Colour Bomb Kitties

These three were a bit of a handful, and I still can’t believe I managed to squeeze all three onto an A4. They were a commission which I struggled with, the thing is when there is more than one kitty to go wrong, it means throwing the whole piece away, and that weighed pretty heavily on me.

Two of the cats were also mostly black, so I had an interesting colour challenge on my hands. There was no way I was painting two completely black cats … not when the commissioner said she “liked colour”.

Somehow though, all three pulled through - I even introduced chunky textural pastels into the mix as you know, the painting wasn’t chaotic enough!

If you’re interested in their names, Ms Green is Slinky, Mr Yellow is Pudding and Ms Purple is Kushkat! Lovingly painted in watercolour, Brusho, ink and pastels.

Birthday Hippos and Vegan Friendly Ink

My dad has a thing about hippos, I don’t really know why, and like most idolisations, I don’t think he can explain it either.

He wanted a handmade card for his birthday, so I was happy to hippo it up for him using these new inks I’m sweet on.

Since discovering my inks and in particular my beloved Indian ink wasn’t vegan friendly, I decided to find replacements. It thankfully didn’t take me long to find an almost identical alternative, Daler Rowney’s FW acrylic ink! It is silky smooth, glides across the paper, doesn’t clog my inking nibs and is literally a drop in replacement for Indian ink.

It even does that awesome texture when you apply it to soggy paper making grainy, spontaneous clouds just like Indian ink. I’m glad it wasn’t a time and purse consuming search. The FW white acrylic ink in the same range is very good too and would recommend it over using white gouache for “poppy” highlights.

I probably should add that I wasn’t sponsored by Daler Rowney or any brands on my entire website, it’s all my own fumbling on the internet to find products that I enjoy using.

Front and back covers of my dad’s birthday card, using Daler Rowney’s FW acrylic ink and Stuart Semple watercolours.

Bones and Jellies

The winter is wailing on us hard now, the late summer months are foggy to a lot of people, but not for me. Taking up wild swimming in the spring (still not sure if I’ve mentioned it!) has made my life so much more fulfilling despite the numerous jellyfish stings I endured.

Being in nature is far more powerful than I imagined, seeing and being a part of it all has been an awakening. I’ve found even more stuff on the bays too! To read more, head on over to my blog Nemo by Sea.

Swallow Migration over the Sea

Yupo draft painting.

I’m utterly addicted to open water swimming now, not sure if I’ve mentioned it?

I know I’m a bore, but I think everyone would be as enthusiastic if they tried it too. Especially as in September I got caught up in a cloud of swallows flying straight into me as I swam out away from land.

Their ruby eyes taking me in as they swooped close as all birds seem to do when I’m out in the sea to satisfy their curiosity, and in turn I got to see how shimmery their blue armour was.

Even in late October I saw the odd, lonely, straggler which is strange. But I have plenty of other bird and mammilian company in the water …

So, Indian Ink isn’t Vegan Friendly ...

It was only until I was getting through my stocks of ink did this truth emerge. I needed a few inks and Indian ink and whilst looking around the web for the old favourites and doing a little more reading into how they are made, I came across the ingredient shellac.

Shellac originates from the lac beetle (Kerria lacca), they are found in India, Thailand and Southeast Asia and are farmed commercially for the resin the females produce when feeding on tree sap. This resin is secreted as a vital protective cocoon for the lifecycle of the beetle and its offspring. Once this has concluded, the cocoon-like resin is scraped off the tree branches along with some of the insects and refined further into shellac.

So it’s a similar process to honey, but not only is the honey taken and some bees crushed, but the farmed bees displace huge amounts of native pollinators in the habitats they are installed. In Asia, like any sort of farming practice there is a similar negative impact on the ecology, especially the monoculture of host trees and the eradication of the lac beetle’s natural predators, fungi, moth and wasp species, leading to a loss of biodiversity.

I’ve been vegan for over 10 years now, and I’m still learning and tripping up it seems. I know we must all be pragmatic, none of us live in a vegan world but still, I am very embarrassed about this. I was also surprised when my favourite brands like Winsor and Newton listed shellac in their drawing inks as a binder, I never even thought about that before. The shellac in Indian ink is for similar purposes and of course that delightful sheen is also accredited to the shellac.

