£650
Woodburner, circa 1940
Framed (ref: 3166)
Ink on paper
6 7/8 x 6 1/4 in. (17.5 x 16 cm),(9 1/2 x 8 7/8 in. (24 x 22.5 cm) framed)
Ink on paper
6 7/8 x 6 1/4 in. (17.5 x 16 cm),(9 1/2 x 8 7/8 in. (24 x 22.5 cm) framed)
Provenance: The Artist's daughter
Literature: Llewellyn, Sacha, and Paul Liss. Portrait of an Artist. Liss Llewellyn, 2021, p.77.
This pen and ink sketch probably shows the artist's wood burner at Oak Cottage, the artist's house. Mahoney's 'studio' was a garden shed, from which he worked with the door propped open which provided an excellent northern light, though there were obvious issues with the cold in winter.
Oak Cottage.
Photo credit; with thanks to Fred Hohler.
For drawing, Mahoney liked a textured paper, soft to the touch, such as Ingres, or still better, hand-made papers from firms such as Hayle Mill or Barcham Green. Occasionally he bought cheap sketchbooks from Woolworth’s because he found the paper so sympathetic as a surface for drawing. For his earliest drawings he used mainly B or 2B pencils, but he later preferred Black Prince or carbon pencils. He often used charcoal, adding white or red crayons to highlight drawings. Sometimes he combined these with conté crayons or pastels. For his later drawings he preferred pen and wash, taking great trouble to mix and dilute his inks until he achieved the required tone and colour. His drawing pens were either reservoir nibs in holders or else cartridge pens.
