Hunched over a drawing board

Hello to people that normally read this and people that may be new.

This was posted on Instagram a while back, but i thought i would put all the stages on how it was completed on my blog. Initially it started as a tattoo drawing for myself but kind of escalated to the point that if it were going to be used it would be a whole body cover... so kinda back to the drawing board on that idea.
I have always got told less is more when creating but somehow its doesn't seem to work for me. Wish it was the case, this drawing took me over a month on and off.

I have become a bit of a social media whore of late and you can now find me on
(this badge means instagram apparently)
Twitter and Facebook . On twitter i dont really ponder like my name suggests just post up images and link hip hop that i like.
Anyhow thats enough of me writing the pictures are below.
Take care until the next time...

The Thud in the Wood

Hey, hope your all fine and well...

Its very good news for me to hear the good fellow as Story Meadows Books have re-released a title of mine which is now available to purchase on Amazon.

The story is written by Alison Molyneux who does a miles better job of describing the story than myself, i'm just the guy who paints it. Therefore its best that i just include a couple of pictures instead...

This as well as recent restocked copies of Christopher and the Crab are available to purchase by clicking on these words.

Until the next time take care. I'm sure i wont take as long to post something on this blog compared to this time. It has a been a good while.

From September till September

As the haze of summer is ending and autumn slowly starts to begin i thought i would be fitting to post this up for you guys. However it has taken me four seasons to complete it.

The trees shape has sort of changed considerably during this time, once upon a time it had leaves, now it doesn't. The decision was cemented in my subconscious after a few weeks of commuting to work passing lots of naked gnarly branches. The colours of the cracked bark, mould and moss seemed to sparkle in my eyes. The easiest way i could describe it would be how they would look if they were on that Apple Macbook retina display advert on the telly. I like to say that i also saw the characters that i painted running around them, but that may just may make me sound a bit mental.

The furry chap, like the trees also changed quite a bit. Once he was red then he was blue, for a few months i couldn't make my mind up but then umber seemed to work in my opinion.

Throughout a lot of the time while painting this i was listening to the album by The Knife called Shaking the Habitual. I kind of picture all the characters dancing around to it when i was listening so maybe you could to. Have a listen by clicking below if you have a spare five minutes you bunch of busy people

Enjoy the last beams of that sun and im sure we will chat again some time soon

Revisions, Revisions, Revisions.....

Well if you have read my blog before i thought id finished it. However i got it out to have a look at it after a good half a year or so and decided that it needed a few drastic changes, things that now seem blindingly obvious. Maybe my previous portrait attempt (again revert back to old posts) that i wasn't too pleased with did have some benefits after all.
Apologies for the bad phone image, decent camera-less at the mo

Because of this its probably best to add some close up images so here you go.

You may of noticed the little character the young lady is clutching has changed its appearance. I saw this photo of myself when i was a young happy chap and sort of used that as a point of reference. The other lad with the grim face is my cousin who i will not name as hes now bigger than me and would probably do me over if i did. I on the other hand appear to be having a grand old time. Simple things for simple minds and all that.

Back to The Drawing Board

Hey

Some people may know this person below, some people may not. Some people may know the person but cant recognise him through this portrait which means i have done a bad job.

To be honest i couldn't tell what sort of job i've done on it at all anymore. Staring at this painting, looking at it from different angles until the image and colour blur and muddle in my head and staring at the poor victim who has posed for this until his flesh resembled hints of olive green, purples, blues and raw umber oil paint colours have left me inconclusive as to whether this is any good or just a load of old tosh.

I can safely say that this has been the most humbling experience for me as an artist. Approaching this with either arrogance, naivety or perhaps both i thought i would be able to do a sterling job ( It is actually a submission for the National Portrait Awards).  During the process it was apparent that i still have a great deal to learn and the past seven years of sacrificing so much for my practice may have to come to an end. But these could all just be ramblings on how im feeling at the moment.... so maybe onwards and upwards or errrmm maybe not.

Christopher and the Crab

Hi

Im pleased to announce that as of now a illustrated children's story of mine is available to purchase on the online shop that has everything; Amazon. The story is called Christopher and the Crab which is illustrated by myself and written by Alison Molyneux. Its quite nice to have this released as this was first a story started for my final major project at uni three years ago and problems with a different publisher meant at one point that this may never have saw the light of day. So thank you Story Meadows Books.

Also available soon will be the re-release of the 'Thud in the Wood' previously released in 2010, once again written by Alison.

Here below are some pictures of Christopher and the Crab. I often find these more appealing to look at than words. Click these words to be taken to the books page on Amazon

Painting by numbers...

... well not really, just couldn't' think of another title to describe this.


 Hope your all well.
Just incase you ever wondered about how my paintings come together from being a painter yourself, or just generally interested heres a step by step process of how this one went. I will try not to waffle on to much.

Sometime in June i think.
 Heres the first sketch, quite like the idea but doesn't really show whats been in my head for the past month

Week after.
 Better, has more realism in the face. Note to self: need to go back to drawing school. Spent so long just rushing sketches out kind of forgot that I'm really not that good at it.

15th June.
 Getting first colours down, needs to be darker choice of pallet. Happiness in paintings another achilles heel.

22nd June.
 Better. Not much else to say here

Some time in July. Forgot to note it.
 Bit of Chair work, trying to dig in with the pallet knife to create carved wood finish. The flowers need sorting out they don't look very natural

17th Aug.
 Nice to get back into it after life in the way intermission. Lot happier now, used c.d front cover from Mark Lannegan Bands Blues Funeral as Reference. Love the 'GraveDiggers Song' track on that, creates funny pictures in my head. Also added a hint of wallpaper print at the back which compliments the venetian chair (well i think so)

Nearly a month off ,7th Sept.
 Too long off, got to finish this. Created shadow on her right hand side, also you may of noticed her friend she's clutching has changed from the sketch, feels better to me. Adding second layer of paint to girl (think we will call her Sally). Will cut back lighter and highlight to a finish next time.

13th Sept.
 As you can see a bit of a dramatic change. Added more shadow. Major appliance of paint to Sally and her friend. May of been better to leave it and add another layer in the future but quite like the idea of having a bit of texture on the face, one of the reasons i love oil paint so much. Once dry i will hide it away out of site and wonder how to finish it.

18th Oct.

Wanted the skin colour to fit in with the rest of the scene and the general mood i was trying to communicate .After three glazes i think this is done. Been taken off my camera phone so apologies if the quality is a bit naff. Cheers for reading