Winter hedge

not sombre because i can see a funny character in the clouds :-) can you or is it me? :-p it is just off centre to the left 2 eyes and a grim mouth :-p i like your use of the stick with ink, is it chinese/indian ink you use? iv only tried Pebeo's one at the moment. I like this painting, there is captured light in it too :-)

I think this would make a good Christmas card Michael. It's lively, with lots of light. When I've done pen and wash using Indian ink, I've found that it dries fairly quickly, I think it's W & N brand.

Thanks both - yes i can see the face. I also use Indian ink but it goes on very thickly when applied with a stick - it blobs in places - so it does take a long drying time.I dont have that trouble when I use a pen. Will try an ordinary black ink next time and see if it works any better.

mmmm i agree with you though, when any ink is applied with a stick or paintbrush the first spot it is placed down on can sometimes be a puddle, and that does take forever to dry......... a crafters heat gun spring to mind :-p roughly £15 but they last for like, ever :-) not a hair dryer because the wind will blow the ink everywhere, crafters heat guns are no wind and less heat than a proper heat gun less dangerous for people like me :-p just a ramble suggestion/idea cos i am not patient :-)

This would make an 'any time' card for me Michael, I love it! It's one of those paintings I look at and think, I wish I had done that. You could put any foreground and sky colour with the ink drawing and it would still look fabulous.

A super simple graphic image. Very cool (and both senses of the word) but not hostile.

Yes, "any time " card if you must make it into a card. Painting on the wall would be nice too! I love the clarity if that makes sense.

I love the simplicity of it Michael and that sky is very effective. I can actually see a couple of eyes behind the trees on the right as well :)

I don't think it's sombre, I'd be happy with it as a card. As for the 'face' ... I really wouldn't have noticed it (and didn't, until it was pointed out); but I hope it doesn't bother you; it would some, I know. I sit at the keyboard quite a bit, looking out of the window from time to time, and I can see all kinds of faces in clouds, in bushes, trees ... I once painted a landscape in which the most hideous face appeared which I couldn't wait to remove .... but that one frightened the life out of me.... I think, so long as it's not very obvious, and it just isn't, it's no problem. Ink applied with a stick - broken match stick, cocktail stick, sliver of old pencil casing, is great fun - either with watercolour or coloured pencil or hard pastel. Do more of these?

Thankseveryone. Robert - I use twigs picked up from the hedgerow - I find matchsticks and cocktail sticks are too pointy and precise - I sometimes even 'scrub' the twig across the paper - I just chamfer the end a bit - should call it twig and ink.

Like this a lot. I suppose if you are using a matchstick it has to be striking!!!!

Having just tried a pen and wash with a sharpened matchstick I can appreciate the skill it needs to work with a stick. This would make a great card for Christmas - perhaps hang a red bauble on one of the branches for festive cheer? Love your sky - sorry, can't see any faces in it - am just seeing subtle clouds and appreciating the lovely wintery feel.

i like using twigs too! I think that they make the branches of the trees in your painting very realistic.

Thanks Fred, Thea and Sarah for your kind comments