Imaginata/Artwork

Page 2

I've been drawing and painting since I was a nipper. A big influence on me at that time was my brother Peter who was a very good artist as well. He was always drawing things, particularly Marvel Comic superheroes and people from his favourite bands. I remember coming to him time and again with some picture or other hoping to impress him. It took me awhile. Pete was always helpful with his advice and I'd go away and try again. I finally did a picture that proved to be a big breakthrough. It was a picture of Spider-Man hanging upside down. I only did his head and shoulders but for the first time I got the reaction I wanted which was a big thumbs up. I'm not a bad artist but I'm not great either. Drawing things out of my head is never easy but copying things is definitely my forte. But, I'm always learning and want to get better.

Below are just a selection of the paintings and drawings I've done over the years, some of which took minutes, others months.

Here is the finished picture of Study for The Lady Clare. The unfinished canvas is a few pics below.

The Watcher

I like this painting. Its just one of those that worked out really well. I did it over two days at one of Brimstage Hall's 'painting breaks' (see Good Evening, Mr Fox). I did do a companion piece for this painting as well but I wasn't happy with it at all. The sketch for it (below) was fine, but the final watercolour lacked something. I may put it up as a matter of interest, but that's all. Hopefully, I'll attempt it again. The Watcher itself is of the father scouting up ahead, making sure all is safe. Again, the guidance of those from Enigma was invaluable.

I think wolves are beautiful creatures, so exuse me if you see more paintings of them popping up on this site. I'm working on one even now. By the way, don't believe the bad press wolves get. All those fairy stories have a lot to answer for.

Study for The Lady Clare

This is another copy of a John Waterhouse picture that I've done in college, albeit unfinished at the mo. The original is actually a chalk sketch (see it here). In college we had to choose a picture and do it in a different way so I've done my version alot bigger, in acrylic and in colour as well. I haven't captured the wistful beauty of the original but it aint too bad. I'm thinking of doing her dress in blue. I'll put the finished painting up when I'm done.

Hyals and the Nymphs

This is a copy of another John Waterhouse painting I started some years ago but haven't got around to finishing yet. It's so time consuming! I've used coloured pencil on paper. You can see the original here.

Autumn Birches

Thisbe

This painting is a copy of a painting by artist John William Waterhouse (1849-1917). Waterhouse was considered one of the later Pre-Raphaelite painters and much of his work centered around mythology, a subject close to my heart. I'm also a sucker for what I would call 'True Romanticism', that is, art that stirs the imagination and touches the heart with a sense of its beauty. This is my elysium. John Waterhouse takes me there.

Sorry to wax poetical, but with Waterhouse I can't help it. I know sod all about art (or anything else for that matter), but I do know that if you go to www.jwwaterhouse.com you can see the original here and more of Waterhouse's beautiful work.

The Heels Of Winter

This is a painting I did for one Pat Tyler (hello) who winked and smiled her way to getting a painting out of me. Pat wanted something ‘mythological’ so, this picture is the result. The stag is very reminisent of Herne The Hunter from Celtic folklore and the wolf..... well, I just love wolves. The verse beneath the picture came after the painting from which came an idea for a short-story which I’m yet to finish. It’s basically about the eternal cycle of the seasons. The two figures in the painting are representitve of Spring and are forever chasing Winter away from all the corners of the world. Thus all the seasons would be chasing each other. The animation I did for Module 3 in my University work comes from this idea also (which I can't put up because of file size).

I must thank the artists at Enigma for their help and advice with this painting. You can visit their website and see some of their wonderful work at www.enigmart.demon.co.uk

Good Evening, Mr Fox

This is a painting I did at a place called Brimstage Hall on the Wirral (not as wonderful as it once was, it has to said). Every month there was a 'painting break' held there which ran over two days. Unfortunately, its now held somewhere else. I used to love going to Brimsatge. As well as being an inspiring place to be, I loved walking around the surrounding countryside at lunchtime. I used to work in the fields there when I was kid with my family, so it will always hold a special magic for me. The painting breaks are held by four artists collectively known as Enigma, though I'm not sure if they are still working in the same capacity. Here's a link to find out more www.enigmarts.co.uk. They have helped me out a lot and I'm definitely a better painter for them. So, thank you Enigma!

Anyway, I had no particular idea of what I wanted to paint before I did this picture. I just kind of threw it together as I went along. Even though the background is a bit sparse, I'm still quite fond of it. I really like foxes; second only to wolves (and I'm not talking about football clubs).

Fairy Chain

This is a picture I did over a couple of days as a birthday card for Pat (hello again). Her mother (Betty) had died about a week previous so I was well aware she wasn’t going to get (probably for the first time in her life) a card from her mum. So, I wanted to do something a bit special, hopefully as some morsel of comfort at a shitty time. Pat likes fairies, hence the subject. The fairy at the top is representitive of Betty (dressed in peach-her favourite colour) reaching out her arms to gather up her children.

This isn’t my favorite picture I’ve done but I’m quite pleased with it as I’ve not borrowed from anything else. Usually I’ll look at photo’s for a figures shape or stance but I didn’t have the time. The picture was a bit rushed so I can pick out plenty of faults. Watercolour can be a bit awkward at times. I used black pen with this picture as well. So now you know.

These next three pictures I did in college where we had to choose a picture and do three rough versions of it: one in Line, one in Tone and one in Colour. I used pencil and watercolour for these. I prefer the Tone picture where I used Payne's Gray (wonderful colour). The original is a painting by (who else?) John. W. Waterhouse and is called Fair Rosamund. You can see it here.

Line

Tone

Colour