iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

John Altringham @johnaltringham.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Quiet night, eh? Nothing much to report.

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Reposted by John Altringham

Kathleen Jamie @kathleenjamie.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

If you enjoy atmospheric radio. All credit to producer Victoria Ferran.

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John Altringham @johnaltringham.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Cautiously optimistic, signs are positive. Sorry to hear your bad news too - hope it's not too painful. Very happy to peer into your bat boxes. Could do a bioblitz on your garden when it's had time to get established.

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John Altringham @johnaltringham.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Great to see it on the wall, Lynn! I hope you are both thriving up there. We did not make it to the far NW in 2026, for the first time in many years - thanks to cancer op and immunotherapy. Too early to say with confidence that latter is working but I am feeling better and planning for next year.

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LynnHenni @lynnhenni.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

And it has pride of place on our wall with the real thing through the window - seen today in sunshine.

A framed painting of Beinn Alligin and Liathach in snow on a wall alongside a frame print of a frog and top of a lamp loosely based on Gandalf.

Beinn Alligin and Liathach with the tip of Upper Loch Torridon and the Fuar Op in the foreground. A very blue sky above with clouds lurking.

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John Altringham @johnaltringham.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Since many liked the loosely painted 'monochrome' watercolour of Ilkley Moor I posted, here's another in similar style. A snowstorm bursting over Beinn Alligin and Liathach in Torridon, NW Scotland, two of my favourite mountains. Inspired by a photograph taken by @lynnhenni.bsky.social

The main text says it already but - watercolour, monochrome, mountains, snow, snowfall, clouds, chaos.

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John Altringham @johnaltringham.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Summer Isles, NW Scotland. On a dreich early summer day. Watercolour

Watercolour. An archipelago of small, dark islands in a silver grey sea under a brooding gunmetal blue sky.

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John Altringham @johnaltringham.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

The principle is easy enough - leave the paper white and let it shine through the surrounding darkness. In practice I find it elusive. You can think of it as knowing how to create the conditions for 'happy accidents' in watercolour. And recognising success before your next brushstroke ruins it.

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John Altringham @johnaltringham.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Thank you. It is the one attempt of maybe six that worked for me.

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John Altringham @johnaltringham.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Which makes me very happy - they are what I as drawn to and wanted to try and capture. The curve of the land I see on my regular walks but on that day the light and the rising edge of the cloud made it new.

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John Altringham @johnaltringham.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Rubha Hunish, Skye All nine wood blocks are engraved and ready for test printing. Then a lot of faffing about to develop methods and workflows that minimise the effort and error involved in producing a run of perfect prints in perfect alignment. How hard can it be...?

A walnut ink sketch of sea cliffs running towards the horizon, left and right. Above, nine engraved and aligned woodblocks, detailing the cliffs and ready for test printing.

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John Altringham @johnaltringham.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Toss-up which drove you nuts sooner, Letraset or stencils. I think I opted for Letraset because it would look more 'professional' in journals.

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John Altringham @johnaltringham.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Oh yes. I suspect my PhD thesis is full of it. I don't miss it.

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Jonathan Pomroy @jonathanpomroy.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

House martins depart as pink- footed geese arrive! A blog at jonathanpomroy.wordpress.com Plus a look at my forthcoming exhibitions this autumn.

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John Altringham @johnaltringham.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

An ink sketch develops into a wood engraving project. Lots of variations possible, but first a lot of engraving to finish. Basalt cliffs of Rubha Hunish, Isle of Skye, Scotland. #WoodEngraving #printmaking #art #landscape #Scotland #geology

Panoramic, 75cm wide walnut ink drawing of basalt sea cliffs.

Equally spaced segments of the drawing transferred to nine lemonwood blocks, the central three being twice the size of the others. A work in progress, the blocks are only partially engraved. NB - the engravings are reversed, so that on printing the image will be the right way round.

