catkins and narcissi II
bringing the zing
New Year, eh? That time of making ridiculous vows like not eating cake, going for massive runs, etc etc…well, I’ve made one of those daft resolutions, only with painting. Each month in 2022, I will be creating nine new paintings and offering them up for sale via folksy on the last day of the month, each month.
This sounded quite manageable until I did the maths and worked out it was a hundred and eight paintings in 2022. Phew! But then again, a hundred and eight opportunities to do something I really love doing - how great is that?
So we are kicking off the New Year with a haul of wintery sunshine blooms and winter veg, and my goodness, how much I have enjoyed splashing yellow and purple ink ALL OVER the place, bringing the zing into our little studio in Colyton, raiding my hedge for these wonderful catkins. If you should purchase this particular painting, the catkin pollen is a extra free gift as it got all over the painting in clouds every time I accidentally nudged the vase of flowers…you’re welcome.
finding the colour
For these paintings, I’m using either deepest black india ink or dark grey acrylic ink to make the bones of the drawing, all drawn with a handmade reed dip pen.
Once I have the structure of the painting down, I create a palette of vibrant acrylic inks and then start bringing the whole thing to life, with a really big brush to stop everything getting too fussy. Sometimes it feels to me like if you blink you miss things like the catkins, or the first snowdrops - these little moments of enjoyment. So for me it feels right to be drawing them in this loose, quick way before they have a chance to change.
The inks I use are super bright and colourful but recently one of the other artists I share a studio with has taken to hand-making inks from natural ingredients - I can’t wait to try some of them out because the colours are incredible, earthy and warm and full of texture.
february flowers
As February is about to begin, I’m already looking round for my next nine subjects. Got a favourite Spring bloom? Anything interesting coming up in your garden or veg patch? Do let me know, it might just end up in February’s nine.