Happy Easter weekend! Sometimes it is better just to go for it and create a small piece of art especially if you are procrastinating a bit, so here is my funny little egg print.
Author Archives: DianeY
The Not-so-Vocal #Swan
I see these swans from Spring onwards on our nearby canal on my regular walks; they are called Mute Swans because they are not so vocal as other swan species. The serene beauty as they glide across the water hiding a ferocious guarding nature that you would not wish to mess with if their nest was nearby and they thought you a threat. They mate usually for life, and if you want to identify the male of a pair he is the one with the much larger knob on top of his orange beak.

Mute Swan on this morning’s walk © Diane Young

Sleeping Mute Swan 2019 at Coombe Hill Nature Reserve Glos © Diane Young
I have rarely painted a swan, but I found this very old painting which was intended to be part of a story called The Crow, The Castle and The Beanstalk. This is Gretel waiting to be rescued…..
Is the #Goldcrest a bit glum?
My walk today was bright and dry and full of birdsong. The usual suspects showed up robins, blackbird, blue and coal tits.

Blue Tit – © Diane Young
Along with crows and wood pigeon, and a crow’s encounter with a low flying buzzard dipping sideways to shake the crow off his tail. Our local canal has a resident heron who is very used to people walking the tow path; he continued his fishing activities unfazed in this morning’s sunshine.
One of my favourite bird calls is that of the Goldcrest. They are very small, our smallest european bird, and usually situated very high up in conifer trees. You might see them from below if you are lucky, but then only their olive coloured underside, and unless you learn their call you would not know that they were there at all. Their call is high pitched, jingling sound, listen here to find out what it sounds like…..
https://www.british-birdsongs.uk/goldcrest/
The goldcrest is a tiny cute little bird that looks slightly glum don’t you think?
Image royalty free from pixabay
Mighty Rook ~ #collagraph #birdart
Moving from painting colour to printmaking with colour is really difficult! Tiny bits of colour are creeping in here with my rook.
Blueprints #prussianblue #collagraph #printmaking #
It is coincidental that a printmaker’s single colour choice is often prussian blue and that this happens to be one of my favourite painting colours. Keeping the inks simple is best for me at the moment whilst trying to get the shade via the texture right, as well as the consistency of the ink, the paper and the press! Prussian blue’s history is extremely varied; if you are mad about colour history there is plenty of very interesting facts about Prussian Blue here.
Leaf Print #collagraph #prussianblue
Having collected a few bits and bobs before the summer ended I have a few dried leaves to test out on my printmaking journey.
Lichen trees in #Collagraph #Printmaking
What’s not to like about lichen?
In the Cotswolds lichen seems to be a bit difficult to find, plenty of moss but no obvious lichen, until you find it on your door step in a little packet sent from a kind friend in Scotland where it is in abundance.
I have to get a plan together quickly before it deteriorates!
Merry Christmas with #Collagraph Baubles
These are handpressed cutouts with textures added and using different coloured inks including the lovely gold! As I do not have a press these have been put together in photoshop taking up their correct positions in the universe. It would probably be a good idea for me to make some more Christmassy prints for next year right now as my Christmas creativity never gets started in time for the current year.
#Collagraph #printmaker experiments
So excited that my pebble tower turned out so well on a printing press at the New Brewery Arts centre; the others are a bit haphazard. I just so love the plates themselves, but printing by rubbing on the back of the paper even with a proper brayer does not have the sway and consistency of a printing press itself.
Christmas Fayre 8th December!
Curlew over Lower Burnmouth
My original inspiration for trying Collagraphy was coming across an image on a greetings card by Northumberland artist Carol Nunan and wondering how she produced such evocative work.
After a lot of research and several youtube videos later this image is one of my first ever collagraphs produced by hand. Needless to say this is not the only one as it takes several if not many goes to get a consistent and successful result. The beginning of a new creative journey!
Face to Face – Printmaking
This is one of my series of “Dancer” prints of a red crested crane. The image on the right is the plate that it was printed from. I love the plates almost more than the prints themselves. They are a piece of artwork in their own right with textures, carved lines and spaces and items stuck on, finished with a layer of shellac which produces the ochre coloured finish.
One problem I have encountered with printmaking unlike painting is reproducing it digitally here. Both scanning and photographs do not quite make the grade and (although I say it myself!) the images are much better in the flesh.
The wings are created by using a paper case used for cooking muffins.