About me
Black Cat Art is named after my big black rescue cat Mattie, who's a real character.
I am a scientific illustrator at a large university where I produce illustrations and animations for online science courses using Adobe software but in my spare time I also love drawing in pencils and pastels, particularly animals. I normally use Hahnemühle velour paper and Sennelier La Carte but recently I have been experimenting with some handmade Himalayan papers which have some interesting textures. They can be quite lumpy and bumpy and it's fun to explore their properties and sometimes frustrating as they can be quite fragile. It often means that I can't over-work my drawings, which is a good thing!
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During the past year or so I have gone back to doing printmaking, drypoint specifically. I used to be a member of The Milton Keynes Printmakers about 10 years ago, sadly this group no longer exists. It was there that I learnt etching and then later drypoint printing. I love drypoint printing as there is no need for the use of acids and can easily be done at home, which is good as I don't have a dedicated studio space and often end up using the kitchen!
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I now run workshops for animal pastel drawing and also drypoint printing. Please see my Workshops page.
You may also like to take a look at my Etsy website: https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/BlackCatArtCrafts