Conkers

Conkers 

I have finished the coloured pencil portrayal of conkers or horsechestnuts. It is 5x7 inches. 

I did some miniatures in coloured pencil, based on the horsechestnut tree last year and I wanted to do a larger version. I thought I had finished it last year but when I looked at it last week I decided I could do a better job of the shadows. 

I used Zest-it pencil blend to reduce the rough areas of shadow, then I left it to dry until next day. Then I was able to blend fresh shadows on top of the traces. 

I described in early February, how I built a barricade to protect my artwork from the cat. Well it stopped working. The cat insists on sitting on my lap. So I spent the weekend setting up my smaller artwork "studio" in my bedroom/cat-free zone. Now I have the painting of the bronze cat still life set up and I was able to get back to it this afternoon. I also set up two 5x7 inch pen and ink drawings of my favourite horse model. There is no ink on them yet. I will be able to work on them while I am waiting for paint to dry!

I have put the other pen and inks away for a while. They are wolves and big cats so they will wait. 

My downstairs studio has my easel for big paintings. I will stand to work on them so the cat won't be able to sit on my lap. I am waiting for my leg to become stronger before I can do that. I have been having trouble with walking and standing this winter which is one reason I have been concentrating on the small pen and inks. 

Wolf with cubs in her den drawn in pen and ink.

I have been moving my art studio downstairs and I had buried my scanner under a heap of paper which is why I have only just been able to scan this 6 x 4 inch pen and ink drawing of a wolf with her cubs in a den under tree roots. 

I have wanted to do this subject for a long time and eventually I decided that I must do it now. It is the one subject that I would regret if I had not done it at the end of my life. Now I can look for another subject to inspire me, but first I am going to do another larger version of the wolf den in colour. 

I love working in pen and ink. I recently bought a second Platinum fountain pen to use with waterproof carbon ink. Yes these pens are designed with a cap that stops them from drying up though it is necessary to use it every day or so with the carbon ink. I bought the pen with the ultra fine nib for my small drawings. I love the feel of the pen in my hand and the delicate lines that it can produce. 

I needed fine lines and control to draw the wolf and her cubs. The cubs in particular were a huddle of legs and noses. It was difficult to sort them out. I think there are four cubs there. It may have helped if I coloured the tongues pink but I thought that would look silly. 

Gold Leaf

Gold leaf diversion 

I have finished the wolf den in pen and ink but I have not had time to scan it. I have been finishing a piece of furniture that I built, and tools and other things are still sitting on top of the scanner. 

The furniture was built to hold a Nichiren Buddhist mandala called a Gohonzon. 

I started with an IKEA children's storage system because it was exactly the right size. 

The inner cupboard is made of African mahogany. I don't know what that is but it is a beautiful colour. 

The inner cupboard needed a new back, and for a long time I have dreamed of having the back coated in gold leaf. So I ordered the gold leaf and acrylic size from L. Cornelissen & Son because their website was easier to understand than others I looked at. I chose the extra thick gold leaf in hopes that it would be less fragile. After all this was my first attempt at proper gold leafing. 

I bought a big board of Ampersand Claybord because I thought it would make a great surface to gold leaf. It was. 

I thought I should let you know what I learned in case you are thinking of trying gold leaf yourself. 

I bought transfer gold leaf. The leaf is held on a wax paper, and each leaf is between the pages of a booklet. It is easy to handle and doesn't need any special tools. 

The acrylic size was in a bottle and the instructions said to leave it 15 minutes then it would stay tacky indefinitely. 

My advice, having learned from my mistakes, is: don't apply the size beyond the area that you want gold leafed, and apply the size as smoothly as possible. 

The gold leaf only sticks to the sized area. It doesn't stick to the area that already has gold on it. So you don't need to be too precious about it, and you can touch in any gaps in the gold by applying the left over bits on the wax paper. 