Shellac is pretty widely used too, in varnishes, sealants, primers, even on fruit like apples in the supermarket. It’s just one of those niggly ingredients that isn’t often listed on products containing it which makes avoiding it all that more tricky.

All Indian inks contain shellac, and trust me I was desperate to find an Indian ink that didn’t! My only option now is that I will explore black acrylic inks and see how they fair, Indian ink was such a staple it’s going to be sad to no longer use it. I loved it so much … but there has to be alternatives and when I find a good one, I’ll be sharing it.

Please enjoy this lovely fat caterpillar I found in our “weed” filled front garden. It was about 10 centimetres long. I hope he grows into the beautiful convolvulus hawk-moth he ought to be, insects need our love and consideration too.

Foxgloves and Bluebells

My mum loves flowers and would frequently bore my sister and I to death with the names of them. I’m not really into flowers especially the commercially grown varieties — and pansies just plain freak me out.

But I made some simple paintings to accompany her new flower stall, with a few more likely to follow. I’d like to paint some dandelion, nettles and snails for her too but I wouldn’t like to give my mum another complex on top of the many she already has bringing me up!

Large Elephant Hawk Moth

In the summer our weedy garden and house was aflutter with these beautiful hawk moths, they look way too exotic for humble Blighty. You get this critter also in a smaller size namely the small elephant hawk moth, the more obvious difference is the pink stripe going down the back of the insect which is absent in the smaller, yellowy species.

I really enjoy these moths and can’t believe my eyes when I encounter them. I’ve yet to discover the ‘elephant trunk’ like caterpillar which gives this species its name. But sadly with the rapid urbanisation and large housing developments going on, tearing up the countryside in Kent, I suspect these will be an increasingly rarer sight. The neighbours don’t like it, but we’re trying to keep our garden healthily wild, you just don’t know what you’re missing when caking the world in turf, tarmac and cement.

Reluctant Snarling Wolf

Here’s another painting for the book my friend is writing about wolves. I’m allowed to use fantasy colours but not go too wild with the background. This guy will be named Talo and is the reluctant aggressor of the story.

No Brusho was used here which is against my nature but I’ll make up for it very soon with my next painting!

Sea Water Swallowing and Potatoes

I’ve been staring out at the North Sea for eight years, wondering if I’d ever take the plunge …

And I don’t think I ever would have, if it wasn’t for being inspired by all the wonderful things washing up on the various bays of Thanet. The plan was to take photographs, expecting the water to be crystal clear. The reality is like swimming in an ice cold cup of coffee, but it was still worth it. Read about my new finds and swimmy adventures in my Nemo by Sea blog!

June’s Chilly Painting

I’ve started open water swimming, inspired by my Nemo by Sea blog. When I started dipping my toe into the North Sea in late May, I was having a real problem with cold shock in the 12 °C water. Anyway, I found this polar bears picture on my computer and set about painting him on some scrap I had lying around.

I wonder if they even feel the chill leaping into that ice cold water of the Arctic? The water in the North Sea has risen 2 °C since I started swimming, but the water still takes your breath away every time.

A Bird Without Lines

This is a first for me, painting like an actual watercolourist, no hard black lines, no fineliner, just a pencil and watercolour paints.

Initially I was following an online watercolour course which went laughably and terribly wrong …
But that little mouse I painted before the tutorial gave me hope I could paint the bird better myself.

Using the reference image provided which happened to be an American robin (not that you could recognise from my first attempt), I feel like I have stumbled upon something much different. I guess online tutorials aren’t for everyone!

Oil and Block Printing Inks on Yupo

I have a bit of a war on my hands with Yupo, although I love its smooth texture and the way it makes paint swim and dance on its surface, I’m always trying to mess with it. Make it do things it doesn’t want.

I have this crazy idea that I can make Yupo perform similarly to a drypoint plate, except without the printing. I love the idea of carving out an image instead of building one up.

I find with watercolour I sometimes get bored with what I’m doing as I use too much water, making it take longer to dry and most efforts just go in the bin. On reflection, I may be a little abusive with all art materials …

I thought I’m going to give oil on Yupo another go to achieve a drypoint effect and contrast it against my watercolour on Yupo version.

