Gulls, surf and monoprints - a process

 

Process for some new monoprints   surf and gulls   ©2026LisaLeQuelenec

Using the sketches from my circular sketchbook as a jumping point I spent a rather fun day making some monoprints. Not everything worked - and that is good as it means lessons are being learnt - but some did. So not only do I have some new prints for the Folksy store but I also have a pile of 'not quite there yet' prints to work into in mixed media which I am just as excited about. I am particularly excited about the prints made in the second pass with the circular mask removed. The resulting subtlety of the circular motif is something I think I can manipulate further.

Below are some of the pairs of initial prints with their second pass partners - I really like the second pass for the different sketchy marks and where there wasn't enough ink to transfer as I think it suits the subject in this case. I have lots more ideas to play with that will keep me busy.

 

Process for some new monoprints   surf and gulls   ©2026LisaLeQuelenec

Process for some new monoprints   surf and gulls   ©2026LisaLeQuelenec

Some of my gull series are available at RedBubble in their different reproduction print formats. As framed prints which style of framing do you prefer?

Surf Spray Gull series   available at RedBubble  ©2026LisaLeQuelenec

A circular sketchbook - mixed media storms, waves & gulls

 

I started a new pocket sketchbook at the beginning of the year. I have prepped the pages with tissue some marked with ink by drying prints others with watercolour marks. Each page will have a composition made within a circle. I am hoping that I will learn things about composition from a change in format. I am allowing myself to spill outside of the circle as the mood takes me. I will probably stick to grey, indigo and white to take away the decision fatigue of choosing palettes. I like the consistency in these small sketchbooks when reviewing sketches over a longer period of time. 

I used to work within circles quite often in watercolour so it feels, at least to begin with, like I am revisiting old ground with new eyes. Of course the sea, as always is present and so too are the gulls that circle and swoop within my work. At least that is how it is starting although that isn't necessarily how the sketchbook will finish. It does rather fell like the start of a voyage in a way...

Circle sketchbook page   watercolour and mixed media   ©2026LisaLeQuelenec

Circle sketchbook page   watercolour and mixed media   ©2026LisaLeQuelenec

Circle sketchbook page   watercolour and mixed media   ©2026LisaLeQuelenec

Folksy Summer Exhibition

 

So happy to share that I have had this piece selected for the Folksy Summer Exhibition.

And the Gulls Cry    acrylic on canvas board   40x50cm   ©2024LisaLeQuelenec

 I am in very good company - so many talented artists and makers. There is so much to see.

The show is on for the whole of the month of August and you can view it here;

Folksy Summer Exhibition

The sister painting - Where the Wild Things Are - is available in my Folksy Store.

Where The Wild Things Are   acrylic on canvas board 40x50cm   ©2024LisaLeQuelenec

And the Gulls Cry - acrylic on canvas board

 

And the Gulls Cry    acrylic on canvas board   40x50cm   ©2023LisaLeQuelenec

A companion piece to Where the Wild things are....

These paintings will be available in my Folksy store in a couple of weeks or so. I am going to live with them a short while to make sure there are no adjustments to be made and so that I can enjoy them a while ;o)

Where the Wild Things Are & And the Gulls Cry   40x50cm acrylic on canvas boards   ©2023LisaLeQuelenec

Where The Wild Things Are - acrylic on canvas

 

Where The Wild Things Are   acrylic on canvas board 40x50cm   ©2023LisaLeQuelenec

Well that was fun!

Where The Wild Things Are WIP   acrylic on canvas board 40x50cm   ©2023LisaLeQuelenec

Where The Wild Things Are - details   acrylic on canvas board 40x50cm   ©2023LisaLeQuelenec

A failed monoprint...a nugget of inspiration - WIP

Study for where the wild things are   monoprint and mixed media 15x15cm   ©2023LisaLeQuelenec

Below a failed monoprint...with potential....I worked back into it with coloured pencils and acrylic paint... a nugget of an idea is forming... I think the scale needs to be bigger...I want to stretch my wings a little...

Gulls and cliff   monoprint  15x15cm   ©2023LisaLeQuelenec

Gulls, storms and monoprints

 

A little monoprint experimenting has been occurring... thinking in ink...sometimes unexpected things happen which lead to new ideas to explore. That happened with this print below. The plate for some reason known only to the gods of print slid in the press making these lovely marks suggesting cliffs. My work is usually of the sea from the shore or clifftop but now I am thinking in terms of from the sea/sky. Ideas are percolating slowly forming more thinking in ink is needed....

