art – Jane Sketching

Here are postcards from Switzerland, sketched quickly on 4″ x 6″ watercolour postcards.

From Les Praises, looking across to the Alps

It was foggy in the valley, and clear at 1000m.

One day, starting early, my hosts dropped me in the village of Vuiteboeuf, which is at the lower end of the Gorges de Covatannaz. I walked up, through the fog. It took about an hour and a half. I’d intended to sketch and I had my watercolours with me. But the fog made it surprisingly cold, and I didn’t want to stop or I would freeze. I was warm so long as I kept walking. So I made very quick sketches using Derwent “inktense” watercolour pencils. Here are my sketches in video format.

Here is the view over the Gorge, from the fields at the top.

My visit took me to Nyon, on the shores of Lake Geneva. I made a quick sketch from the walls of the castle. Did you know that the Tintin story, “The Calculus Affair” was set in Nyon? The tourist office made much of this connection.

Switzerland is beautiful in the Autumn. Thanks to my hosts at the Hotel de France, Vaud, for their hospitality.

Happy New Year!

Thank you for reading my posts and looking at my pictures. I appreciate your encouragement and comments.

Here is my New Year Card for 2024.

New Year 2024: “Ascent” woodcut and collage – 5″ x 7″

I intended the image to be one of hope: of collaboration and of working together towards a higher goal.

The main image is a woodcut on plywood. Here is work in progress:

The woodcut image is inspired by a sculpture on the wall of a building in Hoxton. The building is called “Development House” 56-64 Leonard Street. I can’t find any attribution for the sculpture and would be interested to know who the artist is, if anyone can tell me.

Technical information: The woodcut is on plywood, bought from “Great Art”on the Kingsland Road, not far from this sculpture. The ink is Schminke relief ink, applied with a roller. I printed the image by hand at my desk, using a roller and pressing the paper down with the convex side of a spoon. The paper is lightweight Thai Mulberry (45gsm) in various shades: sea grey, peppermint and natural, bought online from the “Perfect Paper Company”. The round “planets” are offcuts of marbled paper from the Wyvern Press. I cut the stars out of old sparkly wrapping paper, using a star cutter. The “Happy New Year” text is cut from a pencil eraser. Other text is from an old-fashioned printing outfit.