Coming back to a-n blogging after several years I notice a distinct difference in the general content, which I suppose must be due to the rise of other platforms. The a-n page is much quieter than it once was and, although a few stalwarts remain, many threads seem short-lived or solely promotional.
I did wonder whether it was worth starting up again here. However, I’m hoping that writing things down in one place will help me get my thoughts in order as well as providing a record of the project. That is, as opposed to scattering comments throughout the sketchbook, where they are lost to view once I turn the page – or sticking them onto Instagram where the same thing happens.
I’m trying to reconcile my aversion to drawing straight lines with the need to be honest about the lines of electricity pylons at Bwlch y Ddeufaen. They were controversial at the time they were erected, and they are visually intrusive in the extreme. You have to remind yourself that the provision of electricity was seen as essential, and be grateful that plans to drive the A55 dual carriageway through the Bwlch were abandoned in favour of its’ present coastal location.
Back to the problem of the straight line, and looking at it head on (and I should have used heavier, non-cockling paper).
Horizon lines: pencil, oil pastel, turpentine on gessoed paper.
