A little peek into my sketchbook.

I thought I might give you another little glimpse into my sketchbook. I'm not always sure this a good thing to do, but I have so many people ask me how I come to concieve the ideass for my composisitions. Regular readers of my blog will have seen the development stages I go through before begining a piece. So here are a few ideas that have yet to see the light of day.

The face above was part of the preparation for 'Three Graces'. I have recurring themes dealing with religion, and this chap is a clergyman who was to double as the Starman..he was originally going to be standing looking at the Graces. In his hands he would be holding a model of the

Space Shuttle. In the end, there wasn't room in the composition.But you can be very sure that he'll reappear one day!

Above is a sketch I drew a couple of weeks ago. As you know, I'm fascinated by the fashion worn by female tennis players of the 60's and 70's. Teddy Tinling was a British fashion designer who in 1952 became famous for sewing lace edging onto the knickers of 'Gorgeous' Gussie Moran for her Wimbledon appearance. The furore caused by cameramen trying to catch an opportunity to photograph her 'Gorgeous Gussies' as her knickers and the frilly knickers of subsequent players were affectionately referred to, was enormous. Teddy became a very sought after designer for a whole group of female tennis stars including Billy Jean King, Anne Jones, Maria Bueno and Virginia Wade. He affectionately referred to his group of clients as 'The Ladies In White' and even named his Autobiography by that title. I decided I'd like a group of 'Ladies In White' to appear in one of my pictures.I will in all likelihood return to this idea again soon!

I've always (as you've gathered by now) had a fascination for all the voluminous layers or frills and ruffles seen on my favourite lady tennis players , but non more so than those worn by the girls of the French Can can. Recently my study for 'Can can dancer; has been wonderfully well received by visitors to my exhibition who have asked for more on that theme. So the following two sketches and the previous one are quick fire attempts to explore a few ideas.You can be very certain they will develop into full blown works at some point.

People often remark at my apparent enduring patience regarding my work. I agree..I do have the ability to envisage a picture and spend numerous months bringing it into being.But the opposite truth is that when it come to developing ideas, I like instant sketches on a small scale.Detail is often the last thing I'm thinking of.I hope you can see in the sketches I've shown you here, the way I begin an idea..then at some point in the future, I'll return to it if it still resonates with me. It will be interesting to see which of the above ideas make 'the cut' and go on to full development............meanwhile, I will have filled another sketchbook with a hundred other ideas which will never see the light of day!

So what do you think?...what would you like to see?..