Appearance on the Danbro Accountancy services website.

Appearance on the Danbro Accountancy Services website
My appearance in the Danbro Accountancy Services marketing campaign.
I managed to make it into a marketing campaign of an Accountancy services company. 

I’m a client of theirs and they asked if they could use an image of me creating work in my studio. They’ve always done a great job for me, the marketing slogan is actually accurate, so I was happy to participate.

Rucksack drawings

Me standing in front of rucksack drawings.
Standing in front of my rucksack drawings.
This is my rucksack, one that I carry around with me a lot of the time.

As with my other drawings I used black oil pastel on paper, which I’ve then glued to card and cut-out to give a three-dimensional effect; which I hope brings some of the physical characteristics of objects back to the drawings, otherwise drawings can have a habit of looking rather flat.

Working in my studio

Me drawing in my studio
Drawing in my studio.
I always work from life. I feel very uncomfortable working from memory, photographs or imagination. I’m not always completely conscious of what I’m creating; I try to stay loyal to what I see without glamorising or romanticising.

Drawing a rucksack Drawing a rucksack Drawing in my studio
Drawing a rucksack in my studio, using a black oil pastel on paper.

I work with oil pastels and oil bars, which are effectively pieces of oil paint and take a long time to dry. I’ve tried many drawing materials and oild pastel is best at producing a dark solid line. Graphite seems to produce only a weak grey line and marker pens don’t have the depth of oil pastel which raises up off of the page. I try to increase this effect by mounting the drawings on card and then cutting them out.

Work in progress: Skeleton drawings

Skeleton drawings
Some life-size skeleton drawings I've been working on.
Back view of a skeleton.
Drawing of the review of a skeleton in progress.

I’ve spent the last two weeks drawing two skeletons. One has a flexible spine, the other a rigid back.

The flexible skeleton has produced more interesting and naturalistic drawings, I can put more energy into the work.
The human skeleton is either a collection of objects (bones) or, in the form I am drawing it, a single object in its own right.

Drawing a skeleton like this allows me to approach a figurative subject in a way that should bypass superficial characteristics like skin colour and to some extent gender.
We all have a skeleton and most of us have a complete skeleton, so you can imagine yourself in the various poses I’ve drawn.

Moved into Cable street studios

Last weekend I moved into a space at Cable street studios with the intention of completing some larger-scale work.
There’s a strong artist community feel there, with quite a few of them introducing themselves to me and welcoming me in.