Sketch Book Stuff....

Went out with dip pen and ink on to the mean streets of Wakefield (well over by the retail units really), watercolour wash added later back at the studio.

Why Reproduce Reality...?

Today has been bad in that I had one of my headache and sickness days (I maintain, brought on by watching the film 'Syriana' with George Clooney). So although I have felt queasy and uneasy all day I am surprised that I have enjoyed drawing.

I attended a talk at Wakefield Art Gallery by William Rea a lecturer at the University of Leeds about 'Yoruba' sculpture and enjoyed it. I didn't know a thing about the subject, but connected on a base level with the use of the 'everyday' as a subject matter for their work.

Afterwards I went back to the studio, agonised about my role as an artist, then walked around Wakefield in the rain for a bit, I didn't feel any better headache wise but I started drawing these pages with a dip pen and ink and enjoyed the process. I was listening to the Sigur Ros (-) album as well, which added an 'other worldly' feeling to what I was doing, which is something I want in my work. Why reproduce reality when you can add to it (I like that bit so much I'll use it as the title for this entry?

Problem Solved......

I have a problem with the paper rolls unwinding themselves from the drawing board spindles, so I commissioned Helen to go and find me the finest paper roll clips in Wakefield. From the photo, you can see she did admirably, (who would have thought that there is a demand for paper roll clips like this in Wakefield?)

From Sketchbook to Wall....

Photographing this work is difficult with the level of light in the studio, I had to adjust these photos in Photoshop to get rid of the 'greyness' and to represent what the images look like more accurately.

The thing with enlarging a sketch is that it stops being a sketch and becomes a drawing. I am not using a 'device' to enlarge these images from the sketchbook, it's all done by 'eye' alone. The drawing of 'technician Dave up a ladder' for instance, I pencilled him five or six times, each time erasing the pencil drawing because the proportions were horrendously out from the sketchbook. The sketch and the drawing both have a unique quality about them, with the finished drawing being the best representation of the original sketch.

LEFT: Detail from the 'Free Bus' image

(See Thursday 15.11.2007. below for the original sketch of this drawing).

The bigger drawing take longer to do which gives me time to think about adding and editing the image as I work on it. My original sketch didn't show the reflection of the woman's face in the bus window, I thought it needed something to make the back of her head a bit more human.

First Drawings on the Paper Roll

At last, I have bitten the bullet and started drawing on the first roll of paper. When lighting conditions permit I'll get a close up photo of the line work. The paper is great to draw on, smooth and white, this bit of drawing took 8 hours to complete, I was nervous and questioning every mark I made, plan all you like but the actual 'doing' is nothing like you think it will be.
(MATERIALS: I am using Artline Calligraphic 2.0 Pens to go over rough pencil guide lines, then using Rohrers ink and a size 8 Winsor & Newton brush to fill in the blacks, adding a number 4 warm Grey maker pen for a bit of tone. Easy!?)

Life in Wakefield Drawings.....

After all these studio shenanigans I get around to doing some drawings in my sketch book.

New Studio... Continues

Finally got a role of paper delivered to try out the turning mech for the drawinhg board. The paper was suppossed to be 1.2 x 10 metres but turned out to be 1.5 high instead. I like it though and think the scale is right for the both the drawing and the space it's going into.

This is me to give a bit of scale, I'm 6 foot (ish). The paper acts well against the board and is rigid enough to stay in place flat against the board. The paper sits on turntables either end of the drawing board so that I can move the paper back and forth as I work on it. Well that's the plan, I am still staring at the paper in terror not knowing what the first mark shall be. talking to people it seems I should just get on with it and not worry about making mistakes, I can always order more paper, right?

Studio Views

Looking out the front of the studio.

And to the right. The main reason for getting this space is to document the changes in the city over the next six months, I think this is a pretty ace spot to do it from.

Westgate Studio in Wakefield

My new studio, early days yet.

8 x 4ft drawing board with spindles waiting for the roll of paper to arrive.....

Outside the supermarket.....

I met this man outside Sainsbury's last week and he started chatting away while I was repacking my bag and unlocking my bike from a rail. It's amazing how many topics can be covered in a short space of time when you remember a conversation.

Morphing Pumpkin Heads

Click on the image.... go on I dare you.....

Last night was spent out in the garden eating baked potatoes and cheese and our good friend Justin, bwahahaha. The idea was to fill the b-b-q up with fire and huddle around it for warmth but the evening was so mild the 'huddling' only started towards the end of the evening. Afterwards we slumped on the couch and watched Dark City, my favourite film of all time.



Justin was taking photographs in the dark and this was the weirdest, particles in the air illuminated by the flash, or souls from beyond paying us a visit?