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John Altringham @johnaltringham.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Disturbed by K gardening - Silver Y, Autographa gamma. It had vibrated its flight muscles up to operating temperature and flown before I could catch its handsome profile.

Moth at rest showing of its intricate patterning of rich and varied browns with a striking gold y-shaped marking on each forewing

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Reposted by John Altringham

Wil Freeborn @freeborn.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Moniaive village view

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John Altringham @johnaltringham.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

I've updated my website, adding new engravings, together with watercolours and ink sketches that span most of the 10 years I've been looking for fun and fulfilment in art. www.johnaltringham.co.uk #art #WoodEngraving #printmaking #watercolour #landscape #mountains #sketching #nature

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Reposted by John Altringham

John Altringham @johnaltringham.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Quinag in the far NW of Scotland, an ancient sandstone mountain on a bed of Lewisian gneiss more than half as old as the Earth. Great Close Hill near home in Yorkshire, a low, symmetrical shield of Great Scar Limestone, a hard rock that slowly dissolves in rain water into karst landscape and caves.

Watercolour and ink sketch of a lop-sided conical mountain with deep gullies on its flanks.

Watercolour sketch of a low, symmetrical, shield-shaped hill on a dark winter day, with a light dusting of snow.

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John Altringham @johnaltringham.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

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John Altringham @johnaltringham.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Beautiful sketches, made with such apparent ease and skill. They will keep me occupied for some time, thank you!

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John Altringham @johnaltringham.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

The view from Sahale Mountain - Forbidden Peak centre ground, Eldorado Peak back left, emerging from the Eldorado and Inspiration Glaciers, two of many Cascade glaciers threatened by climate change. Cascades, Washington State, USA. #watercolour #art #mountains #landscape #ClimateChange

An 'alpine' landscape of rocky peaks and arêtes, small glaciers and spring snow, all under a blue sky.

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John Altringham @johnaltringham.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Playing with some new multimedia sketchbooks - rough sketch in walnut and acrylic inks with watercolours and acrylic paint. St Kilda, after an etching by the great Norman Ackroyd.

Rocky islands in a rough sea with seabirds. Sketch on gray-blue paper, in walnut ink, acrylic ink, acrylic paint and watercolour paint.

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John Altringham @johnaltringham.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Moments worth waiting for. I wish you many more!

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John Altringham @johnaltringham.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Thanks! One of those rare but rewarding occasions when what I saw in my head at the beginning survived the process of drawing, engraving and printing.

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John Altringham @johnaltringham.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Using masks with a single woodblock to vary ink tone is proving to be easier than expected. A useful way to increase the sense of depth in the print. Forcan Ridge, NW #Scotland. #WoodEngraving #mountains #art #landscape

Wood engraving print of a rocky, narrow mountain ridge printed in grey and black ink.

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John Altringham @johnaltringham.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Thanks, George. Indeed, the destination rarely meets the dream.

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John Altringham @johnaltringham.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Experiments in wood engraving and printing. No, I have no idea where I am going with this.

Relief printing inks rolled out on a glass plate with streaks of more ink on top, ready to be rolled.

Wood engraving print of wave breaking along a cliff. The cliff is an irregular mix of the browns and chalky greens in the previous picture.

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John Altringham @johnaltringham.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

More watercolours of the dippers on the R Wharfe. A grey wagtail because I was bored with sketching dippers (never bored of the dippers themselves). A small, speedy kingfisher sketch because I need to clear my work table for a new project.

Watercolour sketches of birds that live along our local river. Mainly sketches of dippers with a grey wagtail and a hastily done kingfisher to finish.

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John Altringham @johnaltringham.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Having just looked at the latest forecast, I agree!

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John Altringham @johnaltringham.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Dipper on my local stretch of the River Wharfe, sketched yesterday afternoon as I listened to test match cricket online. I may do it again today.

Watercolour of a dipper on a rock. Dippers are small, dumpy birds with dark brown back and wings, chestnut abdomen and white breast and throat. They forage on aquatic invertebrates on the bottom of shallow, fast flowing, rocky streams and rivers.

