Remembering London

Although I intended to paint using the drawings from my workshop with Paul Newland, it occured to me that a monotype might be a better medium than a painting for me to use to evoke a place . I also didn't have a canvas the right size.  So this afternoon I found my 8 x 6" zinc plate, looked at Maurice Pendergast monotypes and watercolours as well as some of Whistler's urban landscapes. I also visited Paul Newland's website again (looking for answers) and felt even more of a resonance with his work. You can see it here:  http://www.paul-newland.co.uk

I rolled two blues on the plate horizontally and removed ink with my sock, q-tip and the end of the brush.  As I worked I realized working 'backwards' with the chaos of the intersecting roads was almost impossible. When Patrick dropped in, I told him I was not having fun.  I was more confused than I had been standing on the street corner… Anyone who has stood where I stood would be able to point out the errors in this representation but I'm telling myself that maybe that says something about memory and the way we record things rather than my poor hand eye coordination!

I am hoping to make a second version, using the ghost on the plate, tomorrow.