August's Spiral drawing

 

August's spiral shell drawing pencil and ink on paper ©2025LisaLeQuelenec

Below the Brine - Ran's many moods

Below the Brine I   print and mixed media 20x21cm   ©2025LisaLeQuelenec

The ambiguity of the Ran myth intrigues me still. I am attracted to the relatable human quality of her moods...calm, playful, stern, raging... not many female characters are able to be more than one thing in mythology that I have read about - women are either good or evil, victims or villains, virgins or seducers - Ran could be any or all of these. I wonder if the oral tradition of these myths were still alive if her character would be more black and white or just as ambiguous. My hope would be the ambiguous - like the ocean able to change in a heartbeat - how much more interesting and realistic.

Three calmer and possibly more playful moods in Below the Brine but the net is still there glinting and dazzling, waiting, biding its time or with the potential to change?... 

Below the Brine II in three stages   print and mixed media 20x21cm   ©2025LisaLeQuelenec

Below the Brine III   print and mixed media 20x21cm   ©2025LisaLeQuelenec

2025 Spiral drawings overview

 

Spiral Drawings for 2025   pencil & ink on paper   ©2025LisaLeQuelenec

I have thoroughly enjoyed 2025's drawing challenge. It made me relook at my collection in a different way. Some of the subjects I have had for many years and their familiarity has caused me to overlook them somewhat. Some months were easier to choose than others. I had also forgotten how much I like a tonal paper to draw on and that is something I want to use more in the future. It seems the more structure that I give myself the better sometimes as it takes away the decision fatigue and I am reminded of the challenges a sketching buddy and I imposed on ourselves when we used to go out into the local area. We might choose three colours and one brush one time or only two pencils or set a time limit of 20 minutes. It helps focus the mind and stop all the faffing around. 

I am still hashing out in my mind what my challenge should be for 2026 so details on that to follow. Do you have plans for arty challenges in the coming year? Do let me know.

Available prints and stationery at RedBubble ©2025LisaLeQuelenec

Beachcombed Beauties Fabric, wallpaper and home accessories available at Spoonflower

Deeply Darkly I & II - Ran's many moods

 

Deeply Darkly   print and mixed media 20x21cm    ©2025LisaLeQuelenec

Further explorations into Ran's many moods. I am enjoying the linear elements in the compositions which I think give an added chaotic energy and tension. What do you think?

These pieces are available at Folksy and Etsy.

Deeply Darkly II   print and mixed media 20x21cm    ©2025LisaLeQuelenec

Ran's Glimmers - drypoint with mixed media

 

Sketchbook experiments in mixed media ©2025LisaLeQuelenec

'...have gold, so if lost at sea you aren't empty handed to Ran's hall'

- Fridhjaf's saga

Golden tributes thrown over the side of the boat to appease Ran for a safe crossing whilst a recurring theme in many mythologies is to pay the boatman for crossing into the next life. The more about mythology that I read the more connections I make between peoples and cultures, we are more alike than not. The same worries and fears even over vast distances and time, I wish we could remember that a bit more.

 

Ghost print from Scintillating II with mixed media ©2025LisaLeQuelenec

Ran's Glimmers   ©2025LisaLeQuelenec

The gold mica paint is from a set by Kuretake - Gansai Tambi Starry Colours which is a range of 6 from silver pearl to a deep rich gold. 

Beachcombed Beauties - new on Spoonflower and July's spiral drawing

 

Beachcombed Beauties in mid blue fabric in & Wallpaper designed by LisaLeQuelenec available at Spoonflower

Based on this years spiral drawing project and washing up from my shore to yours, available at three different scales and in eight colourways a new repeat design at Spoonflower for fabric, wallpaper and soft furnishings and at RedBubble for gifts and home accessories my latest design - Beachcombed Beauties. 

Co-ordinating designs are available in each colour collection in my stores.

Beachcombed Beauties fabric & Wallpaper in Mid Blue designed by LisaLeQuelenec available at Spoonflower

 

Which colour is your favourite? I am rather liking the Midnight Blue.

