Gothic Arch 1

I made this arch a few weeks ago - but felt it was lacking in something so did not use this one for a swap I was in.

I was going to 'bin' it as I usually do with things I am not happy with, but someone persuaded me to hang on to it.

So there it sat - on my display board on the wall - until today.



The backing paper was a piece of a Japanese shop's paper bag - which my daughter in law saved for me after a trip back to Japan.

It had a few bits of calligraphy stamped on it which I left.


After yesterday's playing with inks, I decided to see if I could 'save' this arch so had a go painting with inks again.

This photo was taken under a light - so not very good.


The above was taken by a window - its been raining all day so there was no way I could take a photo outside in natural light.

In 'real life' the colours are brighter and it looks quite dainty and pretty. The Japanese calligraphy I re-inked with the same colour as the flowers - but in a weaker shade.

Gothic Arch

I made this Gothic arch this afternoon - photographed it under a light.

I am considering entering it for a swap - but need to do a few more yet before I decide.

The backing paper is one that I made myself - then scanned it - as it was too thick - and I am pleased with the result of the whole sheet.

I made it layering paper on top of paper and painting it with thick paint - more layers and Japanese news paper and rough strips. I forgot all about it - it was in a book 'flattening'.

The image is a vintage Japanese black and white print - but I am 'into' colours at the moment - so I painted it with inks. It is quite intricate - so took a long while - but I am happy with it now that it is finished - I think.

This was taken in late afternoon daylight indoors.



I managed to achieve depth and shading painting on layers of ink - pretty tricky doing the garland of flowers - especially the stem - and painting the face white with the cupid lips!

You can't see on here - but in natural light you can see the shading, the strands of hair, and all the little details of the flowers.