Wednesday 9 May 2012

Sand, Sea and Shells.

We went for a walk to one of my favourite Beaches. It is a long stretch of beautiful sand , and the day was perfect with sunshine and a clear blue sky. The wind was another matter , it was icy cold! In fact it was so cold we took a different footpath to gain some shelter behind the sand dunes, a walk we had not taken before. We found the Gorse with its sweet smell of coconut, a whole area blooming with the bright yellow flowers.
The beautiful yellow gorse with the Lakeland hills in the background.
We walked past several small ponds, some had ducks on, some were full of tadpoles and we also saw tiny violets growing in the sand. We also saw sheep with young lambs grazing between the dunes. We eventually climbed to the top of the sand dunes and back onto the beach with the fantastic views down the estuary to the hills.
Looking into the estuary.

Looking across the mouth of the estuary toward Black Combe, the hill we look out on to at  my village.


                                                                                             


We now made our way back along the long sandy beach where I searched for treasures. The high tide had left a huge tide line full of seaweed, shells, feathers, ropes, rubber gloves, shoes and many other interesting objects. From this tangle I chose the two lovely shaped shells which revealed their intricate form, not normally seen in a complete shell. We saw masses of seaweed but I just chose a few tiny twisted pieces.
I would have liked the fish......but left it.
The walk back to the car.
            
Now you can see how far we have just walked along the sand.
This is where I found the tiny shells by the waters edge.

I used a special ink given to me by Patrick. He made the brown ink from Oak galls which he had collected in our village. I drew the shells with my dip in pen and the ink directly drawn onto the paper. I liked the soft quality of this ink, its an old fashioned recipe.

I wanted to show the detail and simplicity of the shells by using the fine nib and the brown  ink. It is a slow relaxing technique, dipping the pen into the ink each time you want to draw a line. I am pleased with the results.




Thank you for the lovely comments I always enjoy reading them. For those of you who would like to know, this is Walney Island Nature reserve. Hope you enjoyed the walk.                                           Milly x




ps. see photograph at bottom of  blog,  the same beach.







13 comments:

Amanda said...

Thank you for another lovely wander along your shoreline. It's been so horribly miserable down here today it was a welcome view!

Gill said...

I love your pen and ink drawings! and with your own ink too! I don't have enough oak trees locally to find enough galls!

RH Carpenter said...

The old fashioned ink suits your work perfectly. Lovely drawings, as always and what a view!!! That long beach and that big long cloud looks like it was following you :) Thanks so much for sharing.

Claire said...

The shells are beautifully drawn, and fascinating to make ink from oak galls; a wonderful walk Milly xx

Unknown said...

I also like the beautiful structures to be found within a shell. It sounds as if the act of drawing using the nib and ink was one of contemplation which would suit your methodical style well. I always find your work so thoughtful and yet it never appears laboured or over done.

Melody said...

You did the shells just in ink, no pencil sketch first? They really came out great! How neat to use homemade ink ~ I'll have to look into "ink recipes" ~ that's just fascinating.... I like being able to see the shells inner workings, extra nice with your fine details! Enjoyed the walk as always. :))

Anonymous said...

Beautiful shells, and the ink sounds lovely :)

Anonymous said...

Amazing pictures, and your drawings are wonderful.

Teresa said...

I did indeed enjoy the "walk"! Always lovely to visit your blog and see what treasures you've found and painted. Lovely photos too.

Frances said...

What a long walk in a chilly wind! And what inspiring treasures were found along the way!

Milly, I would also have wanted to take those sculptural shells home. They are wonderful to contemplate, and also fun and challenging to draw.

Your resulting picture is very fine indeed.

Now, I am ignorant about what an oak gall might be, and am going to do a bit of research. Thank you for that inspiration, too. xo

Dan said...

Hi Millie - I seem to have missed quite a few of your posts somehow! I'll have to catch up. The shells are beautiful, and it sounds like you really enjoyed drawing them with the ink you were given. The beach looks quite a bit warmer in the bottom picture!!
Dan
-x-

Jez said...

Your drawings are absolutely wonderful. I'm so glad I found your blog, and I shall certainly be visiting again ... and again. Thank you for the pleasure of seeing your lovely artwork.

Feathers said...

Love that you used oak-gall ink for your drawing--beautiful and delicate--each swirl in those little shells recorded faithfully on your paper. I need to learn to make oak-gall ink! :-)