L'inattendu - Finished.

After 66 hours and 10 mins..here is the finished picture. I decided to blot out the faces at the back apart from the one in the top left..as Julie commented yesterday, she looks like a ghostly voyeur..I'm happy with the overall effect..I'm particularly pleased with the part of the picture I've shown below as a detail.

I'd like to re-photograph these pictures tomorrow in daylight..the little boy has got bleached out by my lamps...

I hope you've enjoyed following the conception and development of this piece?..I'd love to know what you interpret the picture as meaning..but remember..the little boy is me! I don't think we've seen the last of these characters...and get ready to see the debut of a certain Chimpanzee in my next piece!!

L'inattendu - 21

I've spent the day putting the background in..The heads only vaguely hinted at behind the raised skirts are not to my liking and especially the two on the extreme right will undergo a little redefinition tomorrow. But for today, I've spent enough time concentrating...the progress you see here since yesterdays post represents about 6 solid hours of work.
After I posted the the above paragraph..I went back to work on the top part of the picture and have sorted out the bits I didn't like..I find it frustrating that you don't get to see the picture at it's full size..it's much more dynamic and detailed. Here is a closeup photo which shows me working on the ghostly face in the background.

you'll see a big difference tomorrow ...I might even finish!

L'inattendu - 20

It's all looking rather comical to my eyes..perhaps because I've been looking up those skirts for the last few weeks. It's kind of lost it's novelty...It's as if the Star Man is turning around to me and saying.."Are you serious !?" The truthful answer is : " Yes I am! "

I'm moving into the last couple of days on this now..I need to get to work on something new.

L'inattendu - 19

It's Twelfth Night..and we've spent the day taking decorations down. We began our day drinking Champagne and eating bacon sandwiches for breakfast..it was to commemorate the end of the holidays...the kids go back to school tomorrow! Peace will reign once more and I'll be able to get some serious work in...I've not actually done any today, but the progress you see here was all done yesterday. ...the end is in sight...hopefully I'll finish this in the next few days!

L'inattendu - 18

At last i can give you a better idea of what the balance of the composition is like now that most of the components are in place..( I have background to fully decide upon, but I think I know what will be fitting!)





I would like to focus a little on the learning curve that my work is going through at the moment. But a lot of what is going on inside my creative little head is due in some great measure to the influence of Julie Schuler. I've mentioned her work many times before, but if you haven't visited her site recently, then I urge you to do so.Julie is preparing for an exhibition coming up in the spring..along with another talented artist Annie McVicar. Julie is working on a series of Nursery rhythm interpretations.The detail and atmosphere with which Julie presents her compositions has caused me to stare in wonder and respect. the richness of imagery is to me something that I'd like everyone to enjoy,and one day perhaps the whole world will. But for now, have a look and see what I'm going on about...you can also order online prints and some pretty special Valentine cards too.

L'inattendu - 17

Jonice yesterday commented that she liked the fact that I live and learn..I think in fact that we all do this. But in my case the majority of my learning is done whilst producing pictures, sometimes very deep and intimately personal and the way i relate to those who see them. It is my desire and goal to lay myself open..to approach and allow that which is within me take shape on the paper.This is a risky business for someone who is actually, basically a very shy person.But the obligation of the artist is that which is binding and inescapable.."To thy own self be true"...anything less is to be a ineffectual and irrelevant.

I'll perhaps tell you what this picture is about when i get to the end.

L'inattendu - 16

Work continues today. I am more aware of how contradictory I am as a person at the moment. The case in point is that I do not like being out of my routine...I like to work at certain times in the day and for certain periods. Rhythm is all important to what i do as to achieve the consistency of quality, I need to spend long periods of time working. It's a bit like reading a book..if you only manage to read five pages a night..you'll never actually pick up the pace of the narrative and consequently grow tired of the book and give up on it. however..I do not like stagnation. I am a VERY patient worker as you know, and have spent months working on some pieces...I can maintain concentration and vision for that period. but I have to break out once in a while. The holiday period is not a great time for my work.I'm discovering things about the way I work all the time. It is after all only two years since I began full time work on my pictures.

