Thursday, 27 February 2014

getting to grips with spring

Apt that in the week when the first of our crocuses and daffodils come into bloom I find myself working on Printemps - the French word for spring!

After discovering I'd been drawing it in equal linear rows I went back to the start and relearned it. And suddenly I saw how much more pleasing it could be. Noticing the subtle (and not so subtle) differences between Tagh and Printemps has made me like them both a fair bit more.

To celebrate I made a tile using only Printemps - the all new Printemps, in all it's free flowing glory.



I wrapped a couple of straps around a wobbly outline and filled it. Some of my Printemps are tight and tiny and have gaps between them. Others are larger but huddle closer together. I popped a bit of colour on two of the quarters.

I also took the opportunity to try out another contender from my paper sample pack. I'd seen a few people using coloured paper and fancied doing the same. In the pack there was a sheet of Cream Tinted Bockingford Watercolour paper (300gsm). It looked rougher than the paper I usually used so I worried that my pen wouldn't like it - but it gave me no trouble at all. However when it came to shading the pencil seemed to stick in the textured surface and refuse to blend. I resorted to a technique I've seen others use and shaded a little with a pen instead.

To me it looks like a shore based gift. Someone in a rush to get to a party, having forgotten a present, picks up something from the sand - a rock, a sponge, a salty something. And if the recipient was me, that would be a wonderful gift to receive.

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