Three butterflies were resting on the flower. After a long play in the air and a drink of nectar they felt like sitting quietly for a moment, enjoying a sunshine. – Look at those thick prickly funny wriggly worms down there, – said one beautiful butterfly to another. – Oh, yeah. Look at them crawling, […]
Looking for your own face
Poetry Chaikhana blog (one of my perennial favourites) sent today a post with a poem by Farid ud-Din Attar. It says: “You can never see your own face, only a reflection, not the face itself.” …and I had a little recognition moment – “That’s what it is!” That’s probably the reason I am obsessed with portraits. They […]
Young Children Portrait Drawings
Last week I had portrait drawings commissioned. There is a nice continuity to it – a little more than a year ago I drew the older child, Isobel, who at the time was a tiny baby. And now I met her again (big change!) together with her little brother Sam. I hope I get to […]
Portrait Drawing Session
Portrait sketches of baby Isobel. Example of a portrait commission resulting in a portfolio of quick drawings. [flagallery gid=9 name=”drawings”] This portrait commission requires a life sitting and takes between 1.5 to 2 hours. Although the term “sitting” is used here rather loosely. I had several portrait commissions where I had to draw children. Of […]
Peter Spencer
Peter Spencer came with two boxes of eggs. Said that his “girls” were broody, which isn’t good. At this kind of weather (spring, nice) they want to nest, become pecky and don’t eat properly. No good. One led to another, I mentioned the dreaded Japanese knot weed in our neighbour’s garden. Peter asked to have […]
You may also like
Being me.
Reminding myself of my one and only job -being me. Sometimes it means spending days on my own, in silence, in idleness, just staying in synch with God – the way I used to, when I was a child.
Video Introduction to Intaglio Printmaking
I found this brilliant video introduction to Intaglio printmaking on Youtube: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNKn4PORGBI&w=640&h=510%5D Very well-edited and informative video clip. Mezzotint is one of Intaglio printmaking techniques. Strictly speaking, it is a drypoint, as the image on the plate is formed by roughening the surface of the plate and then smoothing some areas, as opposed to […]
Video Clip “Women in Art”
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUDIoN-_Hxs&w=640&h=510%5D by Philip Scott Johnson 500 Years of Female Portraits in Western Art Music: Bach’s Sarabande from Suite for Solo Cello No. 1 in G Major, BWV
Mezzotint and more… Margaret van Patten
While looking for artists working in mezzotint, found an amazing art by an artist Margaret van Patten. Paper Thin photo by Harold Hutchinson Etching with mezzotint The image is rich in content – messages from conscious and subconscious levels merge in an emotional and elegant manner. The technical diversity the artist applied to creating the […]
Mezzotint. How Many Proofs?
I seem to be managing with less proofs now than I used to. Some prints took around 20 or more stage proofs before the final image. Especially the larger portrait mezzotints, like “Girl by the Window”, “Mother and Child” and “Alina’s Faces”. The smaller and less detailed mezzotints were finished with 4-7 proofs. I put together […]
