Portrait

Another thing that's been taking up my time recently is experimenting with portraiture. Traditionally I'm a landscape painter but I'm keen to develop my portrait work and also have a desire to do some caricatures. It's a different skill, capturing a person in paint. One person I admire is Rolf Harris who has painted some wonderful portraits in his time, all in his own style yet all capturing the essence of the sitter.

Here's a portrait of a young child that I've just completed - some people from the ukulele club may know him! It's acrylic paint on art card, A3 size. I'm pleased with it. There's some things I'd change were I to do it again, but that's the joy (and pain!) of paintings I feel - no work is ever really 'finished' or 'perfect' but the artist must have the discipline to say, 'Stop, that's enough!'

George Formby Rainbow Ariel Red Hunter (2)

This is the second painting I've done of George Formby's Rainbow - Ariel Red Hunter - from his 1935 movie, 'No Limit'.

I've tackled this one differently, with a more precise brush, to show off the wonderful detailing of the motorcycle. Mechanical yet curiously organic; you can 'sense' old motorcycles - the cold of the metalwork, the smell of the oils and petrol, the tarnishing of paintwork.

I've badged this as an Ariel rather than 'Rainbow'. The Red Hunter is a most handsome motorcycle, particularly the pre-war rigids with their lack of clutter.

 

George Formby Rainbow Ariel Red Hunter (1)

George Formby's film 'No Limit' is a perennial favourite to watch in early June when the Isle of Man TT races come around. His Shuttleworth Snap always seems to get all the attention but the Rainbow he raced to victory has always fascinated me.

Studying the movie and doing a bit of research, it's quickly apparent that it was an Ariel, either 1934 or 1935 model year. But was it a Red Hunter or the lower specification OHV Standard? I like to think it was a Red Hunter, with it's sumptuous red enamelling on the tank, but the twin exhaust ports suggest a Standard, which would have had black enamelling. Without access to factory or film company records (which probably don't exist anymore) it's impossible to say, as there seems to have been much chopping and changing of specification brand new out of the factory!

In this painting, I've tried to recreate the scene where George is struggling to push his ailing Rainbow over the finish line and into the arms of the ecstatic Florrie Dibney (Florence Desmond).

I quite like the way I've used a loose brush style to capture the movement of the scene and the determination and physical strain in George's face.

Ludwig Wendell Hall & Cartwright Abbot banjo ukuleles

Apologies for not posting for a while. I've been busy with a couple of commissions, various other paintings, and Christmas preparations.

Two commissions I did were A3 paintings of two banjo ukuleles - a Ludwig Wendell Hall and a Cartwright Abbott. My previous uke paintings had been a smaller A4 size but I must say the ukes look smashing in the larger A3 size, framed with a nice mount.

Here's a couple of photos showing the painted logos. Sign writing was part of my work a long time ago so I enjoyed recreating the script on the paintings.

Hyacinth - Watercolour

I did this painting of a hyacinth in 2006. It's a watercolour on paper. If I had to choose only one medium it would be watercolour. It's such a delicate yet powerful medium. I love the translucency of the light and the vibrant energy from moving the washes.

Watercolour is a friendly medium in that anyone can quickly learn how to use it but it's also a challenging medium as it is difficult to produce really good results. So I get wonderful satisfaction from completing a good watercolour and feel a closer bond to the painting too.

I was very pleased with the hyacinth. It's such a beautiful flower and I love the way I've worked the blues and greens in the painting. It's a simple picture really, just a flower, but the final result still gives me enjoyment every time I look at it.

I Wish I Was Back On The Farm - George Formby

This is a pencil work I completed recently. It shows George Formby playing 'I Wish I Was Back On The Farm' from the 1941 movie, 'Spare A Copper'. This is one of my favourite George songs; the lyrics always make me laugh with their unlikely tales of naughty ladies, cups of tea and pigeons! (You can read the lyrics on the George Formby Society website.)

I'm very pleased with this one in the way I've caught the hands of George strumming and picking out the chords. When I look at the picture I can hear him playing the song in my mind!

As with my other George portraits, I've done it with soft graphite and charcoal sketch art pencils on  Daler Rowney 220g/m2 (135lbs) art paper, which is very nice paper to work with. Different makes and hardness of pencil produce different effects on different makes and types of paper, so it's important to get the 'tools' that you are comfortable with. You can, of course, produce good works with any mix of pencils and paper, but it's a more pleasurable experience when you're working with your favourites.

