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.

Watercolour sketch, 15x7.5 cm

Machair and morning mist, again. Watercolour, 25x15cm.

Currently working on a charcoal and Pierre Noire drawing on this abandoned Ty Hir. It’s a place that I visit often and have watched steadily decline. #drawing #ynysmon #abandonedplaces

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.

Watercolour sketch - Mt Whitney, Sierra Nevada, California. A vicarious return to the mountains of the western US with the help of "Mediocre Amateur" YouTube.

Looking autumnal on Ilkley Moor but a windless 25C today. The summer birds are silent or have left, the winter visitors yet to arrive. Lots of berries, especially on the rowan, well ahead of the return of redwing and fieldfare.

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

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

Afternoon walk in the woods 2: chicken of the woods fungi.

Afternoon walk in the woods. A bumper acorn year and the gall wasps are thriving too - cherry, knopper and artichoke galls, all on sessile oak.

Today in the garden. Cucumber.

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]

Wood engraving of the Matterhorn made over the Christmas holiday period as an informal, "I can't promise anything but I'll give it a go" commission. If there's a demand I may print a small edition.

We spent much of an early spring day in 2018 watching a storm over Knoydart, sitting comfortably in the sun on the other side of the Sound of Sleat at Isleornsay, Skye. We've watched some spectacular weather from there over recent years. I've been trying to […] [Original post on mastodon.online]

Another set of variations on a scene. The cliffs of Rubha Hunish on Skye - photo, watercolour and wood engraving. More on my website https://johnaltringham.co.uk

Variations on a favourite Ilkley Moor boulder: photo, watercolour, wood engraving. I hoped to start my largest engraving to date today but I'm still waiting for new woodblocks to arrive.

The ruins of Byland Abbey in North Yorkshire at sunset today. A 12th century Cistercian monastery in early gothic style, built from local Hambleton Oolite limestone from the Jurassic, 160 mya. A beautiful stone under any light but on days like today, breathtaking.

I've posted a lot of engravings of mountains recently. Here's some rocks of more modest dimensions... #StandingStones