Groynes sketchbook pages - going back to the source

Sketchbook pages - drawing the groynes   ©2019LisaLeQuelenec

I hadn't realised just how long I had been awol. I have been having a bit of trouble with my right hand this year but I am hoping to get it fixed soon. It has been making working a little difficult so I am thinking about how I can get around this. Anyway today I am relooking at sketchbooks and wondering/wandering where I will go next.....

The sketches above are from this year and below are from 2012 - I had completely forgotten about them! Funny how ideas and themes take a while to weave their way back into your conciousness and rise to the top. I think some printmaking might be in order soon but first a little more drawing.

Groynes sketches from summer 2012 ©2019LisaLeQuelenec

Colour charts and colour sketchbook pages

The colour that I used in the previous post was Daniel Smith's Sodalite Genuine. I like using this colour on it's own for tonal studies for it's unpredictable granulation and the way the blue and the black sometimes separate as it's drying. I think of it as a soft faded denim and as comfortable to use as a pair of well loved jeans is to wear. It occured to me that although I have used this colour often and have used it in mixes with other blues I hadn't actually made a colour recipe chart for it with the other colours in my palette.

Colour charts for black watercolours ©2018LisaLeQuelenec

Above is the chart painted this week on the left. To the right are some charts made previously  - you can see posts about previous expermients with black watercolours  here.  It was well worth doing the chart as I don't think I would have discovered these beautiful greens that can be mixed otherwise. I particularly like the way Sodalite Genuine mixes with Cobalt Turquoise Light, Green Gold and Indanthrene Blue (all Winsor & Newton)

Pages from my colour recipe and experiment book ©2018LisaLeQuelenec

This another chart to add to my colour sketchbook or recipe book. Below are a few pages from it that I have been refering to lately with all the greys, blues and aquas. It's filled with experiments, clippings, charts, notes and all sorts - even a couple of disposable palettes have been stuck in. To be honest it is an unruly mess with splats and spodges and scribbles but it is well thumbed, dog earred in places and beyond value to me. It's been added to over a number of years and as I am running out of room I will have to re-bind it to add more pages at some point in the future. It could end up as thick as a brick :o)  .

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

Pebble collagraph experiments

After last weeks experiments with monoprint and mixed media exploring shape and tone I decided I wanted to look at tonal qualities in the pebbles a little more. Collagraph printing is perfect for this. I keep a box of textured materials to use for making collagraph plates some manmade, some organic and had fun speading out all the odds and ends and adhering them with acrylic medium to pebble shaped mountboard to make plates and using the same medium as a top layer to varnish.


Below are the plates with a key to what I used and a couple of the first test sheets that I printed up.

Collagraph plates and experiments with a key to materials used   ©2018LisaLeQuelenec

My favourites from this collection are the rough sandpaper and the dried outer leaves of the sweetcorn husk - I really can't remember how I aquired that but will have to source some more the texture printed beautifully the more it was inked up.

Collagraph experiment samples with added mixed media   ©2018LisaLeQuelenec

Once dry I worked into some of the samples with watercolour, inks and pencils. More ideas started to flow as I began photographing with actual pebbles and background papers (these form part of my digital sketchbook).

In the bottom of my textured materials box I found an old plate that I had made but had never printed. I had been thinking about edges and rockpools and the flotsom and jetsom left behind by the tide. It seemed to be resurfacing just at the right time - perfect for this project - so I inked it up and took a few prints just to see what it was like. It had been made with various handmade papers, string, tin foil, the netting from a bag of fruit and a bit of sand for good measure.

Collagraph plate (detail)  ©2018LisaLeQuelenec

The plate on the left and the first proof print on the right   ©2018LisaLeQuelenec

The tinfoil pebble shapes left no impression or variation in ink tone but the textures from the netting and string worked beautifully as did the texture from some of the handmade paper. You can see the cardboard from the base plate had, in a previous life, been the cover of an old sketchbook and I had left the holes from the ring binding in. I quite like the contrast of the regular pattern with the organic shapes made by the other materials. The netting I think worked the best, the holes undulating as sections were stretched and contracted when the plate was made. They look like very delicate dip pen and ink marks.


