The Plural Is Lego

The Plural Is Lego
Acrylic On Canvas Paper
9.7 x 15.9"

     A bit of a pet peeve of mine is when I hear people use Lego's as a plural. The plural of Lego is Lego and I don't care what anyone says otherwise :)

Lego Police Helicopter Pilot Minifigure

Lego Police Helicopter Pilot Minifigure
Acrylic On Canvas Paper
15.7 x 10.2"

Lego Jango Fett Minifigure

Lego Jango Fett Minifigure
Acrylic On Canvas Paper
15.9 x 8.3"

     My second Lego minifigure painting. I'm working my way up to Boba Fett but I want to do him justice as he's my favourite Star Wars character. So here's his father. I wanted to paint him from the side as I liked the single part jetpack design. I also wanted to paint him facing away from the light to create a little mystery.

The Courtyard

The Courtyard
Acrylic On Canvas
18 x 24"

An interesting set of buildings in Doncaster. I was interested in the reflected light on the yellow building on the right.

River Rocks

River Rocks
Acrylic On Canvas Paper
20 x 12"

     Nice little river scene and good green practice. Shame about the photograph but it’s the best I could do

Spring Flowers

Spring Flowers
Graphite, Gesso And Watercolour On Paper
15.9 x 11"

     I've been pushing a new technique recently of creating a tonal drawing in graphite and washing watercolour over it. I like the fact that the gesso corrections resist the watercolour and create some abstract elements. I never was a fan of watercolour but this way of working means I have a use for it now.

Gnarled Tree

Gnarled Tree
Drypoint
11.7 x 8.3"

     I love trees. So much character. I might make a painting of this one later. Instead of ink I used watersoluble wax for this one. I rubbed it into the burr to create the colours. I might try and develop this technique further.

Fly By Night

Fly By Night
Acrylic On Canvas Paper
15.9 x 11"

Something a little otherworldly today. I thought I would challenge myself to use someone else's reference, plus its good practice to work from alternative sources. I had trouble photographing this one but I'm the mercy of the elements. The green and the yellow are a little off in the photograph as well but its the best I can do. That's one of the disadvantages of working traditionally and transferring it to the computer.

     Many Thanks to for use of her photograph. Its nice to come across a stock photographer that doesn't want half the value of your house for permission to use there photos.

Diamond

Diamond
Graphite And Watercolour On Paper
15.3 x 18.7"

     Another experimental mixed media piece. I wanted to try and add some colour washes over graphite and gesso to see what would happen. The watercolour stay on the graphite but not on the gesso which makes for some interesting abstraction. Definitely something to explore further.

Tulips

Tulips
Acrylic On Canvas Board
20 x 16"

     I try to avoid flowers as they are too delicate for me to get right. However we must push ourselves as its the only way to improve.

Robins

Robin I
Acrylic On Canvas Board
14 x 10"

Robin II
Acrylic On Canvas Board
14 x 10"

      I want to do a painting of some great tit's and blue tit's but they are proving difficult to capture on camera.

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.

Rolling Storm

Rolling Storm
Acrylic On Canvas Paper
13.9 x 20.1"

     The alternative title is "British Summer Weather"

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.

Sun And Moon

Sun And Moon
Papercutting
16.5 x 11.75"

     I finally got round to doing a multi layered papercut with this one. So as well as having the white paper and black background I added silver and gold to the various details. For my next one I will try to add a lot more colours now I know I can make it work.

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 Roman Monument

The Roman Monument
Acrylic On Canvas
20 x 16"

     A painting of the seven bridges valley walk at Studley Royal Garden. The building at the top of the hill is the Roman monument. I want to paint more landscapes but I struggle with green and creating variety in scenes where its dominant. This is a common problem it seems and I want to be able to overcome it and create some really interesting landscapes. So this was more of a personal challenge than anything else. 

Knots

Knots
Graphite And Acrylic On Paper
16.5 x 23.4"

     A diptych abstract representation of tree texture. I liked the Japan picture I made using this technique and wanted to use it again. I might try to use it in some figurative work later.

XBOX 360 Controller

XBOX 360 Controller
Acrylic On Canvas Paper
11 x 9.9"

     Another still life for my video game themed work. Probably my favourite controller with everything where it should be. Still that didn't stop me getting a Playstation 4 this time.

