Rocky Shore is the February illustration from the patternicia (me) Coast 2024 calendar.
Why this illustration?
Two things I love: a windy wild rocky coast and mark-making.
So windy, the terns won’t fly.
I like standing on the edge of a cliff, watching the water and clouds.
I love and miss the wild coastline of North Uist in Scotland. During an hour walk along the rocky shore, there was horizontal rain, snow and sunshine.
Humboldt County in N. California has spectacular rocky coastlines with redwoods framing the edges. As a teenager, these were places to clear my head, find a modicum of temporary peace before plunging back in to adolescence.
This illustration has it’s roots in a summer’s day spent on the Swedish coast with friends - rock hopping, exploring tidepools and chasing children more agile than me.
Mark Making
And then there’s mark making.
Lines, dots, squiggles. Thick, thin, overlapping. Dark, light, layered. Long, short, curved.
Rocky Shore includes my own marks and those of digital brushes made by me and purchased. All the marks to the left are used in the drawing. Can you find any of them?
Many many people have written well and at length about mark making.
The repetitive action can help quieten my mind or let it drift without anxiety, interrupted by the desire to choose another colour or change the mark. Not necessarily meditative, it does require me to focus in a here and now way - like a windy wild rocky coast.
