Derbyshire Open Arts, New Mills Town Hall 24th - 26th May.

On the road again.. Off to the High Peak District of Derbyshire.

All packed up, it just about all fits in. I really need a van.

Where I've come from.
This is the summit of Holme Moss looking back towards Holmfirth. A typical Spring day on the high Yorkshire Moors. If it was fine there would be a view all down the Holme Valley.

Where I'm going.
Looking down towards Woodhead. The weather could be better.

Lower down the hill, driving out of the cloud and the weather improves slightly. This is Woodhead in Longdendale.

The gig. New Mills Town Hall. In an area of stunning scenery that hither to I've sadly neglected to explore. I'm less than 40 miles from my home and I've  never been here before.

All set up and ready.

The exhibition opens tomorrow at 10.00am and runs until 5pm on Monday. Drop  by and say hello if you are in the area.

Scratching, Scraping and Burnishing

Haven't got a clue if I'm doing this right but something seems to be happening. I suppose all will be revealed (or not) when I get to the proofing stage. It's very hard to tell if I've scraped back enough or not enough so it is impossible to even guess how it will print. I'm beginning to wish that I had picked a less ambitious subject for a first go though. Especially as this is something that I've already tried and failed to do as a linocut.

Etal Castle, Northumberland

Etal Castle
11 colour reduction linocut.
270mm x 169mm
Edition of 10.
£110.00 Unframed.

A bit of a rushed one this. I had 8 prints ready for the Biscuit Factory Summer Exhibition in Newcastle. Then at the last minute decided to do another one. This was intended to be a simple 5 colour print but as usual I kept adding colours as I played around with the texture on the stonework. Just finished it in time, finally framing it on Friday evening ready for delivery to Newcastle yesterday morning.

This is the Gatehouse of Etal Castle near Wooller, not far from the Scottish Border. The print is available to purchase from my Folksy Shop here

Kittiwakes

Finished the Kittiwake Print

Kittiwakes at Braidcarr Point, Seahouses, Northumbria.
11 colour reduction Linocut.
170mm x 270mm
Edition of 9.
£110.00 unframed.

Started out with 10 prints but got sloppy with the registration on one of them so I'll have to make do with only 9 in the edition. It was my own fault, I was paying too much attention to the CD player and not enough to what I was doing. Now to get one framed up and ready for delivery to the Biscuit Factory in Newcastle for their Summer Exhibition. This should have been the last print to finish for this but I don't have to deliver them until a week on Saturday. So just maybe there is time to do one more. Providing I don't get too carried away with the number of colours.

This print is now available from my Folksy Shop here.

Nearly finished

Colours  8,9 and 10. A sequence of progressively darker greys to bring out the form and texture of  the rocks.

One more final dark and the print will be finished.

Kittiwakes

Starting a new print. There is very little preparatory work on this one as apart from one minor alteration to the foreground bird I've lifted it from my original field sketch.

 Colour 1

First colour is a very pale grey, followed by a slightly darker grey.

Colour 2

Colour 3

Colour 3 is a sandy yellow colour with a patch of lemon yellow rolled on for the foreground birds beak. Looks a bit scrappy but much of this will be hidden by the next colour.

Colour 4

A darker sandy yellow.

Colour 5.

A warm grey, the base colour for the shadowed rocks and the gulls backs.

Colour 6

Colours 6 and 7, two blues. Looks quite garish at this stage.

Colour 7

Colour 8

Another grey to pull it all back together. With apologies for some of the photographs which have glare from the still wet ink.

Bamburgh Castle

Finished the Bamburgh Castle print.

The Ancient Seat of Kings.
13 colour reduction linocut.
Edition of 9 prints + 1 Artists Proof.
252mm x 360mm.
£130.00 unframed and now available from my Folksy Shop