Jenny's Page
As part of Jenny's pages we have a Travel section, Jenny's thoughts on Art, her Biography and a photo section with the shop, and other interesting tid bits.
The feeling is the first most important thing!
Wanting to capture the essence is what keeps me going.
Sitting in front of a landscape, watching the sunrise with the new light glistening from the buildings, wondering if I can capture the beauty of what is before me gets my tummy wobbly
.
At this point I hope that the drawing I am about to produce will be ok, that my interpretation of what is happening before me (mother earth showing of her beauty) will be adequate to my eyes and complimentery to the view I am capturing.
The ultimate fear I have before I start a drawing is not been able to meet my expectations as an artist in capturing the feel of the image appropriately
However, once I have started the love and passion I have for drawing takes over, I remember the power of the describing line, the power of the contrasts between light and dark shades, the feeling of freedom I get whilst been completely immersed in the landscape or subject that I am drawing. I almost feel as though I have been charged up from the mains socket once I have finished a drawing.
Making the plate
Making the steel plate from the drawing is a long but very satisfying process, which I adore and love doing very much. I find my feelings are similar to that of when I first start a drawing. However, I am more intense as I can see what I want the plate to look like as rpresentative of the drawing, At this point I have to be in my studio with my music blasting and get lost in my own world, switch phones off, computer and look at the drawing, read my diary at the time I was working on the drawing, referre to photographs and remember how I felt at the time so that I can put all of the feelings into the plate. I just wish I could carry an acid bath with me and do the plates on the spot, but obviously this is a problem, but I still wish.
Problems along the way
Mixing the acid is the start, I always forget which way round I should mix; is it water then acid or acid then water? I know it sounds silly having done hundereds of plates over the last 10 years, but each plate seems like the 1st and I hope it always does.
The best time I find for etching tones into a plate is about 2am in the morning or after lunch time. There is something about the quiet of the night which helps me get into the etching process. I need a little stress so that I make my brain think faster without having the 5 minute thought pattern behind it I need the pure unadulterated feeling instinctive reaction in order to get my pure feelings into the steel plate.
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