Black Canary Cosplay

Black Canary Cosplay
Acrylic On Canvas Paper
18.9 x 12.8"

     One more for my cosplay series. A very brave outfit. I also wanted to keep working on painting black things, especially in trying to get the shadows and highlights right. Her jacket was perfect practice for this.

Interviewing Star-Lord

Interviewing Star-Lord
Acrylic On Canvas Paper
16 x 20"

     Another one from my cosplay series. Normally I ask permission to take someone's photograph as reference but sometimes a scene presents itself where you have to just capture it right then. I assume somewhere a video of this interview may be online somewhere.

Weeping Angel Cosplay

Weeping Angel Cosplay
Wax On Watercolour Paper
18.3 x 11"

     A weeping angel cosplayer from the Dr Who TV series. I’ve never been able to get into Dr Who but I appreciate a well designed enemy and since any statue could potentially be a weeping angel that makes them pretty effective monsters.
     I tried to capture the grey colour of the outfit without making the piece too monotone so I took some liberties with this one but its the end image that’s important and I’m happy with the outcome

Assessing The Problem

Assessing The Problem
Acrylic On Canvas Board
16 x 20"

     This is the first of another series I am working on about restoring a car. Here is my brother sat on the bonnet of my car after struggling to get his to start up. He’s restoring a ford Capri but its not going as smoothly as he’d hoped. I like the irony of it all because he thinks my cars a piece of junk but at least it works.
     I really struggled to photograph this one for some reason and the colours are still off so I might upload a better version later. Well that’s just another difficulty we traditional artists face.

Furry Cosplay

Furry Cosplay
Acrylic And Gesso On Paper
16.2 x 11.5

     Admittedly I know nothing about the furry community. In fact my only experience of it is from a CSI episode I saw many years ago, which probably didn't present an accurate view of the community at all. But its the costume I'm interested in here. another one of my graphite and gesso pieces that seemed to work out well enough.

Pensive

Pensive
Graphite And Gesso On Paper
16.5 x 11.75

I'm trying out a new way of creating my drawings using gesso to free them up a bit. I have been inspired in this by the work of an artist called Derek Jones who seems to be a master of mixed media. Hopefully this will give them a bit more life and allow me to add some more abstract elements. Anyway this is a portrait of my sister.

The Stig Cosplay

The Stig Cosplay
Acrylic On Canvas Paper
18.9 x 10.2"

     A painting of a cosplayer dressed as The Stig from Topgear. This is the first in a series of pictures of cosplayers I will be doing. Bad timing though as now it seems Topgear is no more. I started with this one though as its largely white and I wanted to practice painting with that colour. Normally the whites in my paintings are quite ethereal so I wanted to use it in a more solid way. I like using it in an ethereal way though as it lets the lower layers come through and creates some interesting effects.

Flash

Flash
Monotype On Paper
11.7 x 8.3"

     With this monotype I attempted to show the light from a flash bulb as a photograph is taken. I also did a lot more post print work on this one than I normally do just to create more tonal values. As its a monotype I can work on it a much as I want but I have to be careful not to overwork it and kill its energy. Its trying to get the right balance between spontaneous and correct.

Sketching

Sketching
Drypoint
11.7 x 8.3"

     A drypoint of a good friend of mine sketching away. I used water soluble graphite again in place of ink.

Blue

Blue
Wax On Watercolour Paper
15.2 x 10.6"

     I saw a Michael Carson portrait called 'Woman In Red' and it inspired me to try something similar. Another self portrait, but why not.

Annette

Annette
Acrylic On Canvas Board
20 x 16"

   Portrait of my Mother. This ones a bit blurry round the edges which is a shame. Maybe I will take another photograph of it at a later date. Its always difficult to get the colours right as well when compared to the real thing. No painting on screen ever compares to seeing the real thing though.

Self Portrait With Brush

Self Portrait With Brush
Wax On Watercolour Paper
19.1 x 14.8"

     I promise you I'm not a narcissist it's just that I don't have to pay the model. On a serious note though I do like the challenge of painting myself and its great practice. It's interesting how little we really know about the face we see everyday, especially when you have to really look at it and create an accurate portrayal.
     Though I never have paid much attention to my own face I wonder if it's different for women, and they know through putting on makeup the lines and features of their face better. Perhaps this makes women better self portraitist's.

Thinking Cap

Thinking Cap
Watercolour On Watercolour Paper
14.8 x 10.6"

      It's been a long time since I have touched watercolour but I wanted to learn to use it. So I thought a self portrait would be a good idea as a test. It's still a slow process and I find it a weak medium but I'm sure my skills will improve over time.

Alfie

Alfie
Acrylic On Canvas
23.6 x 23.6"

     Commissioned portrait of a Labrador. I keep wondering if I should try and become a pet portrait artist. I would love to make art and earn a living from it as I'm sure all people who do art and craft would. I wish I had more connections with the art world or at least some business sense to make this  a reality.
     This painting also highlights the difficulties of photographing and colour correcting artwork for online viewing. For the life of me I couldn't get rid of the redness on the left hand side and my work never looks as good on screen as it does in real life. This too I'm sure is a common problem.

Sunday Paper

Sunday Paper
Acrylic On Canvas Board
24 x 18"

     A full portrait this time. I wanted to challenge myself and see if I could do one with some scenery. It was important that all the elements felt like they belonged in the same scene and that the lighting was consistent. I also loosened up on some of the parts of the painting to create a focal point around the figure. I'm really enjoying portraiture right now and expect that to be my main drive for a while longer.

Taking It Easy

Taking It Easy
Pastel On Watercolour Paper
14 x 17.5"

     I haven't used pastel in a long time. Mostly because I started using watersoluble wax and I find this more versatile as a bridge between drawing and painting. But I did decide to revisit this medium and make this black and white painting. I forgot how messy pastel can be.

Judgement

Judgement
Graphite On Paper
16.5 x 11.75"

     A dramatic self portrait. I was thinking about stage actors and the theatre when I made this. I sometimes wish I had taken up acting, that I might be more fearless. Another dream I suppose. I think we might need several lifetimes to achieve all our plans. So here is my interpretation of judgement and may I never be found wanting.

Morning Coffee

Morning Coffee
Graphite On Paper
16.5 x 11.75"

     I went back to a more abstract way of working for this one, but still making it recognisable and representative. I wanted to show a lot of light in this drawing and how it bounces around to illuminate and create a silhouette. 

Stuart

Stuart
Wax On Watercolour Paper
14.8 x 9.8"

     Continuing my portraiture work, this time one of my Grandad. It's surprisingly hard to even get family members to agree to a portrait but I need the work and so I will take whoever agrees to it. Older faces are more interesting and more challenging though, with their folds and wrinkles. This is exactly the challenge I need if I am to make more progression with my portraiture.
     Next comes a full body portrait as a further challenge and I hope it will be as successful as my previous ones. Though most of the subjects may be me in the next lot I do, I'm sure others will be more agreeable to have theirs done when they see the results. I hope to do some more animals pictures too soon and at least they can't say no to it.
    

Self Portrait In Blue Shirt

Self Portrait In Blue Shirt
Acrylic On Canvas Paper
13.5 x 19.5"

     So this is me in colour. Nothing too complicated, just a head shot to help me build confidence in painting a portrait. I'm happy with my change of focus from buildings to figures but I wish I had done so sooner. Never mind though as at the time of writing this I have finished another portrait and have started a third which is more complex as it is set within a scene. So look out for those in the coming weeks.