Once these were dry I worked back into one with watercolour and added collage pebble shapes cut from some of the samples made earlier. (You can see the lovely texture made by that sweetcorn leaf second pebble down.)  I seem to be obsessing with spilling out of the frame at the moment and layering.... This test piece is something I think I will be developing further - time to ponder.....

The Pebble Project    collagraph, collage and mixed media test piece   ©2018LisaLeQuelenec

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

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.

Flowing to the sea II - collagraph and mixed media

Flowing to the sea II   29x29cm collagraph and mixed media   ©2016LisaLeQuelenec

A change of palette and a change of mood. I can't fail to be inspired by the autumn colours that are starting to appear. I love the golden light of autumn as it burnishes the landscape.

Experiments with Daniel Smith's Lunar Black watercolour

Lunar black mixes in my colour notebook   ©2016Lisa Le Quelenec

Lunar black sketchbook page ©2016Lisa Le Quelenec

 

Sketch I - lunar black ©2016Lisa Le Quelenec

Sketch II  - lunar black ©2016Lisa Le Quelenec

I treated myself to a new (to me) watercolour tube of paint on my last order ; Daniel Smith's Lunar Black. What a beauty! I am rather partial to colourful black watercolour as you know and have written about some experiments on the dark side before here and here. Whilst not what I would call a colourful black it does have the most beautiful granulating quality. These images show the first few sketches and tests that I have done using it. I'm still very much at the 'getting to know you' stage of the pigment, experiments so far show how difficult I found it to control the granulating properties but it is definitely a colour that I can see great potential in.......very, very, exciting. I think it will show it's true potential in large scale work and onsite sketching will be another place I use it as I make tonal studies. Time to play I think....

Sketch III lunar black mixes ©2016Lisa Le Quelenec

Choosing a palette

Caran d'Ache Pablo permanent colour pencils  ©2115Lisa Le Quelenec

As well as recently ordering paint, paper and etching inks I also added a little treat, Some new (to me) pencils made by Caran d'Ache in their Pablo range. Aren't the colours gorgeous? I like using coloured pencils to sketch with and do thumbnails for paintings and these colours are very much the palette that I am working in at the moment. I use all sorts of types and look for the colour rather than the brand when selecting pencils. I prefer something softer with a good coverage of pigment generally and I'm rather taken with these. The smell of new pencils is something of an addiction too ;o)

Caran d'Ache Pablo permanent colour pencils  ©2115Lisa Le Quelenec

Beach study

Beach finds colour palette

A walk on the beach in Jersey to see my folks turned up these lovely finds. Such an inspiring collection of colours and textures.

St. Aubins Bay - Jersey Channel Islands   ©2015Lisa Le Quelenec

Dip pens

Dip pens and acrylic ink

Today's post is in answer to Theresa Evans' question about the type of pen I used for yesterday's daffodil study. The one I mostly use is the green glass handled one that I picked up on a trip to Venice a few years back. The nib is really flexible and I am dreading the day that it gives up as after searching online it seems like it would be hard to find a replacement. It's had a lot of use and is a firm favourite. The twisted handle is surprisingly comfortable to hold as well as looking rather lovely in the pen pot. ;o)

The other pen in the picture is made from bamboo and I've had it so long that for the life of me I cannot remember where I got it. I know I got it for use in life drawing classes after failing miserably to cut me own. (maybe I should give it another go...)  The marks that it makes are a bold contrast to the other pen and as it doesn't hold much ink inbetween 'dips' there is a lovely variation in the ink even in one stroke.

My preferred ink is FW acrylic in sepia which I generally use very diluted reserving neat ink for only the odd mark within a drawing where a bit of punch is needed. The soft tone of the dilute ink lends itself to subtle washes of watercolour to my eye.