Because of the stickiness that was definitely persistent I had to varnish the gold leaf surface. This brings me to the last crucial lesson. The wax on the paper leaves a trace of itself on the gold and water based acrylic varnish doesn't like wax. I don't know what you can use to clean off the wax without taking off any gold. I just persevered with coats of varnish. One area ended up a bit lumpy but I don't think it will show when the mandala is hanging in place. 

I was left with one entire leaf of gold which I photographed (above). I intend to incorporate it into a miniature in the Nihonga style. I have put it away safely until I am inspired by a subject. 

Work in progress: The Wolf Den

The Wolf Den work in progress 6 x 4 inches 

It may be small but there is a lot of work in this pen and ink of a wolf and her cubs in a den under tree roots. So I am showing the work in progress. 

I am drawing it behind the barricade that fends off the cat. But today he peeped round the back of the barricade to see what I was doing. I was getting ready to protect the drawing when he kind of sniffed and went back to sleep. 

I have wanted to do a drawing or painting of the wolf den for many years but I deferred it because I had commissions. Eventually that old question came up: if you knew you were going to die tomorrow, what would you regret not doing. For me the answer was so clear. I would most regret not having done this subject. 

The second thing was that I bought a new "best" pen so I bought some carbon ink cartridges for my old best pen and my hand was itching to draw with it. That is why I have started with a pen and ink of the subject. 

I have also bought an Ampersand claybord to do a painted version. But that will have to wait until the itch to use my pen stops nagging at my hand. 

Solving unusual problems

I rescued a cat last November. He had been recovering from his injuries and had mainly been sleeping under the table. Now he is recovering fast and favours sleeping on the table. He is also lively enough to take an inconvenient interest in what I am doing (and eating). 

Yesterday I moved my acrylic painting upstairs out of Jet's way. I thought that using my downstairs easel slope for pen and inks would take up less space with a big cat lying on the table. 

So yesterday I tried to work on a pen and ink drawing that had been put away for a while. 

Jet stepped on it and when I tried to stop him I got scratched and he threatened to bite me. 

Today I had to find a solution that would allow me to draw without a confrontation. I climbed into the attic to try and find materials to make a barricade. I found an old slatted shelf and some bits of wood and the remains of some very old wood glue. 

Here is the result (with cat):

What I've been doing.

I have been updating my website. 

I made my last website on a computer that died and I hadn't backed up the files. So I had to start again. And this time I have made it responsive down to mobile size. I hope it works. 

It is the same url of course. 

http://www.jenkirby.co.uk 

I had the gold and red logo for many years and I felt it was time for a change. I tried my artworks against many different coloured backgrounds and picked the one that set off both the coloured ones as well as the black and white ones. It turned out to be my favourite aqua tone and I was inspired to use toning dark green for the banner and link buttons. 

I would love to know what people think about the new colours. 

I have also added two more galleries. I have added miniatures and the bigger pen and inks that I worked on in 2015. 

It was harder work than I expected and took me much longer so I haven't done as much art as I would have liked to do. 

I have been working on a still life painting of a small statuette reproduction of the Egyptian cat that inspired the portrait of Bastet the cat goddess shown in my Animals gallery. I have added some semi precious stones in shades of blue, green and brown and a chunk of Connemara marble. 

I hope it isn't long before I finish it and show it here. 

Sheila's Eye

Portrait of Sheila's Eye 

I did this Conté of a mare's eye on Canson Mi Teintes paper for my own pleasure. 

Although one thinks of Conté as being a drawing medium, I think of myself as painting with it. 

I would very much appreciate comments from anyone with knowledge of horses to tell me where I have made errors with the anatomy. I must have made some errors. It is impossible to be perfect. For example, is her hair growing in the correct directions? I had to work from photos and, as she is nearly black, it was hard to see the details. 

One thing that isn't the same as the photograph, is the reflection in her eye. I would have loved to show a meadow but the reflection showed a car park (well two cars anyway). 

I hope to have an opportunity to do another horse's eye but next time with a nice decorative reflection.