Today whilst working on this picture..I realised an even better way of presenting the dancers..what I should have done was to have a dancer near the edge of the stage on the far right..then a line of dancers gradually disappearing into the horizon in an infinite line....this I will have to do in another picture, another time. It's a frustrating thing to discover how one could actually have made a better compossition when it's too late.

I hope you all had a good New Years Day..?...

L'inattendu - 15 Happy New Year!.

So here we are once more..at the end of the year looking forwards and backwards at the same time. Bobkat put it so well in her blog regarding Janus..the two faces, at the axis of the year. Like many people, I have looked back and sought affirmation as to the reason i am here.Why am i?...

Below is a photograph of me aged about 3 months...(my parents had a photographer come to our house ..the image was a black and white print but the photographer hand tinted it..he thought I was a girl because of my dress and painted me pink.My parents could not afford another print so pink it remained) But I love looking into those eyes..those eyes which saw nothing of what was to come, but hopeful, and full of life..innocence. It's how I look forward by looking back.

I have stood and raised my head, looked full into the face of 2008 and pen in hand I stride forward with a happy and thankful heart. I will take this opportunity to wish you and yours a very happy and prosperous new year!

L'inattendu - 14

Working on the skirt and all the frills is challenging (as well as fetishistically satisfying!) Deciding where all the shadows will fall means I have to concentrate,I do have a few resource images to use but there's nothing better than allowing it to shape itself. there will be around 5 - 6 more dancers to the composition.


I received a message from someone yesterday who I'd completely forgotten about..it was a wish for a happy new year and to "Party Hard". This meant a lot to me...I'll tell you why. At 1:45am on 31st December 1991, there was a banging on my front door..I was tucked up in bed...popping my head out of the window, I saw my Father standing in the street obviously upset..."Can you come down Niall?..I think Mum's died"

There began my adulthood....New Years eve is always a time I remember her,she was a big inspiration in my life..someone who sacrificed all for her family...and died aged 58 well before her time. Therefore the party I attend is basically to commemorate and avoid sitting at home being sad..it's what she would have done. If we should meet as midnight chimes, and I have a tear in my eye..you'll know why.

The following picture is something I treasure. Taken by my father in June 1951 it shows a youthful young woman about to embark on her married life. Having abandoned an offer to dance at 'The Windmill' in London as an exotic dancer, Eileen worked as a secretary at a local Army depot (Chilwell , Nottingham ) where she met my father.

L'inattendu (the Unexpected) is partly due to her influences on my senses, my memory my heritage and development.

In memoriam

Eileen young (nee Lipscomb)

1933 - 1991.

L'inattendu -13. I'm back..but is there anyone still reading this?

Hello..remember me?..I'm that strange English artist you used to read way back in oo let's see...last week! Christmas happened and I went under..is that man waving or is he drowning?..he was drowning...but sodden and depleted he hauls himself up onto the shingle of the deserted beach and remembers what it was he was supposed to be doing all this time....something about dancing girls and a French maid....

On with the show!

L'inattendu - 12

Firstly..the big black object at the top of the picture is my lamp...at least I've managed to complete the stage front and symbols.I've also added the little bird to the boys hand.The action on the stage is the next area to work on..I actually like the idea that the real drama is out in the audience!

L'inattendu - 11

I've worked a whole day on completing the symbols for the front of the stage..there are a few more behind the the Maid's legs which I have yet to do but that area will carry my signature which as you know is always the final thing I do before completion of a picture. Despite the good progress and inspiration I've encountered today..I'm feeling flat and tired.So that you might have insight into the mind and thoughts of a working artist, I'll tell you that my wish is to to run away and hide from Christmas..I am entering the most intense and difficult time on this picture and to have something as annoying as Christmas take me away from what I'm doing is painful..you see art is inherently a selfish pursuit...at least at this stage..and I'm not really cut out for a 'normal' life.

L'inattendu - 10

It's not been possible to do very much work today. I don't like a day like today..managed a little time this evening and concentrated on the little fella you see here.I'm not very conscious of the fact that it is supposed to be me..however....I think you'll understand when you see the completed piece. Behind me, you can see theedge of a stage...decorating the front are various symbols..here you can see a space shuttle and an angel.