Red And Black

Red And Black
Collage On Paper
14.6 x 10.6"

     Not done a collage in a while so here's one with a favourite subject of mine.

Lego Luke Skywalker Minifigure

Lego Luke Skywalker Minifigure
Acrylic On Canvas Paper
15.9 x 10"

     As well as my cosplay series of works I will also be doing a series based on Lego (of which the plural is Lego and not Lego's as some people seem to think). So here is the first of what may be many. A lot of them will be Star Wars themed as that's what I mostly have :)

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.

Mandrake

Mandrake
Acrylic On Canvas Board
16 x 16"

     A cool looking sail boat I spotted in Goole. The boat was called something else but I changed it's name. mandrake is one of my favourite gothic metal bands and they write a lot of songs about the ocean so I thought it was a fitting tribute. Not so happy about the background but I'm still trying to get the hang of landscapes and greens always a challenge.

After The Harvest

After The Harvest
Acrylic On Canvas Paper
16 x 20"

A painting of a ploughed field with a darkened cloud spoiling an otherwise nice view. I painted this to symbolise that post creation downer we all feel after we create something. I enjoy making art and feel a real sense of accomplishment when I complete my work. However I often find once this feeling has past I start to feel a little down and apparently I'm not the only one. I suppose after being on such a high while in creative mode the brain has to come down. Of course the solution is to simply start something else :)

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.

King

King
Acrylic On Canvas Board
20 x 16"

     Most people view pigeons as vermin and a nuisance but I have always found them to be quite proud and regal birds. They can have beautiful colours and well defined feathers as with this one. I think they are a joy to paint.

Abandoned Police Station

Abandoned Police Station
Graphite On Paper
11.75 x 16.5"

     A drawing of Conisbrough's old Police station. A relic from a time long past. Such a shame as it's a really solid building and quite unique looking. It's been a while since I have done any good drawings like this but I think I should try to do some more regularly. My heart is in painting but the fundamentals always need work. So I guess drawings are like vegetables :)

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.

Cold Night Air

Cold Night Air
Drypoint
11.7 x 8.3"

     I'm trying out drypoint printing right now. I haven't done it since college and I already have a few plates scratched and ready. I'm not using ink yet though and this was printed using water soluble graphite. It seems to work pretty well though.

Canadian Goose

Canadian Goose
Monotype On Paper
11.7 x 8.3"

     Monotypes can be a bit hit and miss. Part of the 'fun' is not knowing how it will turn out after it's been run through the press. Unlike other printing methods you only get one go at it as well which adds to the risk. So this one turned out fine and what a fun subject as well. It was difficult to create the feathers but well worth it. I might also do a painting of these guys later on.

Fragile

Fragile
Monotype On Paper
11.7 x 8.3"

     This is a print that went wrong. I think I put on the paint on too thickly and it didn't transfer properly. The brand used was different from the normal one I use and it was having a hard time sticking to the plate. Anyway I messed around with it a bit and made something a bit more abstract. I'm working on a drypoint of this vase right now so you will get to see a more representative version soon.

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.

Stripes

Stripes
Papercutting
16.5 x 11.75

     Another papercutting using large areas of black. I thought it would help create a strong silhouette, especially with the feathers. I'm hoping soon to do a painting with a belly dancer but for now paper seems to be a good medium for this theme.

In Answer

In Answer
Papercutting
16.5 x 11.75"

     I used to draw these masked creatures a lot and even did some paintings. This is a papercutting I had an idea for, using the cut out black part as a cape. I have some more ideas of what to do with the mask theme but I won't reveal them just yet.

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.

Motion

Motion
Graphite On Paper
11.75 x 6.5"

     Sometimes I think my paintings and drawings aren't free and loose enough so this is a good way to counter that.

Bird Box

Bird Box
Papercutting
16.5 x 11.75"

     Here's a nice peaceful picture I made. I thought the idea of making the leaves from a mass of cut out paper was an interesting idea.
     I have been neglecting my blogs a little bit. It's a new year so here is an update. More to follow very soon. I need to catch you up on what I have been working on.