Sketchbook Work...

My own photo taken at Old Hunstanton beach- Instagram

After seeing Karen Casper's work at the NEC it's a bit like a lightbulb has flicked on in my head. I am as interested in texture, as I am colour and pattern. To begin reflecting this I decided to have a session working textures and colours in my sketchbook based on sea-life from initial photos and the sea-life centre and the coast (fish scales, dripping water, limestone marks on cliffs).



My own photo on the beach at Old Hunstanton- Winter sun

I went crazy experimenting with Gesso creating surface texture by sploshing, embossing, drying and dabbing at the same time.

































These all worked well to give tactile textures so I developed further by adding colour into the Gesso with ink.



















I also decided to add laces, found scraps such as net this is my favourite due to the depth added via the netting- drawing takes on a sculptural feel.

Collage and papers have continued to be key in my drawing, after looking at Kurt Schwitters this has inspired me even more. I layered vintage embossed wallpaper, newspapers and book pages and added more texture and colour using Gesso and ink.

Again the more texture the better because of the 3D quality. The flatter single colour pages are definitely something I will now start to move away from.

 

I will use these drawings as reference points for embellishment texture as well as developing some of them into sublimation prints for my polyester shirts...

 

 

I will use these drawings as reference points for embellishment texture as well as developing some of them into sublimation prints for my upcycled polyester shirts...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Drawing Day

Been working on my initial drawings today. Loving the Kurecolour pens because they leak through to the bottom side of the paper and make that more interesting to work on than the top (blue fish). They also blend well either each other as in the shell drawings to produce interesting colour effects.

I also like the metallic inks I've been working with and the sequins, makes the work more exciting for me if its shiny!!

I don't like my drawing of the coral below, the inks look too blotchy and thick, I think I want to try using fine pens or a completely different media such as paper collage.

Using bleach to remove colour helps to capture the light you see in aquariums and reflections. I want to take this forward and explore further.