Adventures In Drypoint, redux

Back in July I promised a drypoint etching on this blog (thought I’d forgotten, eh?). Well, here it is! I promise, I deliver–even if the delivery comes 7 months later. But hey, this is why my readers have to faithfully keep checking in on my little blog. You never know what you might find next, amiright?

Ok, down to business.

“Lora 2” – drypoint etching on Stonehenge paper & Akua inks. ©Katie Kath 2023.

One of the reasons why this post was so long in the works was because after an initial failed attempt (and two sore wrists later) at doing a drypoint print sans printing press, I was simply fed up with how limited my printmaking sessions could be without an etching press to do the job.

I’ve been dabbling in various printmaking methods for years–mostly linoleum and woodblock prints, which are pretty forgiving when it comes to hand-pressing–but I have always ended up disgruntled from constantly being hobbled by the nature of the beast: hear me out! There are some printing techniques that are, in my opinion, unachievable without a press, especially if you want to save your wrists and your sanity (and since I’m a mother and I’ve already lost half of my sanity I would like to keep the rest of it, thank you very much!)

The finished sketch of “Lora”, ready to be engraved into plexiglass.

Pictured above are a few process shots from my first attempt to hand-press this etching. Even when using thin Japanese kozo paper, which works quite well for block prints, the print came out blotchy and uneven. Comparing the etching plate (left) to the final print (right), you can see how so much of the ink was still left on the plate, even after intense rubbing with the baron AND a metal spoon.

So, I bit the bullet and finally did what I’ve been wanting to do for years: I bought a small press from Blick.

Meet my new baby, Little Mr. 906.

Is it a Takach press? Only in my dreams. (Oh, how I lust after those presses!) But let me tell you, this little beauty has turned out to be quite the gem with a fairly inexpensive price tag. Last evening I tore some nice, thick Stonehenge paper, let it soak a bit, and ran three prints through the press and so far this bad boy does deliver. Behold!

I decided to tint the last one with some colored pencils after the print dried overnight because, why not? The worst I could do was screw up a print, and obviously I can now make many more without the fear of sore wrists hanging over my head.

I think I’ve definitely fallen head over heels for that little blue press. I cannot wait to do more printing! As always, stay tuned.

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A Post Dinner Sketch

With company over last weekend and this week shaping up to be very full as well–we have a toddler starting a Mommy and Me gymnastics class and a husband who has started school again–I haven’t found the energy to post something lately.

“Playtime for Little Ones” – © Katie Kath 2022. Do not reproduce without permission.

So: for now, here is a quick sketch of M., happily stacking plastic rings after dinner this evening.

Good night!

A Bit of Opera

“Dreamland” – pastel on paper. Katie Kath 2022. Do not copy or reproduce without permission.

Tonight’s drawing of my snoozing son is inspired by a sweet aria entitled Evening Prayer from the opera, “Hansel and Gretel,” by Engelbert Humperdinck. (And no matter how beautiful the music is, I cannot for the life of me get over that name. What did his mother call him? Lil Dinkey? What did his friends call him? Bert? Did he have any friends named Ernie?)

I digress. To the point, it’s a wonderful lullaby and a dreamy tune, with lyrics which I will inscribe herein:

When at night I go to sleep, Fourteen angels watch do keep, Two my head are guarding, Two my feet are guiding, Two are on my right hand, Two are on my left hand, Two who warmly cover, Two who o’er me hover, Two to whom tis given to guide my steps to heaven.

Sleeping softly then it seems, Heaven enters in my dreams; Angels hover round me, Whisp’ring they have found me; Two are sweetly singing, Two are garlands bringing, Strewing me with roses, As my soul reposes. God will not forsake me when dawn at last will wake me.

More Pastel Adventures + VIDEO!

Happy Saturday! I know it has been several days since I have posted, but hopefully the wait will have been worth it since I had to spend some time filming and troubleshooting a: (drum-roll please…) time-lapse video for the first time ever!

That’s right, folks. Today you get to see one of my drawings come to life before your very eyes–several hours worth of work blitzing by in a matter of seconds for your viewing pleasure! (And maybe for your inspiration as well.)

“Taming the Wildfires” – © Katie Kath 2022. Do not reproduce without permission.“

As you can see in the video, this piece is a bit larger and more involved than most of the work I have been posting here of late, so it was filmed over two days. Unfortunately, on the second day my filming angle got a bit off-kilter, but you get the bonus of seeing my wonderful mother-in-law drop in to chat with me about family resemblance and the dog chase our cat out of the frame (Ah, family life!)

As a double bonus you get to hear my lilting voice describe a few of the techniques I’m using so any viewer can take those little nuggets of knowledge and apply them to their own pastel adventures, too.

