Man In A Black Square

Some time ago I took some digital photos from my second floor studio window, looking down on the people walking past below. I worked them up into drawings and I’ve been gradually cutting them into blocks for printing. I’m planning to do a series of nine block prints, all square and the same size, withContinue reading “Man In A Black Square”

Street Scribbling

Getting a bit stir crazy in the studio today so I went out into the street for ten minutes or so mid-afternoon and did some speed scribbling of passersby. I don’t try to hide but people rarely seem to notice me. The guy on the top right, who was swigging from a can of beer,Continue reading “Street Scribbling”

Drawings For A Dead Biker

There’s an odd little church nearby for born-again-bikers; the pastor and church members are outlaw bikers who have converted to Christianity and today they held a funeral for one of their members. There were hundreds of motorbikes, some really gorgeous ones – Triumphs, Harleys, a few vintage and everyone turned up in full colours asContinue reading “Drawings For A Dead Biker”

Stuff Behind My Eyes

Had a day away from the studio today to catch up on admin and do things I’d been putting off for a while, like getting an eye test. I’ve been squinting for a good while now and need new specs so finally got round to it today. I like the bit when the optician shinesContinue reading “Stuff Behind My Eyes”

Waiting For The Torch

We spent a happy couple of hours in our friend’s penthouse flat this afternoon, watching the ‘Olympic Torch’ parade go by. I did a couple of quick sketches of the street below while we waited. I normally draw a single figure so it’s good practice to draw groups, especially from a very high vantage point.Continue reading “Waiting For The Torch”

Chalk Nude [parental guidance]

I spend a lot of time doing life drawing and studying anatomy because my practice is figurative and representational, although I take some liberties: I like Egon Schiele, Toulouse-Lautrec, van Gogh and the German Expressionists so taking liberties comes naturally. But now and again I take a BIG liberty and head towards the abstract. ItContinue reading “Chalk Nude [parental guidance]”

A Highly Coloured Man [parental guidance]

Just got back from life drawing at Swansea Print Workshop – went a bit mad with the oil pastels tonight and had a good scribble all over the sketchbook pages before I started drawing the figure. I’ve been doing it a lot recently to break up the intimidating neatness of the plain page. Blank pagesContinue reading “A Highly Coloured Man [parental guidance]”

Dystopian Man

I haven’t done much sketchbook work for a couple of weeks because I’m working flat out on a painting – sort of. I’m not a painter but I’m entering an international painting competition and I decided I’d push the definition of painting a bit and approach it as a scribbler and printmaker. The theme, broadly,Continue reading “Dystopian Man”

Drawn To Print

Just got back from an excellent talk by the new artist-in-residence at Swansea Print Workshop as part of the year-long ‘Drawn To Print’ project. Her name is Ros Ford and she’s primarily an etcher, working on huge copperplate etchings of urban industrial landscapes. I did a quick scribble during her talk, which doesn’t do herContinue reading “Drawn To Print”