Dipper foraging in shallow water, the chestnut brown of its head glowing in low sunlight.

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John Altringham @johnaltringham.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Ah, I get it, I misinterpreted your reply.

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John Altringham @johnaltringham.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Thanks, Andy. Swifts are so dynamic it seemed the best way to tackle them - capture all those shapes. I'm sure the workshop will be fun with Jonathan, I look forward to seeing the results!

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John Altringham @johnaltringham.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Welcome rain, light but persistent, all day. Watching the garden drip and sketching swifts from the many mediocre photographs I took this summer. I had not really taken on board how blue/black the juveniles are until recently.

Watercolour sketches of swifts in flight, rolling, banking, stall turning, diving...

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John Altringham @johnaltringham.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Thanks for the heads-up, Leslie. I really enjoyed your book, an excellent read and a memorable blend of the small and personal details set in a global context. The small objects and features that survive in an old house make the history more tangible - it was nice to share your enthusiasm for them.

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John Altringham @johnaltringham.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

The surveyors gave precise, descriptive locations in their notes, see archive: interactivemaps.uk/os-benchmark... The majority of BMs were vertical. The horizontal slot supported a small metal 'bench' 'First order' benchmarks were vertical metal plates that served the same purpose - see photo.

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John Altringham @johnaltringham.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

Yes, I am prof of bats (formally Prof. of Ecology & Conservation), now retired. It is not necessarily a bad thing to see daytime bats - at this time of year the young are beginning to make their own way in the world and they don't always play by the rules.

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John Altringham @johnaltringham.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

BMs were only ever used for level. There's a lot of info in the archive but it's by no means complete.

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John Altringham @johnaltringham.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

One in the next street was put back upside down when the garden wall was rebuilt. Countless BMs have been lost to development but with over half a million at their peak, there's no shortage of them.

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John Altringham @johnaltringham.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

I thought you'd like this sort of thing. I can think of several explanations... but will look for clues before speculating. NB - they are not at the same height.

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John Altringham @johnaltringham.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

Possible, but that raises difficult questions. Why move a real benchmark and from where? Or why cut a false benchmark (although it looks like the real thing)?

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John Altringham @johnaltringham.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

The stile may have been rebuilt but since benchmarks are no longer used another would not be added. I've seen one in a garden wall put back upside down. The one on the step is in the archive, that on the upright is not, nor in any old editions of OS maps I have looked at. Puzzling.

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John Altringham @johnaltringham.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

On #YorkshireDay - Scar Close and Ingleborough, Whitestone Cliff and Goremire Lake, Kettlewell in Wharfedale, the view north from Ilkley Moor.

Limestone pavement with a rich community of flowers and trees growing in the deep grikes between the pale grey, water-smoothed clints of Carboniferous limestone. In the distance, Ingleborough, a layer cake of limestones, sandstones and shales.

A view from the top of a pale limestone cliff into the low evening sun. Below the cliff a lake is surrounded by sunlit trees. Green fields and hedges recede into the distance.

A sunlit post-glacial, u-shaped valley with small fields in a network of drystone walls. Above the fields on the steeper slopes there is woodland. In the foreground a stone-built village.

Winter panorama of gentle snow-covered hills across a green, wooded valley.

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John Altringham @johnaltringham.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

Wildlife too. Good evidence for major disturbance and mortality, notably of roosting birds.

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John Altringham @johnaltringham.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

I ought to look more closely at them. The River Wharfe runs for most of its length through Carboniferous limestone before it reaches the gritstone just upstream of us. Both rocks must be more varied than I think. Next walk...

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John Altringham @johnaltringham.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

Down by the river - grey wagtails busy foraging to feed their young.

Three photos of grey wagtails collecting insects among water-smoothed pebbles and cobbles on the river's edge. Slender birds with long, wagging tails, grey backs, dark wings, yellow rumps.

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