Triton

This is a painting from about three years ago of a Triton motorcycle. As with most Tritons, it's a Norton Featherbed frame with a Triumph engine, in this case a 3-cylinder Trident engine, which of course is a BSA engine really! Rather than the usual bare alloy tank, which can be somewhat brash, this one is attractive in having a classy black tank with gold pin striping.

The older motorcycles are a treat to work in paint. Modern bikes tend to be a mass of plastic but go back about thirty years and you have all the tones of the different metals and all the engineering details on display. I like painting in a loose style and it's a challenge to do that with a motorcycle whilst retaining the details that the enthusiast likes to pour over, such as the finning on the engine.

I feel I've got the balance right in this work. 

Beryl Formby

This is a pencil work I've just finished of George Formby's wife, Beryl. It's of a young Beryl when she had those movie star looks. She was certainly a beautiful young woman.

I'm a bit of a fan of Beryl. Most of the stuff written about her is the same old, one-dimensional nonsense. But few of those writers consider the stress of a husband and wife living and working closely together year after year after year. Okay, their relationship may have faded in later years, but I believe there was a mutual devotion between the two of them, and she had a loving and caring side to her nature.

I'm pleased with the detail and technique that I've put into this painting. To be honest though, I didn't really enjoy doing it. I don't generally find women's faces particularly interesting, particularly young women's; they don't seem to have the character and peculiarities of a male face. I think I'll have another attempt at Beryl later, but next time I'll try an older Beryl where you can read her life and humanity through the aging lines on her face.

 

Autumn

This is a painting I did back in 1990. It's gouache on art paper especially designed for gouache paint.

1990 seems a long time ago now but I still vividly remember painting this picture. I used to try to go outside every morning or early evening before or after college or work, and have a walk around, looking for scenes to capture in my sketch book. When time permitted, I would take with me a small easel and my paints and complete a painting outdoors.

This one is an urban landscape in autumn, in the early morning. Autumn is such a wonderful month. The summer in my old home town is quite hot, so I always looked forward to autumn with its cool breezes and later pre-winter chills. And the autumnal colours are an artist's dream. The deciduous reds and yellows seem to possess a sumptuous gamut of hues. It's a season of dramatic light with sophisticated shadows and enhanced highlights.

Despite signalling the coming of winter, autumn is a month full of life, and I feel this picture captures that spirit.

1954 Rolls Royce Silver Dawn

I like painting older cars and motorcycles. The older cars have lovely lines and shapes and the motorcycles have wonderful mechanical details. There's tremendous light and colour to play with, copper pipes bathed in sunlight for example, and age gives them a distinguished patina.

This is a painting I've just completed of George Formby's 1954 Rolls Royce Silver Dawn. It's acrylic paint on art card, A3 size. Actually, I've been working with acrylics for a while now but, to be honest, I'm not sure I like them. The end result is appealing but the paint dries awfully quickly which I find somewhat restrictive. I love mediums where you can move the colours around and work the paint, as you can with watercolour, or even gouache. I may move back to gouache in the future, a paint I love to work with.

George bought the Silver Dawn in September 1954, new of course, and sold it a few months later. He certainly got through his cars (and bikes) did George! Unlike the second owner who kept the car for over 50 years. The wonderful thing about this Silver Dawn is that it's still around, has its original registration, PGY 324, its original paintwork, and lots of other details like its original radio. Perhaps it needs a CD player so that one may sing along to 'I'm the Emperor of Lancashire' whilst motoring through Wigan?

The car's colours are wonderful, aren't they? A 'shell grey' that enchantingly changes with the ambient light, and a 'midnight blue' that is sumptuously dark.

I hope you like the picture, I certainly do. I planning a picture of George's Norton International in the near future - the two pictures would complement each other perfectly.

You Don't Need a Licence For That

I thought I'd try and show how I do my pictures.

I start off with an idea. In this case, I wanted to do a picture of one of my favourite George Formby songs, 'You Don't Need a Licence For That'. Actually, the movie in which it was performed, 'George in Civvy Street' is also one of my favourites. I like his later movies as they seem to have a bit more about them plot-wise, and have nicer production qualities, maybe because they had bigger budgets.

