I find pen and ink a wonderfully expressive medium. It took a long time to master and to find the balance of materials that suited me. I draw directly on to the paper without any preparatory pencil drawing so there must be nothing to impede the flow of the nib which in my case is extremely fine and likely to catch on the slightest hair or bump. Sometimes such accidents can give a liberated character to an otherwise tight drawing but mostly they elicit a curse from the draughtsman.
For an exhibition about pirates I was asked to produce 50 woodcuts in a month. The strong black and white images were quite appropriate for the period and were silk-screened onto large banners.
woodcuts »
