All posts filed under: Personal

Frequently Asked Questions

Published by

I get asked a lot of questions at exhibitions or through social media. Although I try to catch up on responding to comments, there is currently a lag. As a way of answering some of the very commonly asked questions regarding me and my work, I have compiled a list of FAQs to answer some! What materials do you use? I paint in oil paints. A few years ago I tried my hand at mixed media work, and have also dabbled with watercolours. Aside from my sketches (which are mostly charcoal or graphite) I work exclusively in oil paints. Oil paints are given a stigma for being difficult to use. Too thick, too hard to use, too long to dry… etc. This depends on how you paint and use your materials. For me, oil paints were the only option in moving forwards with my work, the traditional and classic tools for painting. (In my opinion) Because I had my heart set on painting with oils, I figured out how to make the material work for …

Plagiarism in Art – An Artist’s Perspective

Published by

To help me shape this Pandora’s Box of a topic,  I have spoken at length to other artists and people who work with their own creative content. This scope is large and can span over many varying careers. But the answer we all seemed to agree on was the same. In the nature of all creative content, originality is a fleeting concept. If the idea has already been done unbeknownst to you, then it may about to be done, unbeknownst to them. This is my perspective, with opinions peppered through that I have learnt along on the way to writing this. I began using this blog as part of a project for my 3rd year of my Art Degree; under the instructions to show that you could create an online space that held information about your work. I noticed that I could increase the footfall towards my page. Then in 2013 I took social media platforms more seriously after finding them to be a great place to share my paintings and garner views and interest in my …

‘Talent is a pursued interest’ / My Personal Artistic Evolution

Published by

A few years ago I had never painted with oil paints. I used paints (watercolour or acrylics) to splash some colour onto my mainly charcoal sketched pieces. The image below shows the work I had for sale at a stall in an art fair in 2012. After a closer look I saw so many familiarities with the work I used to create and what I paint now. There are abstract birds in flight, loose portraits, proud stags, elephants and dripping florals. I realised that your work doesn’t change over time, it only evolves as you progress. My decision to move to oil paints was based largely on the opportunities that they hold with colour. Being such a malleable material with so much depth to play around with, you can create any style or look that you want to achieve with the right techniques. Back before I taught myself to use oil paints I loved incredibly loose work that oozed energy and movement above all else. I wanted to show the construction marks and leave them raw and …

A bit of a thank you…

Published by

Recently I have been posting less often and not showing any current works of mine, I am currently working towards a fantastic opportunity that I have been hunting down for a while now, waiting and holding back for the right time and offer. This makes it more exciting for me to show you the work I have been doing when I can! And hopefully it won’t be long before I can clue you in on what is going on. Now is a great time to thank you (whoever is reading this, commenting, liking, following my Facebook, instagram and Twitter accounts, emailing and messaging me about my artworks.) It has been hugely appreciated right from the start when I began posting my paintings and the process along the way. Your encouragement served as inspiration to paint more and more. THANK YOU! ❤

Inspiration behind my artwork and creative block.

Published by

For anyone working on anything remotely creative, it is fair to say that your style is not something you made up on the spot. An individuals’ signature style for art, writing, music, fashion or anything you ‘output’ is a collection of things you have liked, consciously and subconsciously throughout your entire life. It is an amalgamation of things you can do, things you would like to do, things that inspire you, things you like, practicality, your lifestyle, your preferences and your self image. What you create is as much a part of your output as what you wear that day. The stamp that you put on activities are what you desire to associate yourself with. I personally love all things elegant and opulent, words that run through my mind when I am considering a painting in terms of composition, subjects, colours and feel. I may have a certain idea in mind, but I know how I want to portray it under my name, and this is how people associate themselves with certain styles, to be seen …

Why my paintings are so colourful, and living with an alcoholic.

Published by

  I briefly lived in a house with a few questionable characters, dodgy letting agents and a young man in the final stage of alcoholism. This phase seemed to last forever but in actual fact it was a tiny chapter that my mind seems to have blocked. Since this traumatic episode I rarely think about it, let alone speak about it. It really is too sad. I recently found myself carrying some bottles and from the moment I began walking and the bottles would clang together my stomach flipped and a lot of sad memories flooded over me as I walked. It is only through reluctant reflection that I realise this ordeal shaped how my artwork is today. It was evident after only the first night of this man moving in that he had a serious problem. It had barely been a couple of days and the house had been burgled, I had found him sprawled outside my bedroom door smelling of stale urine and dirt, and his late night staggerings had broken furniture and …

Artist Materials – Hog bristle brushes for oil paintings

Published by

When I began painting, buying the paints initially was a costly job for me. I had to supply myself with the basic primary colours to set off my collection that I was to build up as I went along, mixing my own colours until I could afford to buy more. Brushes however were not important at all, I would apply the paint with my fingers if I needed to. (And still regularly do…) Although I sometimes buy more expensive brushes for purpose marks, I tend to buy value packs so I am always stocked up on brushes of all sizes and styles. I do this because brushes don’t last me long at all, especially expensive ones. Being eager to use them (since I paint every day, its the equivalent of getting a new computer mouse at the office for me) they often become raggedy and unusable after around 3 weeks. I might often find myself working slightly more gentle in order to preserve them, but sometimes by subjects are void of a certain boldness I enjoy in …

An Artist’s Paint Palette

Published by

I love the way that a palette can never really be tidy. As an artist that does not have paint thrown everywhere, but has different liquids, brushes and materials all compartmentalised and all surfaces clean of paint, the one element that stays the same with all artists is that there is no neat way to maintain a palette of paints. The way I lay out my palette has become habitual rather than symptomatic of the colour palette or any functional order. I line the paints as a spectrum, originally because I thought it looked pretty. Take away the colour (greyscale photography) and I can see that different mounds have been more exhausted and spread around than others, I can see how little tone has to do with my arrangement and it makes me wonder what elements of my work might change if I were to pre-think my colour palettes and order the paints accordingly… Contemplating the palette gives a lot more away about the artist, and maybe about why their work in the way that …

Using watercolours (From an oil painter’s perspective)

Published by

I didn’t realise how lucky I had it, to have thrown myself in at the deep end and learn to paint with oils as quickly as I did. It was a medium I wanted as my friend and I threw it around until I made it work. I was going to shoehorn my work to intertwine with oils and do whatever it took. Luckily the shoe fit. It wasn’t until I went back to materials I had previously used before I taught myself how to paint properly, that I realised it is not how the material works for you but how you work the material. Watercolour painting is oil painting flipped on its head. This is my own interpretation. Where oils are malleable, subject to complete change in consistency and shape of the mark you just made, watercolours are not. With oils you could alter that one mark up to 3 or 4 days later. With watercolours you cannot. You have a matter of seconds to decide if the mark you just made was ‘correct’ …