Listening to the Wind   monoprint and mixed media   ©2023LisaLeQuelenec

The print below on the left is where I had been intending to go. A monoprint with an embossed gull shape in the lower margin. I am still toying with the idea of including text within my work, slowly trying things out and experimenting. The version on the left is a digital copy with added text.. I am unsure so have photocopied and written on it/tried a fully digitised version in photoshop...I am still unsure. What are your thoughts? Which do you prefer? I think maybe in this image the text is a little too big and obvious....? I will live with them for a while.

...and the gulls cry...   monoprint and mixed media   ©2023LisaLeQuelenec

This print was pulled from the plate after the one above, I added and wiped extra ink to the remnants, playing with marks. If the one above was as the storm was building then this one would be the storm from within. Same composition very different energy.

 Storm Spray   monoprint and mixed media   ©2023LisaLeQuelenec

For now I will go back to thinking in ink, exploring, pushing pulling the ideas and experimenting to see where it will lead.

Swooping and circling - gull sketchbook page and monoprint

If you spend any time at the shore you will find yourself watching the gulls swooping, circling, gliding and diving. I feel I may just have some gull in my genes as I circle back to them in my work again and again. I am mulling over how to approach it this time around.

Sketchbook page - gull studies ©LisaLeQuelenec

Old sketchbook pages - looking back and moving forward - looking at shapes and trying ideas. At the end of a project I store all my reference materials, sketchbooks and experiments and notes in a folder. I often return to subjects when something new catches my eye or an idea for combinations or new connections are made. Sometimes just revisiting a folder strikes up new ideas on its own. It is good to have all the visual stimulus in one place waiting to be plundered again. 

 I think some monoprinting may be in order to think in ink.

Gliding   13x13cm monoprint   ©2023LisaLeQuelenec   


This monoprint is available in my Folksy store.

30 Serenade of flight - acrylic on board

 

Serenade of Flight   10x10cm acrylic on canvas   ©2022LisaLeQuelenec 

'...gentle

serenade of flight,

snow arrow, serene

ship in a transparent storm...'

                                                                     

                                                                    Ode to the Seagull Neruda

Available in my Folksy store.

Serenade of Flight   10x10cm acrylic on canvas   ©2022LisaLeQuelenec

29 Winged banner - acrylic on board

 

Winged Banner   20x20cm acrylic on board   ©2022LisaLeQuelenec

'Sail,

bright boat,

winged banner'

                                                                             'Ode to the Seagull - Neruda

A memory of a Summer's day moon..

Available in my Folksy store.

Winged Banner   20x20cm acrylic on board   ©2022LisaLeQuelenec

3 You soar - acrylic on board

 

You Soar   10x10cm acrylic on board   ©2022LisaLeQuelenec

'gentle

serenade of flight,

snow arrow serene

ship in a transparent storm,

steady, you soar

while

the hoarse wind sweeps

the meadows of the sky.'

                          Pablo Neruda from Ode to the seagull

Available in my Folksy store.

Watching the rain come in - watercolour paintings

 

Watching the rain come in   watercolour 20x16cm   ©2021LisaLeQuelenec

I love the magical light over the sea when a rain storm comes rushing in...

A Keen Breeze   watercolour 16x20cm   ©2021LisaLeQuelenec

 

Both paintings are available in my Etsy Store.

Softly silently crept the tide

Softly, Silently   watercolour on paper 12x18cm   ©2018LisaLeQuelenec

Ssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...........

Back to the drawing board...gull sketchbook pages

When in doubt go back to basics.... something that has helped me many times over the years. The act of drawing with no end in mind can help me push a project through, consolidate ideas or suggest new avenues to explore. I think what these sketches are telling me and the recent experiments and prints is that I need to step away for a while and stop thinking about it. Then later, there will be time to re-evaluate and percolate the ideas. I think I will spend some more time re-reading the poem that was the original inspiration as well. For now the gulls can rest as I begin the wind down to the holidays and the exciting job of planning for next years adventures.

Gull sketchbook pages  ©2017LisaLeQuelenec

Gulls 3 - monoprint & collagraph

Gull   collagraph   15x21cm   ©2017LisaLeQuelenec

A round of collagraph monoprints. I used a cardboard plate with textures made from different acrylic mediums. The aim wasn't to make an edition of prints but rather to see how many different ways of using the plate I could come up with before the plate was destroyed in the process.


