sketchbooks/drawings | Beth Emmott

This is the archive for the ‘sketchbooks/drawings’ Category

Crows

July 16th, 2016

Ink sketches of crows

Been wanting to combine my rust/tea dyed fabrics with bird images in a larger project – mainly crows and or hawks. So I’ve been researching and sketching crows as a start.

Drawing with thread on my sewing machine was my first idea.
Playing with tensions, stitches and rough drawing with machine

This was fun but… even though I want a rough sketchy line, I quickly saw it will take a while to gain control of this as a drawing medium. At the same time I’ve been stitching patterns and marks in the small dyed book I’ve been working on and thought I’d try this. More what I want and I can work more free form with out preliminary drawings on the fabric. But still have a ways to go…

Stitches in small book and first go at hand drawing crows with stitches

My other idea is to block print on fabric but I really want to have various drawings rather than a repeating image. The work forming in my head is about layers of experience, the passage of time and changes to our lives. The birds are currently observers in this process of life and decay and rebirth.

More Sketching

April 1st, 2016

Been off on my eco dyeing binge and need to get back to sketching—so since it’s spring, here are some spring sketches! Feeling rusty with my watercolors…

Getting back to sketching

quick sketching

March 5th, 2016

Picked up a new small sketchbook and decided to try for regular sketches – won’t say daily but that’s the idea. They are to have a textured background with a quick drawing done with a dip pen and no preliminary sketching etc – sort of with out lifting the pen from the paper but not quite. So each session I will do several drawings and prepare several backgrounds for the next time.

First go

Shoveling snow.

Sounds doable but then I discovered I had to have an operation and that put things on hold. But that’s over and done with so I’m back at it. The above drawings are the first 4, done the end of January. This is turning out to be very fun as I’m not sure what the result will be – just do it and on to the next one.

Sketching with Stitches

February 3rd, 2016

More pages from Dionne Swift’s sketchbook workshop. I’ve never used a sewing machine for drawing, especially on paper, but I hauled mine out and gave it a try. Sooooo much fun.

Sketchbook stitches.

My grandmother gave me this machine when I was first married and it’s been put to very good use. But this was it’s first adventure on paper. I spun the paper round and round making loops and circles. However I haven’t treated it as well as it has treated me and it needed a good overhaul. So, it is now at sewing machine heaven for the full spa treatment. Even if I were to get a new machine I would keep this. It is made of heavy metal and while not a professional machine it can sew through anything, from fine lace to heavy leather…and now paper. Can’t wait to get it back.

Sketchbook with circles

January 28th, 2016

Took a sketchbook workshop with Dionne Swift this month to jumpstart 2016. So much fun and down new roads… Theme was circles – encouraged to use lots of media, to write about circles, to revisit pages to just keep going.
Here are some cutouts that work with both the next page and the preceding page.

It was fun to just spend time without any direction, just working with circles and color and marks and materials.

Drawing candles

November 12th, 2015

Been trying to draw every day – so this week I chose Candle Sticks as a subject. Last week it was Bows and ribbons.

Ready to be scanned.

First I draw a study drawing to better understand the ins and outs of these candle sticks – then a second drawing with watercolor and ink. I’m trying to keep a loose sketch quality to them.

I have been scanning these and think they will end up in a repeat pattern.