L'inattendu - 9

Tweeked a few details here..made the skirt a little more flirty..but still need to complete the maids lower legs and the wine glass. The main aim of today's work was to pencil in the background and begin work on the inclusion of the foreground figure of me!...(remember the photograph a few days ago?) I remembered that my Dad was a keen Bird watcher...in Africa he used to own a large aviary including a Golden Eagle...he was always keen to show me the birds in our garden and used to show me as a child how to make beak shapes with my hand using my forefinger and thumb. In the photograph I am shown holding my hand up to the roof of next doors house where a bird must have been...I thought that if I made the beak shape, it would call the birds down to land on my finger.

So in the drawing I for some reason have decided that a butterfly will be alighting on my finger, perhaps now I think about it, it should be a little bird?...more tomorrow and to possibly see how 'Mini Me' relates to the rest of the compossition.

L'inattendu - 8

Now you can see the two figures in relation to each other.This part of the picture nearly complete..the rest of the composition is subject to changes but I'm 99% sure of what goes where!. I'm enjoying using characters from previous works. There might be a story which draws them all together one day.

I hope you enjoy unravelling the various symbols and details...there will be lots more to come.

500th Post. L'inattendu - 6

So I decided to make it a Death's Head Hawk Moth in stead of a butterfly..why...you tell me!. i spent a good amount of time working on the Maids top today as you can see. In addition to this we put up a Christmas Tree, lights, decorations and... blood pressure..this always goes up with the decorations. Never mind..our front room now looks very tasteful...

Today's post is my 500th!!..so to mark that occasion I thought I'd show you a little picture taken of me when I was at the age of about 1 1/2 years old.I've always been attracted by things up in the sky or on the roof..hence my love of the Sky, stars, planes, birds and...well, wait till you see what I'm looking at when I place a likeness of me (taken from this photo) in my picture!

See you tomorrow.

L'inattendu - 5

Work on the Maid continues..I've got the mouth right at last after a few attempts..I find it really difficult to produce realistic looking faces from imagination, but having worked on so many in the past few months..I've learnt what to look out for and where specific shadows fall..I've got lots more work to do on the shadows here especially on her cheek and breast.Sometimes it's a matter of working for a short while, then stepping away..make a cup of tea then come back...somehow the subtleties disappear as you stare for a long time concentrating on a particular detail.



The Maid is carrying a jar with a butterfly within.



I took annie to her school Christmas Fayre today..we went in to see Santa...here's a pic. (Sorry Chris)..but isn't it funny how all 'Santas' look slightly dubious? ..and in this case, way too thin!..I guess once he's eaten 500 million mince pies he'll look more the part!

L'inattendu - 4

Firstly...I didn't write anything yesterday...why?...Well, I had nothing to say! As the old saying goes: "Better to keep your mouth shut and to have people think you a fool, than to open your mouth and prove it!".

I seem to be saying this a lot at the moment, but it's been slow going these last couple of days. I think mainly because I've started this piece entirely from scratch with only my own ideas to work from. True I've used reference material but only after I've sketched what i wanted and needed further detail. for instance;The hand I used for the Starman, was originally from a photo of my own hand. but as I considered it, I saw that it did not look n keeping with his age...so I used a 'google' referenced image.

The maid is entirely out of my own imagination..I've spent ages deliberating on the way her mouth goes...I've decided she will be biting her lip. I know she looks a bit of a road crash just now..but trust me to sort it out. The journey continues..

L'inattedu - 3

L'inattendu -2

The one thing about working on a made up face is that i can do what I want with the features without fear of getting it wrong. This is progressing quickly although the overall size of the picture is relatively big. what I like about this type of piece is that details can be changed as i go along..and there is always time to make major changes if needs be.

I was remembering an old favourite Marvel Comics character of mine from the 1970's called Doctor Strange. I noticed he had a character with a body which was actually a view of stars similar to this one but different...also check out the video to 'Supermassive Black hole ' by Muse!...hey, i'm doing myself out of originality here...but one tends to notice these things..!