This one was from my exhibition about the British Character and was titled: “An ability to be unenthusiastic about socializing” Have a good week! Continue reading Random images number 1

Watch out for these in the coming week. Continue reading Random images for a week…

I did this one back in around 1990, so it’s something of an antique now. Study carefully and you’ll see the old corner shop left in the midst of demolition and the big supermarket in it’s place, with the facsimile of the old corner shop re-created inside. Is that child in a a straightjacket? What was I thinking? The original of this is now in California, now there’s a story. Continue reading Ye Olde Corner Shoppe

I suppose one could use this as a euphemism of something ghastly but it’s simply a sentence that came out as I was clutching my toe just the other day. We are presently living with in excess of three fire engines and they lurk around corners waiting to trap the unsuspecting person walking by without steel toe capped boots. The subsequent pain seems to amuse my two grandchildren who have yet to master the art of parking such a weighty vehicle in the right place. At least no one has bought them a set of drums yet. Continue reading I just stubbed my toe on a fire engine.

That’s the forecast for here for tomorrow. Stay cool, be British, take a brolly. Continue reading Withering heat…

  At last, a little bit of sunshine, and inevitably the supermarkets and hardware shops are eyeing their shelves to see how many barbeque products they can put on there. It’s that time of year when ‘men must cook’ as if burning a second-rate sausage on an open fire is the very definition of maleness. It’s not.   You can buy this and other prints in the “The British Character” series right here. Continue reading The signs of summer, perhaps.

Is that a criticism? Yes, it is usually. It assumes that it’s not worth its place on the wall if it seems a “bit cartooney”. I’m not sure where one draws the line, ‘scuse the pun, but being cartooney was a criticism all those years ago when I was in art school. It’s a favourite of up-themsleves-art -tutors. I found it also prevalent amongst some art directors and designers, and I naturally avoided them as much as possible. Fortunately, they were in the minority. Is there a retort to it. Perhaps: ” That’s a bit fine arty” might be one, … Continue reading Far too cartooney.

One is not supposed to like one’s own work and, in general, I don’t like my own drawings. This may be because I know I can do better. It’s a phrase that teachers always used to use on me all those years ago at school. ” Davies, you know you can do better”. There was a nub of truth and there still is. Or perhaps I’m suffering from “post school traumatic teacher disorder”. Whatever it is, it’s stayed with me. Now here’s a drawing that I should n’t like. Looks like a splodge to some. But I like it a lot. … Continue reading I should n’t like it but I do!

I’ve been a busy bee getting together a selection of artists who I’m happy to call friends and trying to make their work a little more available. I’ve had the joy of making a shopify  site for them, which has been remarkably straightforward. Above are small images from their larger pieces.You can see them all on the site by clicking just here. We are hoping that there will be a large selection of their work available soon. All you can see here will be available as prints, and will look good on any wall! Please take a look and let … Continue reading Looks good on the wall…

This one is about how to apply soft pastel to a line drawing. Or to be slightly more specific, my way of adding soft pastel. I’m sure that many artists use different methods, but I just like to get my fingers dirty. For the text for this one please hop over here. I’ll let the video do the talking!   Others in the series are right here: Continue reading Film clippie and dirty fingers

Another in the series of “Heritage Drawing Methods”. This one is quite simple and just about how I sometimes use chinagraph pencils over the top of linework. It’s very quick and can be quite effective. The line drawing done on layout paper is then glued to 300 gsm uncoated white board and then the half tome added. I then scan the drawing at 600dpi and the digital part of this work can go from there. This series is simply about getting it to that stage. Like all the drawings in this series this one is about Cotswold Wildlife and will … Continue reading China black!