Happy painting!

Lora In Pastel

“Lora” – pastel on paper. © Katie Kath 2022. Do not reproduce without permission.

There is something about pastel to which I keep getting drawn. (Yes, yes, very punny.)

Maybe it’s because it is a drawing implement that you actually PAINT with, (and that is, in fact, its proper term–if you use pastel, you say that you “paint” with it, as opposed to drawing with it.) yet there is not water or brush involved.

It’s like the best of both worlds, sans drying time and plus portability.

I’m sure I will be painting with them more.

Sticky August Sketching

“Bethany And Her Daughter” – graphite. @Katie Kath 2022.

I got a nice opportunity this morning to do some sketching from life when my friend Bethany and her daughter, N., came over to feed our chickens some leftovers. The girls (the chickens) know them by now and will stampede them as they walk through our backyard gate like ravenous, feathery, pint-sized heat-seeking missiles that haven’t eaten for weeks.

It’s always an interesting challenge when drawing from life in a setting that is absent from the comforts of air-conditioned interior spaces with convenient places on which to sit–the act of being outside in sticky humidity only August can achieve, balancing a sketchbook with no lap for aid while swatting away mosquitoes and sweating in places you never even knew you could sweat somehow drums the drawing experience into your brain, engraving it into your memory in the way photos cannot: because I drew this series of sketches, I can promise you I will remember this day specifically, how hot it was, and that fact that it rained the night before.

That’s the power of drawing, folks.

Selfie in Sfumato

“Self Portrait” – conte crayon on toned paper. © Katie Kath 2022. Do not reproduce without permission.

No, I didn’t get contacts, I ditched those back in college. Drawing glasses can be a real pain and sometimes they just doesn’t look good in a drawing, so, there you have it: me, sans spectacles.

I wanted to make a drawing using a “sfumato” technique, mostly because a) I love how it sounds and b) I love how classical it always makes a drawing look, and I was in a classical sort of mood.

I actually just about gave up on this piece because I wasn’t sure if I liked the direction in which it was going (and am still not sure how I feel about the finished product) but I figured I got this far so I might as well finish the thing because any drawing is good practice.

Possum Watch

Y’all, we got possums in the crawlspace.

Aside from the fact that the above sentence sounds like either a bad book title or something a hillbilly might tell his doctor when asked what is ailing him, we do, in fact, have a whole family of possums lurking in our crawlspace.

We first caught a possum on a Ring camera we have outside, and after several nights we noticed one possum became two, then four, then six, and then one large one started carrying some nesting material back and forth with its tail. Obviously, this posse of possums found a great piece of real estate and they were MOVIN’ IN.

We will probably end up calling someone to relocate them, but in the meantime we had a fun date hanging out back in the cooling breeze of a summer sunset, waiting to see if any of our new possum friends decided to poke its head around the corner and greet us.

Spoiler: none of them did.

Keep It Simple, Sweetie

“Connie Seated II” – marker in Strathmore sketchbook. © Katie Kath 2022. Do not reproduce without permission.

I love getting out all of my toys to draw.

It can be very hard sometimes to limit myself to just a few implements, and there is something to be said for “kitchen sink drawings,” however, it is often best to just grab a couple of markers or a pen or a pencil or whatever is in front of you and go to it, especially when time is of the essence.

For example: this drawing was done in about 10 minutes flat, as my friend sat on the couch and tried to distract my toddler while he was angrily flinging books in my face, slapping my knees with toys, and getting increasingly more agitated at my lack of attention.

Needless to say, I drew FAST.

And honestly? I think this is one of my better drawings. So: once again, less is more, and I’m back to trying to heed the advice of Martin Salisbury of letting the “approach serve the drawing’s purpose” and no more.

Does It Make A Good Drawing?

“Two Girls Seated” charcoal, pastel – © Katie Kath 2022. Do not reproduce without permission.

Often, the most bland photographs make for the best drawings. (Likewise, the best photographs make the worst drawings. No one looks good in a drawing when they are smiling. EVER. And I stand by that!)

Take this one, for example.

As I said in a prior post, it is best to draw from life–especially if you aren’t very familiar with drawing the human figure–but this is not always possible once you step outside of art school. People generally have very little time or patience to sit for long periods of time like a paid model is willing to do.

This picture was just a snap shot, one of those you take with your phone that you’ll likely completely forget about soon afterwards. However, it stood out to me in a way that all of the other smiling family portraits did not. The composition of the figures, the positioning of the limbs and fabric (ok, I added the stripes. Artistic license.) and the contemplative look on both girls’ faces screamed to be turned into a drawing.

I’m glad I did.