The Wildlife Trusts III: Wren – Limited edition print

Description

The Print
Each print comes with it’s own certificate of authenticity signed by me. Only the finest materials were used to make this limited edition print, which I have produced myself. Both the paper (Somerset Enhanced Velvet) and the inks (Epson UltraChrome Pro) are of archival quality, meaning the print could last up to 400 years.
Size: The framed print is 53.5 cm x 53.5cm and the unframed print is 50cm x 50cm. A standard size that should enable you to get a frame easily online if you choose this option.

The Technique
I draw with Uni-ball Signo ballpoint pens on raw linen canvas. To prepare the surface I lighten the canvas with a white oil paint wash. Once this is dry, I draw with the biro, as I would with pencil on paper. After the drawing is complete, it’s varnished (to fix the ink in place) and more white oil paint is used to add light and finalise the composition. The ink is actually surprisingly versatile, in terms of its colour. If I want a blue tinge to the work I can layer white oil paint over it, or leave the canvas showing through to leave a sepia tone.

The Inspiration
This is the third artwork created as part of The Wildlife Trusts project. The project lasted just over a year and involved us travelling around England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, visiting 53 Wildlife Trusts reserves, across 20 separate Trusts.

For me the wren is a very special bird. It is just perfectly formed with a compact beauty that challenges the eagle from the fable. It’s an elusive bird that can be hard to spot as it tends to keep to cover and hop around the edges of a space, which explains why it used to be known as the mouse bird in certain areas. That is why I chose to make it small and to use a composition that stuck to the edges of the canvas, hopefully creating a feeling of a wren that could disappear at any moment. Which it absolutely did, when we saw it in the Withybeds reserve, owned by Radnorshire Wildlife Trust.