With-without lynx

"With-without lynx"
Sketches, FreeHand Designs

During two short courses I attended at the School of Arts and Crafts `Antonio López´ in Tomelloso, I made a series of earthenware plates, joined to make up a mural which would show, in a visual way, the relationships among the Iberian lynx, rabbits, partridges, foxes and genets.



"With-without lynx":(Lynx plate)
Engobe on earthenware, 31x31 cm.



"With-without lynx":(Genet plate); process of creation
Engobe on earthenware, 31x31 cm (central); 16x31 cm (complementary)



"With-without lynx": (Rabbit plate); process of creation"
Engobe on earthenware, 31x31 cm (central); 16x31 cm (complementary)

After slicing the pottery paste, you capture the image on it; after that you make a cut on the marked lines which are covered with black engobe. You put it in the kiln (first firing). You finish by colouring the motifs you like and putting it in the kiln again (second firing).

Phoenicopterus ruber roseus (Greater Flamingo)

Phoenicopterus ruber roseus
Mixed media on metal, 21,5x13 cm.

When doing this engraving I was not very satisfied with it because of its simplicity, but it was one of the most admired when I exhibited it. Its simplicity attracted the public.
Whenever I start a work, I divide the empty space into ovals, ovoids and circles and place on them the different elements which make up the work. Then I add more and more details, but always leaving the original curves in order to show the process of creation.
It has not only an aesthetic sense, but also an expressive nuance which show the immediacy of the work and the fleetingness of animal watching.
On the other hand, I use rectangles, an essential element in all my works. It fulfils both a compositive role and a symbolic one; it represents the spatial limitation of nature.

Ixobrychus minutus (Little Bittern)

Ixobrychus minutus
Mixed media on metal, 29,5x22 cm.

Here I used the linear etching technique to create the image and an aquatint with sprinkled colophony resin to add some colour at the back, minimizing uniformity.

Chamaleo chamaleon (Common Chameleon)

Chamaleo chamaleon
Lithography, 38 x 18 cm.

Another lithography I made in my fifth year at Fine Arts for the subject of the same name. This technique is not very used nowadays as it is done with a special kind of limestone whose main quarry has been run out for years.
Now it is used a plate of stippled aluminium (a lot of cuts made in the form of a dot), stamped with an offset press.

Drawings and watercolours

I show you a selection of my first drawings and watercolours in the mid-90s. I hope you like them.



Fulica cristata (Red-knobbed Coot)
Watercolour, 29,7x42 cm.

I showed these works to Pablo Pereira by the time I was helping to save the birds after the toxic dumping in Aznalcóllar. He told me that healthy birds show uniform plumage, so uneven feathers were inadequate here.



Recurvirostra avosetta (Avocet),
Watercolour, 42x29,7 cm.

This one, apart from not having uniform plumage in the neck, has a bulky forehead and very curved beak. I intend painting this species again without making these errors.



Cuculus canorus (Common Cuckoo),
Watercolour, 29,7x42 cm.



Black-winged Stilt in its nest (Himantopus sp.),
Watercolour, 29,7x42 cm.

Pablo Pereira guided me in this watercolour. It shows uniform plumage, as he had previously indicated me, and he also told me the position of the species when incubating eggs. The idea came from a colleague of the group `Environmental Volunteers in Doñana´.



Carduelis carduelis (Goldfinch),
Colouring pencils, 29,7x42 cm.

I hope you like this entry. I want to send my regards to Pablo Pereira, an expert in animal morphology and artistic techniques. I consider him one of my masters. I remind him advising me to make life drawings or, in case I copied from a photograph, to have taken it myself. Since then, I have born it in mind.

Eliomys quercinus lusitanicus (Lusitanian Garden Dormouse)

Elyomis quercinus lusitanicus
Watercolour, 20 x 29,5 cm.

By the mid-90s I bought a watercolour box, two years before entering the Faculty of Fine Arts. This is one of the first works I can consider `good´.

Fulica atra (Common Coot)

Fulica atra
Mixed media on metal, 18,5 x 24 cm

The mould of this work was made in two stages. First, all the lines were marked and then we used the etching technique, which provides the work with colour and depth.

Dama dama (Fallow Deer)

Dama dama
Mixed media on metal, 26,5 x 33 cm

Another sample of etching engraving. Here I used texture to provide the back with more expressiveness. I used aquatint with sugar.
It´s a pity you cannot appreciate the quality of texture after scanning the image. That is one of the added merits of this engraving.

Etching engravings

Merops apiaster
Etching design, 17,5 x 21 cm

My good friend José Mª Bellido, Pepón, loved this work. I gave it to him and he put it at his house. Whenever I see the work, it reminds me of him.



Charadrius dubius
Etching design, 15,5 x 19,5 cm

Here I’ve tried to transmit the movement of this bird, so I used the repetition of lines.
My colleague and friend Mr. Luis Cuaresma liked it a lot.




Vanellus vanellus
Etching design, 11 x 14,5 cm

Here are a series of engravings I made by using the technique of line etching.
The making of moulds in this technique is relatively easy. First, you have to varnish the side of the plate to work with and protect the opposite side (better with hard ball ground varnish). Then you transfer the drawing, being careful not to scratch the varnish. You continue scratching the widest lines and putting it in etch. Then you scratch the thinnest ones; the more immersions in etch you do, the better the quality of the lines.

Felis silvestris (wild cat)

Felis silvestris
Mixed media on metal, 29,5 x 24,5 cm

To make this engraving I made an artist’s proof, too. Then I used the technique of `soft´ ball ground varnish to create vegetation, and aquatint for the textures at the back. Sometimes I have thought the artist’s proof would have been better if I had added some lines.

Cervus elaphus (Red deer)

Cervus elaphus
Mixed media on metal, 15,5 x 26 cm

Now I will show you the process of creation of this work. The first three images are artist’s proofs of the matrix and the one above this text is the end result. The lines are made using the etching technique. The different hues of the two figures were made with aquatint. And, finally, the texture at the back was made with an experimental technique: after applying a layer of protective varnish, I partially removed part of it by using adhesive tape.
With this work I want to thank to José Mª – Master of Engraving Workshop at the Fine Arts Faculty in Seville – doubtlessly a good teacher and a better person, and to Mª del Mar Bernal – Professor of the Introductory Course to Engraving Techniques – for encouraging me to learn this artistic technique.

Bufo bufo (European Common Toad)

Bufo bufo
Lithography, 35x49 cm.

I made the two works above as a project for the subject `Lithography´ in my fifth year at Fine Arts. The invaluable `help´ of Professor Manzorro served to discourage all students in the course. In his first lesson he said we all were `a shameful burden´ and that we did not deserve the time he devoted to us; fortunately, that was his last year before retiring.
Manzorro asked me why I had left so much space to the left of the turtle dove and why I had not finished the toad ... no comment.
The teacher assistant supervised us and I got the results you see.

Streptopelia decaocto (Eurasian Collared Dove)

Streptopelia decaocto
Lithography,30x44 cm.

My first Acid-Etched Engravings

Genet
Mixed media on metal, 17’5x11’5 cm.



Stone-Curlew
Mixed media on metal, 17’5x11’5 cm.

The first two works I made using the acid-etched and aquatint techniques. You can appreciate the `doubts of the beginner´.

White-headed Duck

White-headed Duck
Watercolours, 37x70 cm.

White-headed Ducks are one of my most inspiring motifs. They had been the main figure of some of my works.