Here's a CD that I've done for charity - for a lovely lady called Brenda Davies. All the proceeds go her orphanage in Zambia.
www.brendadavies.com

I have just finished designing a logo for new animation company 'Snipple'

Just thought I'd write a quick blog to all those people who have contacted me about my website. Yes, it was created in Rapidweaver but no, it wasn't easy as I changed most of the script so it laid out how I wanted it (quite a task!) So this website has become a creation in its own right so I can't credit any of the rapidweaver templates. If anyone would like a website with the same structure as mine I'd be happy to do it for them for a small fee. But my techy website building skills are still quite modest. Definitely on the list of things to improve as I loved designing my website. Hope this answers any questions people have.

I haven't blogged for a while and just remembered that I forgot to post up the finished nude that I did in my painting class so here it is....

I used to paint with oil all the time and somewhere along the line I switched to acrylic ... not sure why ... and in my aim for fast drying, water solubleness I totally forgot the absolute pleasure there is in squeezing out some oil paint and brushing it over canvas. It smells amazing for a start and it is so forgiving because it takes a while to dry so if you go wrong you just wipe it off. Oil paint is also 100 times better to paint with if you are painting skin tones. Acrylic is just no competition. I actually feel a bit cheated that I've been using acrylic all this time - a bit like if you were dating someone and thinking it was going ok and then meeting his much more charismatic older brother!

Here is my painting so far from my life painting class ... we have one more week to finish this one

Had to get my religious cap on today to try to come up with some ideas for The Priests second album. I designed the first album which was very simple and used special paper and a pantone gold. This time around its more or less the same brief - classic and expensive looking but they've stressed not too much enthuses on religious iconography which is more tricky than it sounds!

I had this idea about using light similar to what you would get in a church and so spent a while cutting out a stencil to shine the light through. Then I used a bit of shiny mirror board and here's one of the mock up sleeves I've done. Not sure if its quite right at the moment but I'll have to play with it a bit more.

Had an exhausting but rewarding afternoon in my art class. After feeling a bit restricted by my A2 sized paper last week I got seduced by some of the finest A1 Fabriano paper and decided to do some charcoal. It was the same pose as last week but getting there earlier this time, I managed to find myself a better position.

I got most of the structure right quite quickly but had a real battle with the right leg - especially the right foot which I had to redraw about 20 million times. I have to say that I ended up feeling as if I'd had a stand up row with that right foot. Because I was drawing the underneath of the foot facing me, it was so difficult to make it work. I guess this is why a 3 hour pose is good for me to try to progress because in the past I've only done a maximum of 40 minutes and in a shorter time you don't get the chance to get accuracy and add detail.

The teacher, Jenny, introduced me to the work of Euan Uglow who has this incredible precision in measurement in his paintings. Some of his drawings look more like an engineers or architects where the body is drawn like an inanimate object. Jenny suggested I forget that the foot is a foot when I draw it which is harder than it sounds ...

Looking forward to starting a 3 week pose next week when I'm very possibly going to have a shouting match with a left elbow!


my drawing



Euan Uglow

I've just finished a commission for a new logo for a company called Bean Count.
It's a Wimbledon based accountancy firm with a modern approach to all that boring but very important stuff!
I'm glad they went with this design as it was my secret favourite too ... (that doesn't happen too often!)

Yesterday afternoon I had the first class in a painting course that I'm going to be doing over the next 11 weeks. I've done quite a lot of life drawing over the years and felt that I needed something different that was going to push my skills a little bit further so I opted for a long pose life painting course instead.

Although leaving home nice and early, public transport managed to let me down and as district line trains were cancelled I had to find another route. I finally reached Putney art school half an hour late and feeling a bit like a naughty school girl. There were about 5 others in the class, all silent and deep in concentration focused on the dark haired reclining model in the centre of the room. I clumsily set up my easel and got out my selection of student brand acrylic paints, inks and brushes feeling flustered and under scrutiny already.

One problem with being late for the class was that there are no good angles left. I tried one position and then another and in the end had to stand on a chair to get an interesting pose to draw from. The others must have thought I was a bit mad! Next week there is going to be the same pose and the week after we will have a change of pose which will last for 3 weeks (all credit to that model for not getting cramp) I think next week I'm going to take a big canvas so I fit in.

Must say, i think I struggled a bit although afterwards we all looked at each others work and I got lots of encouragement - the teacher thought mine was very 'Schiele-esque' which I took as a good thing. Although think I've got a long way to go before you could honestly say that!


mine


Egon Schiele's

We've just returned from a one night trip to the fabulous French capital to escape the drizzle and soak up the Parisian vibe. Having already done all the sights we decided that this time we would avoid any queues of slow moving tourists and explore the city by foot, dipping in and out of cafés and bistros along to way to keep our strength up!

It's easy to forget that living in London means Paris is right on our doorstep and it truly is a world away from dirty, hectic London. The streets are wide and clean, there are small interesting shops on every corner and the café culture is simply thriving but with still enough good cafés and restaurants to go around so there's no waiting for a table or 'that will be a 40 minute wait I'm afraid, Sir' It really makes you feel so much more relaxed.

We arrived at the hotel near St Germain De Prés around midday and after lunch in a nearby café we wandered down to the Seine and walked our way over to Notre Dame. We sat on a bench and I did this little sketch. I got quite engrossed in it actually - it's such a complicated structure. The sun was shining, the blossom was floating down from the trees and an accordion musician was playing a little distance away ... it sounds like I'm making it up - I'm not, I promise ... it really was everything you imagine Paris to be. Sorry if the sketch doesn't quite sum it up!

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