Kilmaluag, Trotternish, Skye Lenticular clouds Lit by moon and setting sun Spill off The Quiraing

Sometimes... slow time Knoydart across the Sound of Sleat, Skye

Great Close Scar, Malham, Yorkshire Dales.

Charcoal drawing based on fragments of a 12C baptismal font housed in the Musée Art et Histoire, Bruxelles. Somerset Satin paper, 56.5 x 26 cm. I had intended more detail in this drawing but I reached a point yesterday where it felt finished. It said enough. And […] [Original post on toot.wales]

Metamorphic rocks of Faraid Head, Sutherland, NW Scotland. Moine Thrust Zone Mylonites Complex. A visual invitation to dive below the thin veneer of sand and follow the geology into the crust. Photo, watercolour and a monochrome photo - an engraving?

My wood engraving "Oak" has been selected for the 88th annual exhibition of the Society of Wood Engravers. The exhibition will tour the UK in 2026, starting at the Bankside Gallery, London in February.

Work in progress, watercolour autumn, for my sister. 80x60cm. The paintbrush on the ceramic rest and the leaf to the right of them are real, given away by their shadows. Painted leaves will all have painted shadows to pop them out of the paper and bring them to life, or in this case, senescence.

Off to the https://www.zillahbellgallery.co.uk tomorrow for the preview of the Society of Wood Engravers exhibition and to deliver a few prints for the Winter Exhibition that opens in December.

A stormy autumn day on the Northumberland coast. Dunstanburgh Castle and Embleton Bay. Photo, watercolour and wood engraving print. From the archives - walks and wild weather currently off limits, hopefully not for too long.

Not the best of times. However, today I became an elected member of the Society of Wood Engravers. This has raised a smile and reminded me that I have only 10 days in which to submit my entries for the 2026 annual travelling exhibition. Pictured, engravings […] [Original post on mastodon.online]

Watercolour, 26x10cm. Looking towards Cape Wrath from Faraid Head, Balnakeil Beach, Scotland. A sea fog or "haar" has rolled in over the coast to our west while we bask in warm, spring sunshine.

I've tried many times to capture the atmosphere of a Hebridean shore under a grey sky, before the morning mist has cleared. Somehow the beach and the machair still glow and the sea somehow still looks tropical. Yesterday I think I just about cracked it.

Watercolour 26x15 cm. Mt Whitney, Sierra Nevada, CA. Persuaded by yesterday's quick sketch to take a little more time and care over a larger version. More often than not I prefer the quick sketch but not this time.

Wood engraving in progress - sparrowhawk. A glass of malt whisky fuels the work.

Mid-morning walk on Ilkley Moor, heather in full bloom.

Clouds from the garden.

Early walk on Ilkley Moor before the cloud had settled on a plan for the day. Late summer colours already.

First test print of a wood engraving of a singing wren on a tree stump. Above it is a sonogram of part of its song. The scientist in me wants to put frequency and time labels on the axes but I think I should resist. Do I give the wren a woodland background or make it a clean, solid black?

Work in progress. Wherever I walk near home, there is always a singing wren.

In the garden this morning.

Screaming swifts - from the bedroom window, now.

From this morning's walk on the moor - a jet flying down the shadow of its own contrail. The shadow, although not projected onto the ground or cloud, is visible because the effects of Rayleigh scattering (which make the sky appear blue) are diminished in this zone.

Rough bark, smooth curves.

Not my usual style or subject, but on a grey day threatening thunderstorms, I've painted a watercolour of later summer (it feels like that) from a walk along the northern edge of Ilkley Moor. Still green and flowering, but turning to gold and seed heads […] [Original post on mastodon.online]

Morning walk along the River Wharfe before the day gets too hot. The river is clear but whisky-coloured after recent rain. Ripples over the gravel bars tickle and cool the feet.

The mallards on the river are moulting.

An early walk on Ilkley Moor. Rocky Valley, small crags and large boulders, an ancient landslip zone. A stonechat obligingly sits on a gritstone boulder to give it scale. Crowberries are abundant - edible, but uninteresting. The bilberries will be dense […] [Original post on mastodon.online]

Two watercolours of the same scene - a cloudburst over the edge of Ilkley Moor. Monochrome painted first, colour version straight after.

I am posting the watercolour sketch 'Swift' again, together with a fine poem by @Daniel_Hoffmann My sketches only rarely inspire poetry! Aspect There, the little cross marks the point where life burns wildly screaming into the boiling grey sky, high, high above slowly eroding geometry.

Swift (plan A wasn't working)

Watercolour sketches, Scottish mountains. Can you name them?

Ilkley Moor, the alternative reality I can escape to in minutes. A distant horizon, the absence, mostly, of human clamour and the wildlife, sadly depleted in this impoverished island, but still glorious. A 180x90mm wood engraving. Gritstone, lichens and […] [Original post on mastodon.online]

Lemonwood engraving block (180x90mm) and the first test print off the block - fauna and flora on Ilkley Moor. Some tidying up needed here and there, particularly the sky, but almost done. #woodengraving #printmaking #art #naturalhistory #wildlife #birds

A slice of invertebrate life in the garden. Details in alt text.

Working on a new engraving composition. One of the benefits is that I get to show you some of my favourite Ilkley Moor gritstone boulders.

More Scottish mountains. The granite peaks of Arran, Cir Mhòr in the centre. Wood engraving print, 150x100mm. #woodengraving #art #printmaking #prints #mountains #scotland

Up on the moor, a day of racing shadows under a cumulous sky.

Cir Mhòr and Goat Fell from Caisteal Abhail, Arran, Scotland. Granite peaks of modest height but enormous presence. The first test print off an almost finished wood engraving, 150x100mm. New blocks often don't hold ink well and the first prints can […] [Original post on mastodon.online]

An afternoon walk on Ilkley Moor in a cold wind from the east.

Tidied my workspace and started on my largest wood engraving so far. Inked over the rich, polished end-grain of the lemonwood block, drew in the key elements, sharpened the tools... A few days later, the picture is taking shape. Any lover of Scottish […] [Original post on mastodon.online]

Last night, fuelled by Lagavulin (Distillers Edition) I made an extravagantly gestural watercolour of a stormy Ilkley Moor and went to bed thinking it was a bit of a mess but at least it had released a bit of tension. This morning I threw a frame over it and...

One of my occasional reminders that wood engraving prints and watercolour sketches are for sale on my website. https://johnaltringham.co.uk

I've been quiet on here for the last month, but I have been out and about working - experimenting with new film, field development and starting a longer term project. I'm hopeful that 2025 will be a creative year.

Tomorrow (4 Feb.) the 87th annual exhibition of the Society of Wood Engravers opens at the Bankside Gallery in London (next to Tate Modern). Contemporary engravings from the UK and overseas. https://www.societyofwoodengravers.co.uk/exhibitions All work can […] [Original post on mastodon.online]