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Wednesday 29 September 2021

Matthew Slater is moving!

Dear Blog Subscriber.

This blog will soon be closed as I am moving to a more integrated web/blog platform.

I will be starting a new blog. If you wish to subscribe and still get notifications whenever I post artwork, stories etc, please let me know. You can also go to my website www.matthewslater.art, look for the BLOG menu and subscribe there.

Very many thanks, hope to hear from you!

Matthew

Sunday 29 August 2021

Seaside Town


I am a bit behind in posting images here as I have a wider audience via Instagram which is where I tend to post things. This was a little exercise I did a few weeks ago with a seaside theme.

 

Sunday 4 July 2021

Apple Trees


At the beginning of May I visited Orleton Court Farm in Worcestershire and camped in an old apple orchard. The trees were starting to leaf while the main blossom time looked a couple of weeks away. I was struck by all the different shapes formed by the trunks and branches and so took a collection of photos to record their appearance. I had initially planned some illustration work but decided to create a photo collage instead. Clicking on the image should enlarge it.

 

Thursday 1 July 2021

Character Development

 


Over the past few months I have been trying to focus on character development work by sketching people in various outdoor locations as much as possible. The above images are from my sketchpad and iPad (if they are too small, try clicking in them to get a larger view). I have just been playing with ideas, getting a style to flow rather than doing anything detailed. I seem to have been doing this for years and never been happy. One day I might get right what I actually want to do - once I know what that is!

 



Tuesday 25 May 2021

Orange Tip Butterfly


Orange tip butterfly, wild garlic and yellow archangel growing on the steep banks of a dingle near Hanley Child in Worcestershire. I always remember visiting this place below our farm as a child and I returned there a couple of weeks ago to take a few photos. The above illustration worked well, though my iPad struggled to cope with its complexity and so I called it a day when I could perhaps of refined it more. On the day I visited the location there was bright warm sunshine, the ground was very wet and the understory full of luscious vegetation beneath the trees. The aroma of the garlic filled the air along with the sound of the stream tumbling over several small waterfalls.


Sunday 9 May 2021

Hop Picking Machine

 



The tracked time on my iPad says I had this file open for 6 hours and 38 minutes. This might well have included snack breaks and lunch. Even so, I reckon around 5 hours in a farm shed sheltering from the rain and drawing part of one of my favourite subjects was time well spent. I was enjoying myself so much I hadn’t realised I had spent most a day doing this. Why? I wasn’t keen on going out for a walk and getting wet as I was camping in the car on this farm for a few nights. This huge machine gave me an ideal opportunity to just sit and draw and focus on detail. There are so many interesting geometric shapes and different perspectives and I was able to work in complete safety as it is only in operation for a few weeks in late summer. I limited myself to working solely in black linework, no grey tinting or colour allowed.
I am fairly happy with the result, in this case it was the process I enjoyed rather than the final outcome.

Dandelions



A very, very quick sketch of a wonderful patch of dandelions at Hanley Childe in Worcestershire.
 

Tuesday 27 April 2021

Green-veined White


I am not sure how I have missed this butterfly over the years. I have probably ignored the whites and so hadn’t spotted this right under my nose. This was seen in abundance in north Hertfordshire a couple of days ago. I had originally planned to do a drawing of the greater stitchwort and then progressed to include the celandines and bluebells. Also saw the following butterflies in the spring hedgerows: orange tip, a blue, brimstone and a peacock. This iPad illustration is so full of spring colours and I was very pleased with the way it turned out - capturing all the colour and vibrancy of a roadside verge on a clear sunny day.

 

Wednesday 21 April 2021

Brimstone Butterfly


Brimstone amongst a hedgerow full of wild clematis. iPad illustration. It was the first I had seen this year, spotted whilst out for a walk in the sunshine near Offley/Hitchin last weekend.

 

Sunday 18 April 2021

Sketching in Hitchin

 


Life seemed to be getting back to ‘normal’ in Hitchin with lots of people out and about shopping and enjoying the sunshine on the first Saturday after the easing of lockdown restrictions. 

Friday 9 April 2021

Pheasants

 


Pheasants at Wrest Park (English Heritage, Beds). They were quite happy foraging amongst dead leaves only a few metres away from me and proved an interesting challenge to sketch. Whilst I was drawing, a robin came on perched on a branch almost within hand’s reach and was quite happy flitting around me whilst I drew.