Pop over to Theresa's  blog and see her beautiful work, the light that she captured in her last watercolour 'Winter Sunset' is gorgeous.

Contrails collograph experimenting without a press

Sketchbook pages for contrails
mixed media ©2012 Lisa Le Quelenec

Continuing experiments with the contrails and sunsets in my sketchbook toning down colour and trying a small watercolour version led me to thinking about collograph printing. I've only ever done it a few times at college many years ago and assumed that without a press I wouldn't be able to do it again. However some time back on Jeanette Jobson's blog - Illustrated Life she wrote about collograph printing without a press. She inspired me to give it a go.


For those that don't know collograph printing is a form of relief printing where the plate is made of collaged textures. All sorts of different things can be used. I've seen bits of fabric, string, spaghetti, cardboard, corrugated paper, and grit all used with great success. Not having a press at my disposal, I
thought I'd better not use anything with too much texture as I wouldn't be able to apply enough pressure for a successful print by hand.

The plate all ready to be printed

To begin with I cut a square of ordinary mount board. I used the back as it was a smoother surface. Then I drew out the design. Mount board is made of thin layers and by scoring into it I could peel back some of the layers to reveal a fluffier paper fibre surface. I did this all around the outside of the plate to make a border and also to the lowest contrail shape. Very carefully I cut a circle for the sun with a scalpel going right through the board. I envisioned the prints needing some hand finishing and so would paint in this colour later. For a couple of the contrails I used an acrylic medium made by Liquitex called Blended Fibres. I painted this on not letting the relief area stick out more than about 3mm. The linear element of the design was embossed using ball point pen. The final stage in preparing the plate was to give the whole thing a coat of acrylic medium to seal it.

collograph plate

To give myself a fighting chance of getting a good print I thought I would use watercolour and watersoluble crayons to 'ink' the plate. I thought by using them and printing onto damp paper I wouldn't need half as much pressure than if I used printing ink which is much stiffer. The crayons I used were a mixture of Caran d'Ache Neocolor II and Derwent Aquatone and they adhered to the plate really well. The watercolour balled up on the surface which I expected but I was hoping when I printed that the pigment would bloom onto the damp paper. Here's the plate all ready to print.

collograph print

After soaking some watercolour paper (Arches 90lbs Hot Press) for a couple of minutes I was ready to go. (The paper was wet all the way through but dry enough to not have a sheen on the surface.) Laying the plate on one drawing board and covering it with the wet paper I put another drawing board on top. Then I stood on top of this sandwich moving around to try and get even pressure all over and kept my fingers crossed. Carefully taking off the top board and holding down one side of the paper so that it wouldn't move out of position I took a peek. It has mostly worked except for one small area so I put the paper back down and pressed by hand in this little spot until all the paint had adhered. To 'fake' a plate mark, which it would have had if it had gone through a press, I ran the back of my nail along the edge of the plate until it had embossed the paper. It's heavy work on the hands but looks better for it. The print didn't photograph well at this stage, the colours were more intense than they show here. I printed 3 more from the plate, two I did with NOT watercolour paper (the surface interferes with the texture a little too much when pressing by hand.).


Once the prints were dry I worked back into them with coloured pencil and acrylic ink. I even used some gold acrylic to wash over and pick out some areas. Below is the finished piece. I'm not sure what to call this so if any print makers could let me know I'd be grateful. Is it fair to call it a hand finished collograph or would it be better to call it a mixed media with collograph. I'd like to make a series of these and it would be handy to know.

Heat Have I - print I/IV
Hand finished collograph 17x17cm
©2012 Lisa Le Quelenec

The eagle eyed amongst you will have noted that the image is 'back to front' from the original drawing. I thought it would be good to add this to the experiment and see how the change would affect the composition. I think the composition does still work and I also like that not all the contrails have come out. The composition feels much more circular now and much less cluttered. I enjoy the surprises thrown up by changing mediums and processes, I wouldn't have ever gotten a result like this if I had stuck to painting.

