The Artist Magazine — Art journal by watercolour artist Lucy Clayton SGFA. Inspired by food, nature and sea life.

I was first introduced to the Blotted Line technique by a wonderful tutor at my local Adult Education college called Jamie Ogilvie. We were looking at Andy Warhol's early illustrations where he combined this simple printmaking technique with watercolour paint. Initially I tried it with more subjective drawings and gradually applied it to observational studies of seafood as the technique complimented the subject. I find this basic form of printmaking gives my work a quality that I can not create through drawing.

Spider Crab No.9

I always begin with a drawing or photo of the subject. The crab was placed on a board and frozen in-between drawing sessions.

I begin a rough construction drawing on a separate sheet as it doesn't matter if there are any mistakes. Once I am happy that everything is in the right place it is transferred on to a clean piece of paper. I try to work evenly across the drawing gradually adding darker tones.

The tracing stage is where I try and simplify the image and decide what areas will be printed or painted.

Positioning the tracing on watercolour paper

The tracing is positioned on a stretched sheet of watercolour paper and attached with masking tape on one side to form a hinge. This allows the tracing to be turned over so the reverse side can be drawn on with ink and then printed.

Drawing on the reverse of the tracing with a dip pen & ink

To create a blotted line print, I draw on the reverse side of the tracing with a dip pen and then flip it back into position before gently pressing it down. It is a combination of speed and quantity of ink on the nib that gives a thinner line. However it is always wonderful when you get unexpected inky blobs that add another dimension to the image.

Painting Blotted Line print of Spider Crab

Using a photograph for colour reference and the original drawing for tonal values, I mix several colours of paint and apply it as loose wet on wet washes.

Once the paint is dry I add the shadows and the painting is complete. The Blotted Line technique is very versatile and can be used with other media to create interesting textures and marks.

Spider Crab No.9 - many thanks to Sam Puddick for creating this short film.

Update

Back in 2021 I entered Spider Crab No.9 into the Royal Society of Marine Artists Open Exhibition at the Mall Galleries in London, as the show always has an interesting range of artworks and subjects that celebrate the sea.

I was absolutely thrilled to have work accepted and shocked that my crab won the The Artists and Illustrators award to have an interview in The Artist Magazine.

The interview written by Susie Hodge has now been published in the September 2023 issue and it was a very surreal moment to be in WHSmith and suddenly see one of my paintings on the front cover!