I made this sheet earlier in the year after spending a week on the beach at Frinton. Using a few bits and pieces I collected on the beach, plus a bit of a paint swatch I had in similar colours, I created a simple arrangement.
I then painted the arrangement in watercolours.
The next step was to replicate the arrangement in a loose way, using a feather and some ink.
The next stage was to trace these loose lines onto layout paper, using a nice thick Sharpie pen. I was then able to pick out pieces that I wanted to use on the finished piece, using the shells and grass heads as the main images. The background of the sheet was made with the instructions from an old vintage pattern pack, which I used so some of the text and diagrams could show through the paint. I used cheap acrylic paints as the base layer, some mark making with a sponge and then added the shells and seaweed images with a black oil pastel. Small details were added with a white Posca pen.
When I found the sheet this morning, along with another one I did at the same time, I wondered what I would do with them. The other one may get cut into pieces for some collage projects but I wanted to keep this one whole and just happened to have a spare notebook that was just the right size. After sticking the sheet down with PVA glue I then coated the outside with acrylic wax to make it more durable. I like the back much better than the cover!
JOLLIETEXTILES 