It was a fun day experimenting in this way as I was totally unsure of the outcome or even if there would be an outcome. The whole process is magical and full of discovery for me and I will definitely be doing some more.

Contrails and sunset mixed media experiments

Fist stage - collage experiment
©2012 Lisa Le Quelenec

Taking six of the mini compositions that I showed yesterday I thought I would develop them further into collage. Using watercolour paper that had been pre-painted with I ripped strips to give a fluffy soft edge. The layers of the paper exposed more dimensions and a 3D relief to the edges. In contrast the circles were cut with scissors for a harder edge. They were glued down with acrylic medium and a coat of the medium was brushed over the whole surface to seal it. My intention at this stage was to glaze acrylics over the top and I wanted to reduce the 'thirstyness' and absorbency of the paper.



Second stage - additions of colour pencil and acrylic ink
© Lisa Le Quelenec

For reasons of speed I rejected the idea of glazing acrylic and instead reached for colour pencils and acrylic ink. As I started working back into the collages my mind was darting down tangents thinking not only of contrails but also of the thermals that birds use to glide along on and the breezes that give relief to the hot summer days. Although difficult to see in this photograph I have also carved/embossed into the watercolour paper. As it was a heavy weight paper this was very easy to do. Some of the linear marks representing the thermals are picked out in acrylic ink.

I love working in this experimental manner as it's so different to the way I normally paint it gives me the freedom to try new things and play for a while. These little mixed media pieces (they only measure 10x10cm) could be a new series of paintings or prints, I might never use them for anything else or they could be a whole series of work waiting to happen. I can't help but wonder because of the textures they might make good collograph plates, if only I had a press.......






mixed media experiment
©2012 Lisa Le Quelenec

I think  Bruce  summed it up perfectly in his comment on yesterdays post;

It is the placement of such thoughts in sketchbooks... which guarantees that they are seeds... not lost... but reserved for planting and germination on another another fertile day!

that day maybe tomorrow or in years time, who knows.... it will be a good starting point for new work when the time comes.

Sketching in Southbourne with a new sketchbox

Southbourne Beach at 9am - 27.01.12
gouache 6x6inch sketchbook
©2011 Lisa Le Quelenec

What a beautiful morning here in Bournemouth! I've spent most of the morning sketching down on the beach and soaking up the sunshine. It's been cool with a cold breeze but warm in the sun and there has been luscious light so I have made the most of it. It's been the perfect day for road testing a new piece of kit.

I've been wanting to experiment sketching out and about with gouache. I already had tubes of them and I didn't want to buy any more but I did want them in a more portable format as losing tube lids in the sand is no joke. The other 'must' was the need for a container that was small and light. So I got to thinking....... it took a while ;o)....

There are lots of sites on t'internet where very clever people have made all sorts of very clever things out of Altoid tins. These wonderful little tins are a really good size for all sorts of inventions and just the right size for a pocket paint box. The problem was keeping the colours separate and contained.  (Although being the Mrs Messy that I am they were never going to stay scrupulously clean for long, as you can see above.) Then I hit on it. Beer bottle tops! (Kindly donated by His Nibbs) Perfect for a squidge of paint to be kept in and as luck would have it 6 bottle tops fit cozily into my mint tin. I had to wait a while for the bottle tops but the wait has been worth it.

I painted the lids inside with a couple of coats of white acrylic and whilst I was at it, the inside of the mint tin lid as it would be used for mixing and hey presto! The lids were glued in place, the paint was squidged in and dried and it was all good to go. Along with my waterbrushes it's made a nice little kit. I've only used 5 colours so far as I'm not sure what colour no.6 will need to be yet. I figure I'll work it out as I go along. So far I've got permanent white, naples yellow, burnt sienna, raw umber and primary blue.

