Portfolio and CV

I've recently updated my CV and Portfolio, combining them as a single pdf. Included in the document are quite a few of my published and unpublished drawings, including many that aren't on the main site. If you want a copy, comment on this post with your email address, or email me.

Gallery Website

For the time being, my website is up and running, courtesy of The Artist's Web. Click on the link at top right to have a look.

Some Shameless Self-Publicity...

I forgot to mention From Book to Book, John McDowall and Chris Taylor's exhibition in Leeds City Art Gallery that began on March 6th and continues until April 20th. The books exhibited were made in response to books themselves. My book, 15 Uses for a Book (for dummies) is one of the books on display. I'll post something about 15 Uses a little later.

Hitch

Sir Alfred Hitchcock's appearance is almost as memorable as his films. I made several attempts to caricature Hitch in a manner reminiscent of New York caricaturist Al Hirschfeld, who always had the extraordinary ability to distill an individual into the simplest of essences, in only a few smooth, calligraphic lines. These drawings were made in late 2006/early 2007.

The first was based on a specific photograph, and it shows. There is too much simple 'drawing' and no 'caricature'. Nor is the likeness terribly strong.

The second - based on another photograph - was a bit of an improvement, but superficial parts such as the line of the hair are still the unnecessary focus (the decision to use straight lines was here a bad one, not fitting with the overall shape of the face), with too little effort to capture more than simply Hitchcock's appearance. Again, the eyes are too prominent - another failed attempt at heavy eyelids.

It was only with the third Hitch - which is still, I freely admit, far from perfect - that I felt I caught the 'essence' of Hitch rather than simply his appearance. Notably, this is the only one that was not based on a photograph. Not relying on a single image forced me to focus on the subject himself rather than a single representation of him. I finally managed to get the right character in the face, and, as with Hirschfeld, it turned out that the fewer lines, the better. The slightly pompous lower lip, the disdainful but lazy glance, and the haughty nostril all work best when shown in as simple a way as possible.

More Grotesque Faces

These were primarily inspired by the drawings of Leonardo Da Vinci, and based on a few observational drawings done of unwitting pedestrians in the city centre.

Weird Creatures

Pen and Ink. A2.

Lemon-sucker

You may recognise this creature from The Consequences in Goya's Disasters of War. Here he is in a decidedly less profound context. Pen and ink. A2.

A was an Apple Pie

This bizarre idea sprang from an old nursery rhyme, titled, oddly enough, 'A was an Apple Pie'. The poem goes through every letter of the alphabet, using a word beginning with the right letter to describe what each different character did - B bit it, C cut it, D dealt it and so on. For the final few letters, of course, there's a bit of a compromise.

The earliest illustrations I can find of the poem are by Kate Greenaway, and feature, as the characters, rather cherubic young children in a playground. But what really made me decide to illustrate the rhyme was a series of illustrations by one of my favourite illustrators, Raymond Briggs. His illustrations, like his takes on most nursery rhymes and fairy stories, are wonderfully unconventional - the characters in his version are an odd bunch indeed.

What excited me about doing this was the graphic possibility of actually putting the letters in the characters, so it's not just someone representing B doing the biting, it's B himself. This meant a more graphic style than I was used to. In each of these drawings I tried to integrate the letters into the line and the general form, which meant not thinking about anatomy so much as 'shapes that worked'. In this respect I was greatly influenced by the character designs of Tom Oreb, who I'll post about later. Also an influence on the style used were Al Hirschfeld, Ronald Searle, Kay Nielsen and Aubrey Beardsley.

This is still a work in progress: the hooded figures in some of these drawings were inspired by similar characters populating Goya's Caprichos and the illustrations by Gustave Dore. It was then pointed out to me that, the way I've drawn them, they resemble Muslim veils. Not particularly wanting to be un-PC or offensive, I'm therefore going to change 'B' and 'X,Y,Z and &' (other hooded figures shown here are either obviously hooded as opposed to veiled, or not portrayed in a negative light). A few others will also be changed, simply because they don't 'look' right. Eventually, however, when I'm happy with all the drawings, I'm making them into some sort of book.

Click any image to enlarge, of course.

A was an apple pie



B bit it



C cut it



D dealt it



E eat it



F fought for it



G got it



H had it



I inspected it



J joined it



K kept it



L longed for it



M mourned for it



N nodded at it



O opened it



P peeped in it



Q quartered it



R ran for it



S stole it



T took it



U upset it



V viewed it



W wanted it



X, Y and & each wanted a piece in hand

Heads (Part 3)