my next post I'm hoping to announce some exciting news.....