There may be a possible problem in the future with rust and maybe I should have painted the inside of the tin and lids with enamel paint but at the time I was too impatient. I should think it'll last a good while though and for an inexpensive and quick solution it's done the job splendidly. Now I'm looking at another mint tin that's about a quarter of the size of this one and thinking four half pans of watercolour might be able to snuggle in... 

Inside/Outside - a study

Inside/Outside a study
mixed media 36x56cm
©2012 Lisa Le Quelenec

The theme for critique for this months art group was 'Inside/Outside'. I love the shapes of broken shells and the contrast in textures between the rougher ridged outer and the silky smooth inner of this whelk is beautiful. I thought I would expand on the recent coloured pencil study that I have done. I've misplaced the original shell and so used a different one that I picked up on St. Aubins beach in Jersey on Boxing Day. I came back with a small bag of treasure from that walk - lots of possible starting points for new paintings....

It started as a pencil line drawing on a slightly textured handmade paper that I've glued down onto mount board. It took on a life of it's own.... with acrylic, ink and coloured pencil. In between layers there are even small scratchy marks of silver ink that follow the ridges of the outer surface of the shell. These marks are partially covered over but here and there they poke through and catch the light. There are many layers of each of the materials and the surface has a weathered looking patina that draws parallels with the sea beaten surface of the shell.

detail

detail

Workshop fun with Jane Puckering

Phew! What a day...the workshop that I went to run by Jane Puckering was sooooo good, one of the best ones I've ever been to. Her enthusiasm and energy were infectious, making you feel like anything is possible. Using acrylic with pastel is a whole new ball game to me and I was intrigued to find out more about the technique. 

 Jane began painting a very wet and very loose under painting in really fluid acrylic, there were lots of beautiful runs and dribbles in the paint. Once this was dry she showed us a medium called 'acrylic ground for pastels' which is made by a company called Golden. She uses it diluted 40% with water and paints it on top of the acrylic under painting in broad directional strokes. You can also use this medium on top of a watercolour under painting as it dries clear without disturbing it and then pastel on top.

All fired up we made our own under paintings, some people using acrylic and some working with watercolour.  I was working on a pre-primed piece of MDF and I really enjoyed this bit, lots of flinging paint and letting the liquid do the work.

I'd decided to stay with the same palette that I've been working with lately of indanthrene blue, quinacridone burnt orange, golden yellow and azure blue. I was working from my sketches of Kimmeridge and wanted to really explore the marks that I could make. In the under painting you can see where I've dribbled water through the wet paint, diluting areas and letting it run.

Whilst our under paintings were drying Jane then showed us how pastel could be applied on top. She showed us how you could use the marks in the under painting to draw out areas and cover over any passages that weren't conducive to the final painting.
At the end of stage 2 with pastel applied but lots of under painting showing through I really should have stopped. However I carried on adding in the suggestion of the headland and completely overworking the rest. Jane explained that one of the beauties of this techniques is that as the medium used is acrylic based I can just wash off any offending parts (for me in this case the flat bed of rock) to take it back to the under painting and then I can just start again. I'm going to live with the mistakes for a few days and analyse how I will take my second shot.

There was still some time to go of the workshop so I thought I'd have another go on a second composition. This time the MDF wasn't primed and I went straight in with the acrylic under painting letting alot of the buff of the board show through. Once it was dry I added the medium and began the pastel stage. I was halfway through when the call went out that we'd be finishing in twenty minutes for a critique to finish the afternoon. Yikes! I had to get my skates on..

I was much happier with this piece as there are still passages of the under painting showing through and the marks are more dominant. I'm thinking that I need to work against the clock more often - no time to fiddle. Looking at it on screen I can see I need to crop about a 6th from the sky for a better composition and maybe darken the lower 6th.

Yesterday was such a great day, it's always so good to learn new techniques and it's certainly given me a lot to ponder. I'm sure I will play with the technique again but more importantly, for me, it's shown me a way of loosening up and exploring the painted mark. Jane regularly runs workshops in Sway, there's a list on her website, so if you feel like treating yourself I'd thoroughly recommend taking one.