Midnight Slumber linocut

I took a few days away from my cow painting (moo) to fiddle with this image as a linocut. I’m still pleased with the figure but I’m not happy with the sky. I may jigsaw a new sky or I might just start again. I did a quick test print last night and, based on that, spent some time cleaning up the plate today. The extra prep time made this evening’s printing session very smooth and satisfying -- no troubleshooting, great ink coverage, etc. For the first time, I used a rolling pin as my “press” and I think it contributed a lot to the excellent ink coverage.

The top image is a shot of the print on a dark background so you can see the paper fibres. The lower image shows the print alongside the plate.

Figurative study

I’m hashing out some ideas for a figurative piece I’d like to paint.   This image is a pencil sketch with some digital colour added. I might explore this further with my new pastel set this evening... or I might just dive right into the painting.

Moo. That is all.

The poured paint was a-flowin’ on Friday night but the end result was a spectacular failure. So bad I could only laugh at it. Not only was it boring, the canvas wasn’t level on the table so when I returned to it after a break, most of  the paint had poured off. Apparently I bought very spiteful paint.

Anyway, that whole mess was gessoed over on Saturday. And tonight, to ensure the fiasco was well and truly covered up, I parked a cow on top of it. No one’s getting past this cow.

It’s just some shadows and outlines right now. More to come.

Moo.

The perils of reenactment

My latest cartoon for the Northeast Avalon Times... pick one up if you’re in the area!

A history of violet

My wife is enabling my paint pouring addiction... she bought me a gaggle of fluid acrylic colours for my birthday. I did three last night. One was dud but I was happy with these two.

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Gnarly trophy

This afternoon I spent a few hours at my buddy’s place chainsawing trees felled by our recent storm, Leslie. We came across this burl which I snagged as a trophy. Right now I’ve got it out in the sun slathered in linseed oil.

Theatre flats finished (?)

For a little context, these flats will be sitting behind a set of French doors on stage. As a background piece, I think it works pretty well and my wife is pleased with it (phew!). I can’t help feeling like it’s crying out for a little more though. A flowerbed, garish fountain, statue ... something. Needs something to tighten up the composition and bring a little more colour. (Hence the question mark in the title.) There’s still plenty of time before opening night so this might get a little more lavish in the coming days. Otherwise, it’s finis.

Progress shots can be seen here.