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.