As you can see I didn’t get too far with this. Although I initially loved applying thick, black layers of oil, scratching into it, and smearing it around, the heavier spots aren’t even dry and it’s been weeks. Applying watercolour or alcohol inks at this stage would be a disaster.

I also found that pulling and manipulating the oil around made my reference drawing disappear underneath as it was rubbed out of existence, which I did not like. It was also really messy, slippery and hard going, taking in the fumes from the turpentine all the while.

It’s a shame as I was liking the carved out polar bear head but the image was too much of an uphill struggle to really get rolling with it. One other thing I noticed, the coloured oil paints started to separate and go ‘gloopy’, which looked pretty awful.

Another experiment I tried was with water-based block printing inks. Contrasting this time with a regular watercolour on paper image. The aim with the Yupo this time was more of a mixed media experiment, I wanted to create that drypoint style whilst incorporating other materials I often use.

I firstly used alcohol inks to create more interest in the background (which I stripped as I found out that washing up liquid and alcohol inks don’t make for good bedfellows, oops).

I then applied the black, block printing inks to the image which started out as quite abstract but rather foolishly, I fell into old ways and boom a full rabbit head appeared. It’s easy to get carried away in art. After the block printing ink was dry I went in with watercolour, Brusho and ink to finish it off.

I’m not pleased with the image itself, but I am pleased that I could carve and manipulate the block printing ink with absolute control, without the stink and without waiting weeks for it to dry, easily thinning or removing the ink with water or washing up liquid for tougher areas.

Robin Arrival

I was looking out into the garden and along the fence, to my shock, was a robin with the steeliest eyes.

I don’t see many small birds around much with neighbours cutting away hedges and shrubs in favour of American dream style lawns.

This robin reminded me how little birds have to themselves. It made me very sad, and naturally, I made some small paintings. I really like these paintings and i don’t think the flat glare of the computer screen do them much justice. These A5 paintings feature crêpe paper, watercolour pencils and Brusho, and I’ve put them up in my shop in case someone likes them as much as I do.

Froggy Visitor

Over the summer we had another little visitor, one which thankfully didn’t need any intervention. Nemo begrudgingly donated his water bowl to this juicy frog found in our garden. I think I will paint him again much darker and tighter, I filled up the space on the paper with as much frog as possible.

I also was recommended a frog to paint by one of my dear commissioners, the bird poop frog! A tree frog like the name suggests disguises itself by imitating poop on a leaf. I would like to also paint a few more versions, frogs are gorgeous. The common frog and bird poop frog here are available in my shop.

Dunnock

This poor little dunnock, (also known as the hedge sparrow) booked herself in for an 11 day stay over the summer. We found her close to the promenade and didn’t want her plopping into the frigid North Sea so we took her home to release at a later point.

We bought her a cage and fed her meaty dog food every few hours until she was strong enough to fly and forage. As you can see, little fledglings grow fast and become completely wild with each day — a really good sign that she’ll be just fine.

We would have loved a wildlife rescue to raise her to full strength, but most rescue centres have closed down, so we tried to do the best we could for this brave, little dunnock.

I painted her adult form in watercolours, crêpe paper, pastel, Brusho and ink.

dunnock-1.jpg

Blue Hare Work in Progress

I’m working on this blue hare for an exhibition entry, I have my other three also painted with Brusho and watercolours but I think I needed a blue one. I’ve gotten so far and feel like it’s ready for recycling, the fate of many of the paintings I make. At least it is posted here, where it can live forever.

I think I’ll have a go with powdered charcoal and Brusho instead, I’m sure that will be more interesting.

Bird Trio Commission

red-cardinal-may21.jpg

These lucky birdies have a new home in Ohio. The trio features the red (northern) cardinal which is the the state bird of Ohio, the barn swallow and the American robin.

These were small A5, cold pressed watercolours painted mainly in Brusho and watercolour.

For fun I thought I would include a tragic photo of all the drafts to embarrass myself, why not?

Most of the time I just lose that ‘special feeling’ about artwork I make and just ditch it and make another one. I like to think I keep those kind people at *Canson and *St Cuthberts Mill in Rolex, haha!

*Not sponsored by the way, but highly recommended. They deserve their Rolexes anyway.