On a day out exploring I went to see Coverack. It's coastal village with a fishing harbour on the east side of the Lizard peninsula. It's also got some amazing rocks on the beach and is very interesting geologically. But of course I was looking for cutting inspiration and really wanted to find a photo of the boats that I could use. I love this one because there is so much going on in the water and…
There's a gorgeous walk along the coastal path between Gurnard's head and Zennor with lovely views, rocky outcrops, wild flowers and sparkly seas. The path is very rocky so I don't recommend it to everyone, but there's a nice pub at Zennor to end up at, or drive directly to. I chose this photograph for my latest linocut challenge. starting with the pale grey sky and pale pink of the 'sea pinks'…
The 3rd print in the Kynance series. In July 22 I took my sister to see this fantastic place on a summer evening and got some lovely inspiring photos. I love the composition and stark contrasts. Solid rocks and shallow water. Kynance Light and July both sold out ( still available as giclee prints ) I'm hoping this print will be loved just as much. Here's the photo First two colours. Pale rock…
So I'd heard about this rockpool but I'd never been. It was a beautiful sunny afternoon, late September and the tide was out. Even so I have to admit I got pulled about in the surf on the way round and got a bit scared, prob more for my phone I was soaked by the time we found it. But all good and I got my photos. In front an amazing deep green pool and a sparkly sea. Behind the sun was hitting the…
Cornwall had a lovely sunny day back in March and I walked down to Pedn Vounder beach to stock up on inspiring photos for potential prints. I got this one looking towards The Minack Theatre. It has such a beautiful subtle colour palette and so many sunshine sparkles I couldn't resist. and looking in the other direction I got a photo I used to make the print Holiday While I spent sunny days off in…
What a fab summer we've had in Cornwall. I've had lots of family visit, we've spent time enjoying walks and swims together, and of course I've been looking for images to keep me busy printing all winter. Here's a photo I took on the 4th of July at 8pm. The golden hour sun was lighting the rocks beautifully and we'd just finished our swim. It's September already and the sun is setting around 8.…
Cornwall is full of these magical places. With water so inviting you just want to get in. After a long walk this pool is bliss. I've been wanting to cut this place for a while but struggled with the composition so in the end i did combine a couple of pics and a little artistic licence. the drawing on the lino after flipping the photo first colour sunny rock highlights 2nd colour 3rd and 4th…
Yes I know, another water picture but you know I love them. As soon as I saw this beautifully clear water and the gorgeous distorted rock shapes, I knew there was a print in there somewhere. I was excited to get the perfect photo while not slipping on the rocks and drowning my phone. I work directly from my photo which is flipped. My studio set up usually looks like this. The image on the lino is…
So here's how I made my monster of a print, it's taken 2 months and I'm very happy with how it turned out. March 2024 I was lucky enough to visit the Iguazu Falls in Argentina. ( and unlucky enough to get bitten by mosquitoes and catch dengue fever ) It was Amazingly beautiful and as you can guess I took loads of photos, some of which are on my instagram but you'll have to scroll back to March…
Last October I was excited to be asked if I'd design some prints for the St Ives Brewery's Craft Beer cans. I felt it was a great honour and it made me feel like I must be accepted as a proper St Ives artist despite being a Northerner. Firstly I went out to visit the locations and took photos. I was a bit worried, as to me composition is the most important starting point and designing for a can…
One of my fave beaches. And most of 2023 it had sand. All rocks again now but how lovely it was with the sand. I loved this photograph, so it's been a plan to cut it since I took the picture. The combination and strength of the foreground shapes makes it quite an unusual composition. I have found this my most confusing puzzle of a print so far. I got a bit stuck in the middle but it all worked out…
Back in July 22 I visited Kynance Cove on a gorgeous July evening with my sister. We swam in the sparkling water and I came home with lots of inspiring photos. April 23 I produced a print I named Kynance Light and it was my fastest selling print. Since then I've kept looking at this photograph and wondering if it was suitable for a print. The blurred patch at the front and the stretched wave had…
New Polzeath 14th May looking for compositions. Gorgeous big dramatic landscapes and reflections. Lovely light although slightly dark, but with enough sun to catch the white spray and that gorgeous green light in the rolling wave. I really fancied this crashing wave challenge and had no idea how it would work out. I'm very happy with the end result I love cutting water and haven't done a print…
Antalya piers in Turkey last October. Definitely too busy for me during the day, I love my quiet Cornwall, but so beautiful in the evenings with all these golden reflections. Oops as I wrote this I realised how busy Cornwall beaches can be in the summer ! I couldn't resist having a go at these wonderful waves they're just so gentle and warm and with those intricate pier reflections. I saw this as…
Here's a photo I've been dying to print since I took it. I love the composition of the rocks floating. The contrast of the dark rocks with the light patterned bottom of the pool. The delicate shadows of the little ripples. So how to best tackle the shadows. No white in this one so straight into colour. Here's the lino with the 2nd colour rolled on 4 colours make the bottom of the pool and a blue…