Wednesday 7 April 2021

Anglesey Abbey, Cambridgeshire



Two sketches made today at Anglesey Abbey (National Trust). A beech tree amongst the daffodils and the Winter Garden: blue glory of the snow (Chionodoxa), purple/blue/pink lungwort (Pulmonaria), magenta elephant’s ears (Bergenia) and white paper birch trees.

 

Tuesday 6 April 2021

Red Dead-nettle


 

Red dead-nettle on a roadside verge in Clophill, Bedfordshire. I took a few photos whilst on a walk today then sketched this in the evening on the iPad.

Monday 5 April 2021

Sowing Seeds


Sowing climbing bean seeds in the greenhouse yesterday.

 

Saturday 3 April 2021

Sketching in Hitchin

It was cold in Hitchin today so I wrapped up warm and did some quick iPad sketches. Looking forward to the town opening up again with more people out and about and events returning to the town centre.


 

Cottage by the sea


 Birthday card for my wife. Procreate on iPad.

 

Wren


I spotted a wren on our patio amongst the pots of pansies so drew this. Affinity Designer on iPad.

 

Saturday 27 March 2021

Sketching in Hitchin


First day of sketching in Hitchin this year. Sunnyish with a cold breeze. Lots of people out and about enjoying takeaways, chatting, sitting etc. Very pleased with the results and it is good to be back in my favourite sketching environment again. 

 

Friday 5 March 2021

Cow


 
Decided to draw a cow - it just appeared from a doodle.
 

Tuesday 2 March 2021

Daffodils


Two daffodils. iPad illustration, Affinity Designer.



 

Sunday 21 February 2021

Writing a Novel

Three years ago I set out to write a novel and, last autumn, I succeeded in producing the first draft of 70,000 words. 

I wanted to write a magical reality novel based around the farm in Worcestershire where I spent the first eight or so years of my life. It’s place to which I have been drawn back to explore, lockdowns permitting, and write about the landscape and wildlife there within a quirky tale of magic and rural life. 

There was much wrong with it, but there was also some good - not least the sense of completion of a long journey of development. My wife and daughter, who are both avid readers, were more than happy to rip it to shreds and give praise in equal measure.

The main problem, or one of them, was the abundance of ideas - too many. My aim was to write what excited and interested me which was too much and the plot needed more work.

The novel might be better reworked into a series of short stories, then I could develop the themes different ways and not get lost in the deep depths of 70,000 words. It also might be better for me to write it in the first person. This would force me to confront the challenge of writing with more emotional attachment which wasn’t part of my writing style.

I will go back to the drawing board and completely restructure my plot lines and clarify the magical world in which it is set. I enjoyed creating a long text, but I found myself easily getting lost in the bulk of it, particularly as I have other things in life that need my attention or which stimulate me creatively. 

My aim is to write about what interests me and I have no publishing goal to work towards - it is the experience that counts. Formal publishing can take years with little, if any, financial reward and self-publishing would need me do do all the promotion. I’ll think about it and see what feels right to do.

Thursday 18 February 2021

Gardening


Now the weather has warmed up a little it is time to begin planning what to do in the garden this year.

 

Monday 15 February 2021

Sunlit Oaks

 


Quick sketch made whilst out for a walk today of sunlight in an oak wood near Lilley, Hertfordshire. The bright green mosses covering the trees beautifully backlit by warm sunshine. Procreate on iPad, 29 minutes.

Sunday 14 February 2021

Liquitex Acrylic Gouache Paints

 




I asked for some Liquitex Acrylic Gouache paints for my birthday and have been pleased with the results. The colours are bright and suit my way of working well. I have never got on with normal acrylic paints, these are far easier to use - good consistency, good opaqueness and remind me of working with the acrylic inks I used to use back in the good old days.







I've been exploring using Affinity Photo as a painting app. The afternoon tea picture was drawn very quickly as an initial ‘getting the know’ the app. The catkins and bramble leaves were seen in a hedgerow yesterday and created a good challenge in putting the app to a more detailed test. If I didn’t have Procreate I am sure I would use it more but Procreate has the edge.