Salon Creadigol--it's more than meets the eye

We spent a lovely bank holiday weekend in Sir Ddinbych and walked up to an Iron Age hill fort Caer Drewyn. I spotted this beautiful but rather dilapidated cottage on the way back down and did this sketch from a reference photo.

6 Likes

There is private messaging, so please don’t share your email on a thread (anyone can see these threads).

To send a private message, click on the name of the person you want to write to and you should see a blue ‘message’ box in the pop-up box. Click on that and you’ll be able to send things in private.
When you have a private message in your inbox, you should receive a notification and you’ll see a green dot appear by your icon in the top right corner of the screen - click on your icon and you should be able to see the unopened message with a little envelope next to it.

1 Like

Yes, you can post it here, or even in the main forum if you wish (for a bigger readership).

1 Like

The cottage may be dilapidated, but you have transformed it into a ‘beauty to behold’—injecting life into the whole scene through your wonderful approach and style. Thank you!

—dilapidated—adfeiliedig
—dingy—tywyll
—disuse—anarfer

1 Like

Thanks Marilyn! You could tell some love had gone into the garden over the years, and the cottage looked as though it could be rescued if not left too long. The barns and outbuildings at the back were a different story though!
A shame to see really.

1 Like

Maybe consider posting it to the writing practice thread as well?

1 Like

Inspired by your work, I thought I’d give an ink drawing with wash a go….

The nib was too wide for the scale of drawing so the black lines dominate, unlike yours which are delicate—perfect. The ink began to run and smudge which was unintended, but useful in faking in shadows, shaping the rocks. Perhaps I should have used brighter washes to give it more life. Thoughts?

This is part of Glamorgan’s Jurassic shoreline—a favourite ‘beach’ for poking about in the tide pools—and twisting ankles on the slippery rocks as the tide goes out :smirk:

3 Likes

A little more ‘blush’ for this one, plus storm clouds gathering in the other direction…

2 Likes

Those are fabulous Marilyn! Pretty damn good for a first go with a new technique, I’d say!

One of these days I may just have to get my paints out again because everyone here is so inspiring, but it’s been a looooong time.

1 Like

Really love these Marilyn! I honestly don’t find the lines too dominant.
On my recent one, I did use a fountain pen with an extra fine nib. Which is fine when the ink chooses to flow, but they can choose to sulk on any given day! :sweat_smile:

1 Like

Here’s my latest sculpture. It’s called Cennog

I chose the name because the metal a) reminds me of lichen (cen) and b) is a piece of rust that I found whilst litter-picking in the village, which obviously fell off a vehicle. Cennog can mean “licheny” or “flaky”, so I thought that was suitable in all aspects!

4 Likes

I really like that Siaron, and it really does look like Lichen. Fantastic

2 Likes

Oh my, this is a masterpiece Siaron—you have used the rust to brilliant effect—and as you know, I am a big fan of rust. If I lived anywhere near you I would ask to buy it, or put in a bid, but maybe you do not want to part with it.

1 Like

You are very kind! Hm, fountain pen eh—didn’t think of that. Does the ink run if wetted by the paint, or just not crawl out of the pen sometimes? Temperamental!

Back to my current little challenge—working at postcard-sized pieces. I painted this from a series of sketches I made in Patagonia. I hope it counts, being a Welsh colony :wink:

Some of those sketches I have worked up into pretty large watercolours, like this one.

4 Likes

You need to buy waterproof ink that is safe for fountain pens (not acrylic or Indian ink). You can also get waterproof fine liner pens.

I’m using this Rohrer & Klingner Sketch Ink at the moment. A bit expensive, but not as pricy as some.

1 Like

Diolch yn fawr iawn.

I will give that a try, I did not even know it existed.

1 Like

Gwych!

2 Likes

Spent some lovely summer holidays here, many decades ago. Perfect beach for playing cricket, swimming and generally running around on the gently sloping beach. Too old for any of that now, but I did this painting a few years ago, looking across the bay towards Pen Dinas, to remind myself of how nice it was to dig one’s toes into the sand, feel the incoming tide lapping around my ankles and watch carefully constructed castles slowly disappear. Perhaps you’ve been there too? No, it’s not ‘Casnewydd’. It’s the other place with the same name yn Saesneg that’s west, not east, of Cardiff. The word ‘beach’ appropriately features in its name yn Gymraeg. Come on, that’s enough clues! :blush:
Sir Benfro = Pembrokeshire

3 Likes

I was there many decades ago too, but I was at the other end of the beach, so didn’t get that lovely view of Pen Dinas. It was for a regatta - and I won my race! The little ‘pot’ I got for winning says Pembroke rather than Trefdraeth though.

2 Likes