Last Light - came from a photograph I took last year walking around Gurnard's Head as the sun was setting and amazingly it had lined up with the rocks to send that shard of light across the sea. I looked for it again this year but it hadn't quite lined up. Stupidly I forgot to flip the photo before I started, so I can't call it Towards Pendeen ha ha. This print has so many colours I lost count and…
First print of 2024 - St Ives Bay I'm loving the tranquility of this one. I'm going away in March to spend 3 weeks dancing Tango in Buenos Aires. It's my other passion so... I'e been working double time, days and nights to make sure I've started 2024 with some lovely big prints. Here's the first Photo inspiration - L ooking across the wet sands of Porth Kidney towards Porthminster and St Ives. My…
I've been wanting to do a bigger print for a while and thought this rock pool image was just beautiful and so interesting I'd give it a go. I took the photograph down at Cape Cornwall in that gorgeous, hot, first week of September when in the sea was the best place to be. Then the paper arrived on a pallet and I thought I may have bitten off more than I could chew. I wasn't sure how to start.…
Ooooo how could I resist such a perfect image for a linocut print, I was having a lovely swim but I had to go and get my phone to take a photo This is an addition of 12 but all the skies are different, instead of cutting the clouds I scrapped the ink off the lino with the palette knife. Here's how the print was made A pale blue with a pale grey 2nd layer 3rd layer 2nd blue ( see different sky )…
One of my favourite things about living where I do, in Cornwall and working for myself is, if it's a lovely afternoon, sometimes, I can just go out and enjoy it. Especially June when it's still fairly quiet and you get a cove to yourself. Monday was looking gorgeous so I went for a swim. Walking into the clear water I loved the shapes of the seaweed rocks under the surface and the light patterns…
Heading for a swim, walking down the coastal path towards the beach mid May. Last year I remember seeing 2 of these pink flowers, this year they were all over the banking, very beautiful. My drawing on the lino of the basic image I'm planning. Bit of artistic licence on the composition and the removal of my little fluffy grey dog lol, oh and flipped ofcourse. It looked a bit complicated so I…
The colours of a late afternoon mid February, a beach to myself ( and the dogs ) looking for potential new images to cut. I decided on this one with it's interesting sky, wet beach reflections, sea and rocks, perfect. I started this print during the Cornwall Open Studios and posted my layers as I went along but here it is again if you didn't see it on instagram. First drawing on the lino and white…
27th May - 4th June The Orange Circles will be out all over Cornwall this weekend for the next 9 days. It's a great time to explore and discover artists. Open Studios starts this weekend and I'm OPEN All my details are on this link Directions and opening times. https://openstudioscornwall.co.uk/.../hazel-mcnab-artist.../ In the book I'm on page 42 Artist number 164 although I don't appear on their…
July 2022, a beautiful evening and a swim with my sister down at Kynance Cove. Lots of photos taken and here's the one I chose to work with A simple drawing on the lino and first cut First two colours printed 2nd cut and lino showing the white lines where I'm planning to cut. 3rd colour a second green 4th colour a blue over the whole sea and a blend in the sky 5th colour a third green 6th colour a…
Soooo here's something different from me! Quite a few years ago I did a linocut of a polar bear and I wanted to have another go. Obviously! I couldn't work from my own photo so I began by looking everywhere on the internet to find the perfect bear to inspire me to cut. I found the work of Paul Souders, and his incredible photographs . I approached him online and asked permission to use one of his…
21st December a beautiful day and the tide would be out at 11am. A reasonable time in my opinion for a walk on this beach. The last thing I expected was to actually go in for a dip, but it was irresistible and I did, as well as getting some wonderful photographs to inspire a new linocut. I was looking for a composition which would fit into the category 'Earth's Wild Beauty' so I could enter into…
I was asked recently if I did commissions, which due to the amount of time it takes to cut and print an image I don't ( they would be too expensive as a one off ) But if it's a popular place and I get inspired I'm happy to make a print. That's what happened at Perranporth, I went to look and came away with some amazing photos, definitely inspired. Some of them are here on my hazelmcnabphoto…
Busy August and how I made my NEW print, Evening light on the Severn More
During the St Ives exhibition I had an explore. The streets of St Ives and outwards. I walked the coastal path to Carbis Bay and found some gorgeous views along the way, this being my favourite to cut. I've still not made up my mind whether or not I like this tall spiky plant, the echium. But I have to say I loved this big group of them and against that beautiful blue sea it had a really tropical…
May is turning out to be very busy. Apart from trying to find the perfect bluebell photograph... I'm getting ready to show my work alongside Ian Cox at West Coast Studios in St Ives. It's a friendly little place, where as well as looking at the exhibition you can get a coffee and enjoy the fantastic view of the harbour. It's run by Ben Hamilton-Tredinnick a local photographer and is close to the…