From sketch to print: 'I love Whitstable'

Initial scamp (thumbnail sketch) for '6 Whitstable Oysters' print

Whilst fighting for a decent design solution for the previous post 'Whitstable Windfarm' and not getting very far, I turned my attentions to a new idea altogether to prevent me getting stale with it. Thus, I have sketched out this arrangement of 6 Whitstable Oysters. Whitstable, where I used to live and is about 7 miles from my home in Herne Bay, is renowned for its oysters (see my 'Wheeler's Oyster Bar' painting too). The town has just held its annual 'Whitstable Oyster Festival' too, where the local bishop blesses the first haul of the molluscs which spells the start of the festival, a procession through town and much more. I am a fan of oysters myself and at the harbour's Whitstable Fish Market (see again, my 'Whitstable Fish Market Figure' linocut in a previous post), I'd recommend 6 oysters with a squeeze of lemon and a healthy dash of McIlhenny’s Tabasco Sauce, seen in the design above. Being six oysters, I thought a graphic dice/domino-style arrangement of the oysters around the edge might work nicely. The 1st designs portray the molluscs as part of an 'I love'.. heart symbol, especially apt as the oyster is beleived to have aphrodisiac qualities! But I will pursue the tabasco & oysters version as that one really grabs me right now. The other design I will revisit later. Blue Bic biro on sketchpad. All images & text, copyright © Peter Gander