Monday, October 26, 2015

Build up blossoms

It's the build up, the hot and humid time of year when people go troppo waiting for rain. We did have some early showers in September but nothing in October and the heat is building... the plants don't care though, heaps of trees burst into blossom at this time of year.

Here are some photos of a flower spike on my galangal (Thai ginger) plant, I've been growing them for a few years but haven't noticed them in flower before.






And some photos of the blossom trees I saw on my walk this morning.





And a drawing from my big sketchbook.


Monday, October 5, 2015

foam print cards

It's interesting working in different mediums how an idea will jump across from one to another, and I don't mind if the best version is a 'substantial' painting, a journal page that no-one sees, a lino print or a card.

One morning last month I made some foam prints based on my latest little paintings and sketchbook pages. Foam prints are so simple, no need for sharp tools or special equipment, you just draw into the foam sheet with a pencil and then they are ready to print. I print them with acrylic paint with retarder medium mixed in to slow down the drying time, and use a foam roller. I printed a big batch of prints.






Since then I've been colouring some in with coloured pencils and collaging them onto cards. Hand colouring is time consuming but very calming and I enjoy it, it's an activity I can fit into little 5 or 10 minute windows of time, eg before work, or in the evenings when I don't have the energy for anything serious!