JohnAltringham

JohnAltringham, 16 days ago to random

Laid low by a compressed sciatic nerve. Active recreation being impossible, I turned to painting. Mind and heart not in it until I remembered I hadn't done anything botanical for a long time... Autumnal sweet chestnut. Rusty painting of a rusty leaf. And a more practised autumn selection from the past.

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JohnAltringham, 19 days ago to random

I've run out of lemonwood blocks so wood engraving has ground to a temporary halt. I sell prints to help pay for new blocks:

https://johnaltringham.co.uk

Recent posts give the impression that I'm entirely obsessed with mountains. Not so! Here's three woodland scenes close to home in Ilkley, Yorkshire and Dunstanburgh Castle, Northumberland.

#WoodEngraving #printmaking

Wood engraving print in black ink. Ruined castle on coastal hill under a stormy winter sky. Wind-blown waves cross the bay in front of it.
Wood engraving print in black ink. Four elegantly curved pine trees on the edge of a moorland wood.
Wood engraving print in black ink. Woodland path of tree roots, bordered by woodland flowers, climbs to a stile across a collapsing fence.

JohnAltringham, 21 days ago to random

Back from a sunny Skye to a very wet Yorkshire. Sketching with walnut ink - ideas for new wood engravings.

The island of Rum from the Point of Sleat, Skye.

JohnAltringham, 26 days ago to random

Sunrise today, Isleornsay, Skye. Wind and low, racing clouds.

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JohnAltringham, 27 days ago to random

A quick portrait of one of the local pine martens.

I brought only two watercolour tubes with me, so can't do justice to its rich coat.

JohnAltringham, 27 days ago to random

5 am this morning, Isleornsay, Skye.

JohnAltringham, 28 days ago to random

Another day, another light on Loch Hourn across the Sound of Sleat. A calm, cloudy blue start, clearing over breakfast to a sunlit spring day. Great Northern Divers (loons) in the bay, swallows overhead.

A calm sea, with mirrored patches reflecting clouds and breeze-ruffled patches glittering in sunlight.

JohnAltringham, 1 month ago to random

We put a few nuts on a log outside the window this evening, for any pine martens that might be passing through... #Skye #PineMarten #ScottishWildlife

The same pine marten, head in full profile.

JohnAltringham, 1 month ago to random

Watching the interplay of landscape and light in NW Scotland. The aurora somehow failed to put on a show here, but perhaps they would have been a little too ostentatious.

Panoramic photo. Morning light peeps through blue-grey clouds onto a landskein of blue mountains in a silver-blue sea.

JohnAltringham, 1 month ago to random

The first swifts of the year are above the house.

JohnAltringham, 1 month ago to random

This evening, splashing the walnut ink about - some 5 min sketches.

More Scottish hills in loose walnut ink sketches

JohnAltringham, 1 month ago to random

This evening's light show over the garden, from a setting sun and a brief thunderstorm.

JohnAltringham, 1 month ago to HikingPics

The north-facing corrie of Lochnagar in the Cairngorms, Scotland. A 100x65mm wood engraving, first test print - a work in progress.

#mountains #Scotland #art #WoodEngraving #printmaking

JohnAltringham, 2 months ago to random

Exploring book illustration ideas - two wood engravings in progress:
Maiden Pap and Morven in Caithness, NE Scotland. Work needed on clouds and perhaps other areas. Time to think about it.
The island of Rum, NW Scotland, rising to a height of 6mm! I need a larger block for this one. I like working small but there are limits.

Wood engraving print in black ink. A long mountainous island seen from the sea, from a distance.Long clouds sit above the island. Pencil and engraving tool for scale.

JohnAltringham, 2 months ago to random

Two more wood engraving prints of Scottish mountains. Liathach, one of the Torridon red sandstone giants (left) and the unstable volcanic cliffs of The Storr (right).

JohnAltringham, 2 months ago to random

Another still, cool, misty day but the constant calling of curlews on the moor above spoke of spring. All images from our walks on Ilkley Moor in recent years.

Curlew in flight over moorland with a backdrop of valley fields and more moorland beyond.
Curlew in flight over moorland.
Curlew, large, moorland-nesting wader with a long, down-curved slender bill foraging in cottongrass.

JohnAltringham, 2 months ago to random

A small flock of long-tailed tits just passed through the garden. One foraged for 5 min against the dining room window, trying to get to the reflections of the plants in the glass. Or it was casing the joint.

Long-tailed tit, a small insectivorous bird, black, white and pink in a bush just outside a window.
Long-tailed tit, a small insectivorous bird, black, white and pink in a bush just outside a window.
Long-tailed tit, a small insectivorous bird, black, white and pink in a bush just outside a window.

JohnAltringham, 2 months ago to random

Forcan Ridge, NW Scotland, wood engraving, 65x100mm. Artist's proof.

My second re-used lemonwood block. Sanding to a fine finish again bevelled the edges, but less so than at the first attempt. Not a problem with careful inking and burnishing.

Wood engraving starts in the dark and you draw with light - initially odd, it quickly becomes second nature. More tricky is working on a mirror image of the subject. A flipped reference image helps.

Next - hopefully an error-free printing session.

JohnAltringham, 2 months ago to random

First test print, 65x100mm wood engraving. A little tidying up and the block is ready for final printing.

Another Scottish mountain in a growing series - Sgùrr na Forcan on the Forcan Ridge, Glen Shiel. A very nostalgic activity.

The engraved lemonwood block before printing.

JohnAltringham, 2 months ago to random

Afternoon walk in the local wood. Wood anemones and blackthorn (sloe) are in flower and I heard my first chiffchaff of the year, fresh in from Africa. Spring is here.

Blackthorn or sloe flowers. Flowers with five delicate, white petals and long stamens on bare, thorny branches.
Dense cloud of blackthorn flowers on a small, as yet leafless tree.
Chiffchaff, a small, olive green and yellow warbler with a pale eyestripe.

JohnAltringham, 3 months ago to random

Wood engraving in progress, 100x65 mm lemonwood block. My first reuse of a block, 6 grades of sandpaper (240 to 1200) giving the polished surface needed for engraving. A slight bevel around the edge which I'll have to deal with. More care needed on the edge of the next block. A few more hours on the sky and it will be ready for proof printing.

Buachaille Etive Mòr, Glen Coe, Scotland (flipped left-right so it comes out right when printed).

JohnAltringham, 3 months ago to random

Microclimate.

After days of rain and hail a walk on waterlogged Ilkley Moor on an almost spring-like day. Will take camera and macro lens next time - lichens are looking good.

JohnAltringham, 3 months ago to random

Wood engraving update... below the peaks, foothills falling to the loch. As I've chipped away at the hillside I've had time to think about how to do sea and sky.

Ladhar Bheinn, Knoydart, from across Loch Hourn, NW Scotland.

JohnAltringham, 3 months ago to random

Snow-dusted peaks of Knoydart, Scotland emerging from a 50x100mm block of lemonwood. The first wood engraving of 2024. Where does the time go?

JohnAltringham, 3 months ago to HikingPics

This morning's watercolour sketch - Dùn Caan reflected in Loch na Mna, island of Raasay, between Skye and the mainland of NW Scotland. Only 444m high but with spectacular views in all directions: Black and Red Cuillin, Quiraing, Storr, Kintail, Applecross, Torridon... and beyond. A summit to spend some time on.

#watercolour #mountains #Scotland