WORK IN PROGRESS...the sequel

For those of you who follow me on Instagram  you will be aware that at the beginning of August I ran a 3 day Sketch Book Master Class at the yard:ARTspace

As part of the workshop I develop a demonstration sketch book along side everyone. I completed 6 pages of the 20 pages in the book. Excited by the workshop I then announced to the world (well those following me on Facebook and Instagram) that I would complete the book doing a page a day.

Each day I spent no more that an hour. 

working on this document.

Keeping it small helps and adding eco dyed pages that speak for themselves takes the pressure off.

An hour a day means that the images begin to have their own confidence. A time limit means that less is more is a built in factor.

So where do I go now that I have formed this habit?

Into my A2 sketch book and work at a bigger scale. Here you can see the comparison.

How do I start a mixed media page? Especially a big one?

I randomly cover the page with gum arabic transfer prints, then Quink, then ink.

That will be the closest I get to abstract...as I will then start to draw my theme with white acrylic paint.

It is now difficult to explain how I work into this, but adding, covering and adding again using

paint, stencils and collage

until the image is doing what I want...

another difficult concept to explain.

Now where? Onto fabric I think...???

WORK IN PROGRESS I...

Looking over past blog posts, there is a pattern. When I have my summer break I experiment. Some times new images, but the past few summers I have found myself experimenting with new processes.

I made these mixed media drawings earlier in the year and

 have found myself sitting on the idea in the hope that inspiration will come. If you wait long enough something happens? I decided to photo copy the drawings and turn them into gum arabic transfer prints.

These are the results so far.

A series of layered prints on cotton.

Certainly works in progress. Something is missing.

I had a little break through by printing

onto a piece of eco printed fabric (another experimental obsession at the moment)

Now I need to see what will happen if I eco print into the earlier fabric samples.

Working progressively over several days back to back helps to generate ideas. It is no good for me to do a bit once a week, I have to be head down and work on ideas solidly over a number of consecutive hours, putting right things that go wrong and developing things that go right. Its getting over the little voice in my head that says, 'Nah don't bother'

What does your little voice say?