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"Storm" ...attempting something dark

20/6/2014

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My worst moments invariably come when I have finished a piece of work and am stuck on what to do next. This invariably sends me into a flurry of manic doodling...exploring figures...poses...ideas, and normally takes two or three days of aimless sketching until something clicks and an idea starts taking shape.

My last flurry of doodling (thoughtfully indulged in during breaks from my previous drawing) produced this sketch among others ...I thought it was an interesting pose but leading exactly to where? Somehow the visual became connected in my subconscious with recent media stories about Ireland's notorious Magdalene Laundries and more specifically the gruesome discovery of nearly 800 children's remains in a septic tank. From there it was just a small step to linking the image with child abuse in general and more specifically child abuse by persons entrusted with the care of children. A horrible scenario but one we are all aware happens all over the world. In our little corner of it too...  



Did this sketch start to paint the picture I wanted? Well it was just a line drawing and definitely required some atmosphere. A dark one. So on to step two, a less rigid rendering in ball-point...

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Here's the rough sketch, a bit more defined, the story told a bit better. It's a dark night, a storm is raging outside and the child clings to the adult for support. What happens next is immaterial but I think the ingredients are there for something less than innocent to take place. A tableau I find interesting, menacing too. 

Here is an almost "complete" sketch I can work upon. My gut feeling is that this will take me some time and I will have to restrict the palette to a few colours with dark hues dominating. Without sounding perverse I feel that this will be a work I will enjoy doing. It is a newish subject for me even if I stumbled on the idea quite by accident. But then I have always believed that random doodling is priceless and really opens doors to ideas which would otherwise be difficult to think up. Subjects suggest themselves through doodling. 

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Satisfied with my sketch (I reckon it is enough to go on) I now start on the work proper...a few (and more than a few) hours of "blacking in" the paper with pen strokes, using just black ink dispensed from a single 0.13 (mm) pen. 

Because the pen has such a fine line the inking in is a slow process....more so as I know this will be a dark picture and will therefore require thousands upon thousands of strokes. But in the meantime it gives me the chance to look and assess my work as I go along. This is very preliminary work in fact. Getting a feel of it is what it's all about really. 

I feel that getting the lightning bolt right will be pivotal to the success or otherwise of this work so I start immediately on this area of the drawing and introduce Prussian Blue around the bolt. 


This is more of a reference for myself and will (hopefully) help me gauge and control the darkness outside the window. A visual reference if you wish... For actual lightning reference I am using a couple of random pictures from the internet - most of the time I do not look at them but now and then one does feel the need to have a little peep again...

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Having completed the stormy sky with the single bolt cutting through, I am quickly realizing this will be a far more time-consuming piece than usual. To get the level of darkness required I needed to be more than generous with my pen strokes...plenty and plenty of them. 

Still it is a satisfying experiment up to now. Next I did the "landscape" outside the window - basically a mix of green, blue sepia and black - and am now starting on the window edges themselves. 

I am also slowly darkening the shadows... initially behind the two main characters in order to bring them forward so to speak...


Since I now have to start colouring the rest of the drawing I have gone back to the rough sketch I did at the beginning and am trying to pencil in a colour scheme. Roughly yellow and sepia for the wall, grey to black for the man's vestment, a dirtyish pink for the girl's night dress and yellow for her hair. Subdued flesh tones for the skin. (Pic below)
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Work in progress on the drawing with the working sketch in the background 
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The background now more or less completed and I start to tackle the figures...
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In detail...the window and the male figure. I am using black and violet for the cassock.
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The frightened child in close-up 
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And finally, twelve days after starting out, "Storm" is looking more or less finished. I must admit I am quite satisfied with the result. My only dilemma is actually when to stop but I feel that stopping here is just about right. The image, though with a hint of menace about it, is also  fairytale-like - even if the tale remains a dark one. 
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188 Steps to Malta’s Loveliest Beach

1/6/2014

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Malta’s clear seas are undoubtedly one of its major draws in the summer, with both locals and visitors thronging to the beaches to escape the heat. Although the coastline of the island is nearly 200km long there are surprisingly few sandy beaches and these are mostly found in the north of the island. Though not much visited in the colder months they tend to fill up quickly in the summer.

Malta’s largest sandy beach Ghadira, just north of the town of Mellieha is by far the most popular. It is nearly a kilometre long, has warm, shallow water which seems to go on forever and is backed by white sand which makes the water incredibly inviting. A wealth of beachside facilities completes the recipe for a crowd-puller. All in all a highly recommended beach – more so if you are on holiday with young children.


But far more beautiful is the beach at Ghajn Tuffieha, next door to the popular Golden Sands Bay.  Ghajn Tuffieha is not a large beach with just 250 meter strip of sand, but what it lacks in size it certainly makes up with the outstanding setting. The reddish sands of Ghajn Tuffieha (literally the apple’s spring) are backed by a high clay slope planted with tamarisk and other trees; the trees in turn backed by a cliff further up.

That the waters of Ghajn Tuffieha are crystal clear goes without saying – but on a calm day in the early morning they are nothing less than divine with good opportunities for some snorkelling along the rocky arms of the bay. Amenities are limited, but the sole beachside bar can provide refreshments as well as umbrellas and sun beds.

The north arm of the bay has a Knights era watchtower precariously poised at the edge of the cliff - and the somewhat undignified ruin of one of Malta’s earliest hotels, foolishly constructed on the clay slope, and practically the only blot in this otherwise pristine landscape.  At the bay’s southern end there is a high flat-topped promontory jutting out into the water, dividing Ghajn Tuffieha from the next bay further south, Gnejna Bay. The easily defensible hilltop is the classic Bronze Age village site – this one, known locally as Il-Karraba, being probably the most dramatic of several such sites scattered around the islands. There is nothing to see in the way of visible remains but a sunset walk up the clay slopes below the hilltop gives one an idea of the site’s commanding position as well as spectacular views towards Gnejna and beyond.

Needless to say a slice of heaven like Ghajn Tuffieha comes with a price tag; in this case being that at the end of the visit one has to trudge up the long flight of stairs to reach the road…a total of some 188 steps which can take their toll after a day of sea and sun. Trust me – it’s a price worth paying.

Ghajn Tuffieha Bay is well served by public transport. Route no 44 gets you there from Valletta, route 225 from Sliema and routes 101 and 102 from Cirkewwa and Mellieha. There is also a direct service from Bugibba, route 223.

The bay is not recommended for swimming in strong westerly winds due to treacherous currents when a red flag is normally put up.


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Rugged cliff scenery - just a part of Ghajn Tuffieha's magic

The above article was originally published in the June 2014 newsletter of Chevron UK - Malta travel specialists since 1982. You may subscribe to Chevron's newsletter here
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