Walter Matthau

This will probably be the last painting before the exhibition. Painting this was a faster process, firstly because I could feel time running out before next week, and secondly because there were no colour choices to make, which meant I could focus purely on values and structure. You'll notice that there are alot of changes from the sketch a few posts back. The sketch was just a guide for exaggeration, there was no need to refine the sketch because I did it all with the acrylics.

So I'm nearly ready for next week, hope to see you there!!

Jeff Buckley

Here's another one for the exhibition. I've included some early progression shots, I take photos at various stages anyway, so I can see how things look through the viewfinder. It helps give distance from the piece and therefore makes it easier to see the corrections needed. The progress shots are from my phone, hence the incorrect colours. My palette for this was Vermillion, Ultramarine, Yellow Ochre, and Titanium white. No black!

Jeff Buckley, for those who haven't heard of him, had success with just the one album 'Grace', and then drowned whilst swimming in the Mississippi River before he could finish the second. His rendition of the Leonard Cohen song 'Hallelujah', has recently been re-released and reached number two in the UK.

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(UPDATE: If you would like an invite to the opening night of my exhibition (7pm, Feb 2nd), please email me as soon as possible.)

Sketch before bedtime

This is a preparation sketch of Walter Matthau for another acrylic. It would be good to get this done before the start of my exhibition on 2nd Feb, but it may be touch and go. I'll have to paint fast!!

R.I.P. Tony Hart 1925-2009

It was with a tear that I listened to the news that one of my inspirations as a child had passed away at the age of 83. Tony Hart inspired so many people of my generation to find fun and pleasure in art, through hosting such shows as Take Hart and Vision On. It was probably during the process of watching him that I decided I wanted to draw and do what he did for the rest of my life.

If you've seen his shows, or were affected by him in any way, there is a remembrance book on his website.

Bob Geldof Acrylic

Another piece for the exhibition. I started working from a different reference, but having sketched it out onto the canvas, felt it wasn't working, so decided to paint my sketch from an earlier post. I could have spent a lot longer on this, fine-tuning and so on, but once I'd done the two main strands of hair (which for me summed up his whole personality) the piece was finished.

The Rats (of 'The Boomtown Rats' fame), are going to be playing at the Fairfield Halls at the same time as my exhibition. My plan is to meet up with them and hope they can pass on a copy of the painting to Bob. He was flattered to be in Spitting Image, so hopefully he'll get a kick out of this as well.

We'll see how it goes.

Johnny Cash Portrait

Finished this about a week ago. I'd like to do more portraits, I found this a very enjoyable, but at the same time frustrating, experience. Frustrating because I think my mind is so emersed in caricature, that I felt like I was fighting those urges all the way. The fun thing about painting this was searching for the colours, and using as many as possible to get the values I wanted. Also there were lots of interesting turning points that got me to how it looks now. The background was originally a darkish orange, but I felt the face was getting lost in it, so I wanted something that would compliment the colours of the face. I started with a lighter (but neutral) blue, then to give the composition depth, and to highlight the cigarette-holding hand (for me that's where the story is, and where his eyes are now looking, in the reference they look beyond the cigarette) I added the darker blue-grey. It's had some interesting responses so far (mainly positive thankfully), let me know what you think. It's acrylic on canvas 100cm x 70cm.

Oh, and I'm working on a couple of caricatures now, so to all the caricature fans, those will be following soon!

Happy New Year!!!!!!

I'm not one for making new year resolutions, so here's a sketch from a few weeks ago. It's a random doodle from the sketchbook as I'm not ready to post any new work yet. Anyway, must crack on, the new year starts now, and there's tons of work to do!!!! Here's to a happy and prosperous new year for all!