Once I've got the idea, I look at various photographs and film stills to think about my composition. To produce a good picture you also need to understand the subject, so I spend some time thinking about how George performs, his posture and mannerisms, how he holds his uke, his eyes and smile, and so on. A lot of this may seem fine detail but it's necessary to get it right at the initial composition and outline sketching stage.

Now I can start working with my pencils (see the attached pictures).

(1) I start by loosely sketching the main image - George's body - to get the physical proportions and the stance correct. This is a quick and light sketch, but it is important for the line to be right. I start with a 4B pencil for a soft bold line.

(2) Next I add some rough shading, mainly to the outlines, to give the loose sketch more substance. I'm working from dark to light - getting the dark areas in place first. Notice how George's face is now easily recognisable after only a little pencil work.

(3) Then I put in more accurate shading and layer up the darker areas. This puts greater detail into the face and hands. I also begin to lightly sketch in the background composition.

(4) It's not just pencils of course. I'm also blending and blurring using a special artist kneaded eraser or my finger, maybe to subdue areas or visually recede them. I also build up the background detail now whilst ensuring it doesn't distract from the main image of George. Some of the background is very abstract or hardly discernable. Other parts however are more detailed, like the pub sign which I feel is an important part of the picture's narrative. I had to give a lot of consideration to its positioning as whilst it is important, it is there to complement George and not to take the eye away from him.

(5) Nearly finished, and I tidy up the final light and shading effects, and think about the shadowing, in the pockets of his jacket for example. I'm using harder pencils now but rarely harder than a 2B. This is a difficult time really as I need to know when to stop - there's always the temptation to do just one more little thing and before you know it the picture becomes overworked and looses its natural energy.

(6) Finally the finished picture can be signed!

Banjolele

This is a picture I did of one of George Formby's banjoleles; it's the Gibson UB4 'Concert' that he used on the television show, 'The Friday Show'. That was his final T.V. performance, back in 1960.

It has the script 'Low Lampost' because that was written on the vellum to indicate the tuning.

Like a lot of old musical instruments, it's beautifully finished and was delightful to paint, endeavouring to capture the polished burl walnut, the rich rosewood, the soft ivoroid inlays, and the nickel plating.

I've done some similar paintings of both banjoleles and ukuleles for people, personalising the picture appropriately for their instrument. If you have a charming old instrument, like a Gibson or a Keech, or even a modern one with sentimental value, it's wonderful to have a picture of the instrument, your instrument, in a favourite place in your home.

George Formby Portrait

This is my first portrait of George Formby with his 'banjolele'. It's an A3-sized portrait using graphite and charcoal sketch art pencils on  Daler Rowney 220g/m2 (135lbs) art paper.

I feel I've captured the image, and the performance character, of George very well. It's a difficult face to capture really, as his appearance when performing, with his smiles and other facial affectations, is often different to his 'normal' off-stage appearance.

The picture has recently sold, which I was delighted about. It shows other people appreciate my work. I hope the buyer gets a lot of enjoyment from the picture. I feel artwork has an enduring element, in that you can hang a picture and view it over time - months and years - and continue to get new insights into it and new enjoyment from it. I still enjoy looking at artwork on my wall that's been there for years.

Welcome & Introduction

Hello, and welcome to my fine art blog.

My father is an accomplished traditional Chinese artist and I grew up surrounded by some of the most respected artists in my region, so it is no surprise really that I developed an interest and skill in fine art painting from an early age.

At college and university I studied graphic design and fine art. Nowadays of course everything is done by computer, but I first started studying in the days before computers were widespread so everything was done manually by using artistic 'hand and eye' skills - packaging design, posters, advertising leaflets, logos, sign writing - all done by hand. And all these skills and styles I could adapt and use in my fine art painting. Later I was able to study up-to-date computer techniques.

My favourite mediums have always been watercolour and gouache. At the moment I'm very interested in pencil work and acrylic however, and these are the two mediums I use most in my current art work.

Having had a couple of enforced breaks in recent years due to career, family, and suchlike, I am excited to be now regularly painting again. I want to use my art skill commercially and my vision is to provide high quality fine art work at affordable prices. I hope you enjoy my blog and the pictures of my artwork.