Beachcombed Beauties fabric & Wallpaper designed by LisaLeQuelenec available at Spoonflower

A bit too late to be included but this is July's spiral drawing. The spiral of this cone shell is completely flat. I was really attracted to the contrast of the white with sepia markings that made it a joy to draw. This one may end up in it's own pattern at a later date at the moment I'm enjoying observing the shell from all angles whilst it sits on my desk.

Spiral for July   coloured pencil and ink   ©2025LisaLeQuelenec

July's spiral  ©2025LisaLeQuelenec

Ran, nets and print experiements...

I have been having much fun experimenting with different types of netting and getting very inky whilst printing them....

Example no.1 fruit bag netting from the supermarket ©2025LisaLeQuelenec

First up, example no.1 fruit netting from the supermarket - very fine nylon, easy to rip and manipulate although does sometimes spring back unless very stretched out first. In some examples the ink collects at the join and prints spots of ink within the diamond shapes. This type of net gives very uniform shapes.

Example no.3 net from the haberdashery shop used for dance skirt petticoats   ©2025LisaLeQuelenec

Example no.2 is the type of netting that I think would be used to make the big petticoats in some dance costumes - we have a big dance school in the area so I think this is a safe guess. The sparkle glitter bit did break off whilst ripping and manipulating the material but didn't really effect the result in the ink. As you can see it has a much bolder line to the main body and I really like the edges where I have ripped and stretched it. With a bit more experimenting I think more subtle effects could be have by controlling the amount of ink added.

Example No. 3 a thick weave hessian ©2025LisaLeQuelenec

Example no.3 Hessian made even bolder marks and the bonus of this material is where you can pull threads out completely from the weave. I like the effect where it starts to completely fall apart and is literally holding itself together by a thread or two. This one was the 'thirstiest' material and held a lot of ink. More subtle marks were made by not re-inking between prints which is something for me to remember.

Example no.4 Scrim ©2025LisaLeQuelenec

Example no.4 Scrim is another fabric that can be manipulated easily, have thread ripped out from the weave and generally stands up to a lot of abuse. The weave is much tighter and the resulting print can be much more subtle and dense. I think it needs a lot of threads pulling for a net like structure but I like the resulting print.

Whilst running example through the press on top of misprints and practise prints I used copier paper to protect the press blankets. This has given me lots of sheets with reverse prints that I can use as sketch paper for drawing into. I might make a sketchbook from them at a later date.

 

Sketchbook Experiment Stage 1 collagraph and mixed media ©2025

Sketchbook Experiment Stage 2 collagraph and mixed media overprinted with hessian netting ©2025

Sketchbook Experiment Stage 3 collagraph and mixed media overprinted with netting and further added mixed media©2025

Lots more experimenting to do, ideas are starting to form about where these experiments can take me in my Ran project.

June's Spiral drawing - unidentified shell

 

June's spiral drawing for 2025   pencil on toned sketchbook page   ©2025LisaLeQuelenec

This shell had lots of lumps and bumps to navigate and textures too. The spines were satisfying to draw - some had received a bit of damage to their tips but I think it adds to its character. 

This year is running away fast. Can you believe that it is June already? It doesn't feel like I have done six spiral drawings already this year and yet here they are...

Detail of June's spiral drawing for 2025   pencil on toned sketchbook page   ©2025LisaLeQuelenec

New Prints available at RedBubble.

 

New images available at RedBubble. Currently there is a 25% discount sitewide so you can treat yourself to these or any other piece for less. The offer ends soon...

Prints available at RedBubble ©2025LisaLeQuelenec

Room to Run   ©2025LisaLeQuelenec

A distinguished Gentleman   ©2025LisaLeQuelenec

Moonshine   ©2025LisaLeQuelenec

Glinting Moonlight   ©2025LisaLequelenec

Scintillating II & III - drypoint prints

 

Scintillating II   drypoint 8x15cm   ©2025LisaLeQuelenec

Hot on the heels of the first print no.2  and no.3 in the series.

Prints in the edition are available in my Folksy and Etsy stores.

Scintillating II   drypoint 8x15cm   ©2025LisaLeQuelenec

Scintillating III   drypoint 8x15cm   ©2025LisaLeQuelenec