To begin with things didn't turn out in the way that I expected in that some of the acrylic mediums had sunk into the cardboard plate as it dried and I probably should have sealed the board to begin with to avoid this...lesson learned for next time. However this added to the need to be inventive with ink application and made it even more flying-by-the-seat-of-your-pants-exciting!




You can see in this first print that I took that the tonal contrasts in the background are a little too similar and more definition was needed. No matter the texture in some areas made them beautiful to work into with mixed media. I added watercolour and coloured pencil.The oil based printing ink resists the watercolour and provides a nice tooth for the pencil so further texture results.

Gull   collagraph and mixed media15x21cm  ©2017LisaLeQuelenec

After a few inkings and taking some more prints in this way I started to add some extra gull shapes using separate pieces of board inked up and also by gouging into the baseplate to trap the ink. The gull shape below was cut from a piece of medium weight paper and then inked up by brushing on the ink. I liked the idea of the bird flying out of the frame.


After a couple of hours of playing with these very simple materials I have more and more ideas to work through and a lot of thinking to do. Just where will I wonder next?

Gulls   collagraph and mixed media15x21cm  ©2017LisaLeQuelenec

Gulls 2 - more printmaking experiments in monoprint and digital manipulations

I continue to play with the lone gull motif. The lower five square images are digital manipulations of the original first image. Tiny steps and alterations that can make a big difference to my line of thought. I may be drifting towards vignettes again... On the right three monoprints. I started to play with multiples and pattern - it could be an interesting avenue to explore later. I think I want to contrast this serenity with a bit more energy and texture...onwards!

Gulls ideas in monoprint and digital manipulations   ©2017LisaLeQuelenec

Gulls 1

Gulls have featured in my work for a number of years now. I discovered a poem by Neruda a while back and some of the imagery in the piece has stayed with me. It has sparked ideas to explore which are turning into a series of works in a variety of media.

I feel like a gull circling in the sky getting closer but not quite hitting the mark just yet. I have started with some monoprints with Neruda's words in my mind. Using an inked plate and removing ink, applying masks and also making marks in the ink before running through the press.

Flying Free   monoprint and mixed media   ©2017LisaLeQuelenec

Some I made ghost prints with (running the plate with ink depleted from the first pass through the press for a second time). I likes the subtleties of a couple and so have left those untouched. Other ghost prints weren't strong enough to stand on their own so I have worked into those with other media. Others have been photocopied, scanned and digitally manipulated and exist only as digital prints. We are fortunate to live in an age where so many opportunities and methods of experimentation are open to us and I like to exploit as many as I can on occasion.I'm not sure where I am going with these still.....I'll see where the breeze takes me.

Gulls   ghost monoprint and mixed media   ©2017Lisa Le Quelenec

A translation of the poem that inspired this work can be read here

Gliding gulls

Gliding to a new Day   acrylic on linen board 10x10cm   ©2017LisaLeQuelenec

Gliding to a new Day II   acrylic on linen board 10x10cm   ©2017LisaLeQuelenec

Gliding to a new Day III   acrylic on linen board 10x10cm   ©2017LisaLeQuelenec

Three little paintings on linen canvas boards. A combination of the gull ideas that are soaring around in my head and the shafts of light paintings from earlier this year. I still feel like I am feeling my way here unsure which direction to take..... I think I will explore and experiment with some printmaking next.

All three available individually at Seaside Studios UK on Etsy.

Monoprint and mixed media skimming the breeze

Skimming the breeze   monoprint and mixed media 21x15

Another monoprint experiment to which I added a little coloured pencil. I cut a paper mask to make the gull shape - it has given me a lot of ideas to think about. I like the contrast in printmaking methods between the painterly looseness of monoprint and the more precise etchings and drypoints. I am filling notebooks at a rate of knots with ideas to further explore. If only there were more hours in the day...

Coastal calm in watercolour

Coastal calm   watercolour on paper 22x22cm   ©2016Lisa Le Quelenec

Sunrise   watercolour on paper 22x22cm   ©2016Lisa Le Quelenec

Two new watercolours available in my Etsy store. I'm looking forward to the spring /summer sun now. Enough of the rain and cold, bring us some warmth. I hope the sun is shining for you.