Jigsaw - 7

I've put basic layers of colour onto the hand and brought the base layer of dark blue of the collar of my jacket down to meet it.The jacket is a classic 'dinner Jacket' with shiny collar...I hope I can indicate this in the picture.

The Blind Girl

1856
John Everett Millais

I thought I'd post a couple of photo's of a rainbow seen from my bedroom window last evening.I once heard an art critic talking about rainbows and the apparent impossibility that they cannot be painted in a realistic way. This put me in mind of the well known Pre Raphaelite painting by John Everett Millais (see above).A rainbow is clearly visible in the background. What do you think..was the critic right?

Jigsaw - 6

I've worked my way down to the next stage of the composition...and in a picture entitled 'Jigsaw'..here are some playing cards...what story will they tell?

Below is a good close up of the left eye in the picture..it just gives an interesting perspective on the grouping of the dots. (click on the pic for an extreme close up!)

Many thanks for the congratulations I received yesterday.I know that many of you long term bloggers will agree with me when I say that it's often a matter dogged determination to continue ...at times it's just too much and we need a break...sometimes we just lose interest..and sometimes it's time to stop. there are no hard and fast rules...in fact I know someone who posted just one short piece of writing before retiring from blogging for good.This was right for that person, but it's something I can't understand, because blogging has become part of my life...it's a very integral part of my day...my personal and social development. I have made life changing friendships and have learned about other cultures and ideologies...in short, blogging has made me a better person and a better citizen of the world in which we live.

Jigsaw - 5. 1000th Post!!!!

After writing many draughts this evening and deleting them all...I find words escape me on this the one thousandth post....

Eurovision Song Contest - 2009.

The Eurovision song Contest is an annual televised event which has occurred annually since 1956 The main aim is for each participating country to submit a song which is performed live on the night and is voted for by viewers and panels of judges. Here in the UK, the contest has become rather an object of ridicule after 'political' voting in recent years has created groups of nations voting for each other irrespective of the quality of the song or performance. But some very notable successes have come out of the contest, most famously Abba who represented Sweden in 1974 and then went on to become a multi million record selling group.

Many participating countries enter a song performed by a famous singer from that country. for the UK, it is usually a complete unknown act which sings a song picked by TV viewers earlier in the year.This year the UK's song was written by Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber who is a respected and internationally known composer (responsible for composing the music for many stage shows such as Phantom Of The Opera,Joseph,Cats....etc). Jade was a performer chosen by TV voters in January and sang 'It's My Time'...the song was voted 5th out of the 25 finalists (42 countries entered the contest ..the number reduced by running two semifinal contests earlier in the week)The winning country then has to host the show the following year. since they won it last year, Russia broardcast this years show form the Olympic Stadium in Moscow.

Each year, two dear friends of ours who live across the road from us hold a party to celebrate the national day of Norway (where they lived for many many years) people from my neighbourhood gather to celebrate and also watch the Eurovision show and try to pick the winner...it's usually accompanied by much good food and drink...and what makes it all the more special is the nationalities of those who attend, the majority from neighbouring houses on our avenue....amongst those there I can identify British,German,Norwegian,Italian,Turkish and Americans there last night.....to make it all the more special for my friends...the Norwegian entry won the contest..A great evening was had by all and my very warm and respectful thanks go to Andrew and Jane for hosting the evening!

*I have removed the photos from this post I suspect their format was going some way to causing the whole blog to look 'odd' on some people's machines.If you want to see the original photo's, you'll have to see my albums on 'Facebook'..

Jigsaw - 4

What's this 'ere then?...I had a series of interesting conversations recently which have been based around , what is the boundary that marks a drawing as a piece of 'Art' or an 'Illustration'?..is one more valid than the other? The more I thought about it, I could only come up with the thought that for a drawing/painting etc to be considered as 'art'...it must illicit an emotional response from the viewer...I wonder.

So it's over to you...what do you think?

Jigsaw - 3

I have my annual exhibition at the historic Cromford Mill in Derbyshire booked for July this year and was to have shared the gallery with a painter who incidentally I shared with last year. However, for reasons best know to her, she decided to pull out of exhibiting this year.So I approached a friend of mine whose daughter is in the same class as my daughter. Philippa is a stained glass artist and was pleased to accept my invitation to exhibit together. you check out Philippa's work here .

This morning Phillipa and I traveled up to see the gallery because it had been moved to a new room within the complex, but equip ed with a brand new hanging system and better facilities. We left feeling really positive and looking forward to showing our work there.

Work on my picture is going well..I have chosen quite purposefully to do another self portrait because the subject matter of 'Jigsaw' is very self analytical and concerns a few weighty issues I've been considering recently...I'll not reveal too much just now, but as usual, I'll tell you about the various aspects and objects within the picture as and when we get there.

It's also a way of showing how accurate my portraiture can be...I hope to gain more commission work doing portraits.

Jigsaw - 2

In 1972 I was an 10 year old lad, and was amazed to find out that I'd won a raffle at my school. the prize?...A football...but no ordinary football. This wonderfully orange leather football was autographed by the recently crowned English first division (now the Premiership) champions, Derby County.They were all there...Roy McFarland..Colin Todd..Kevin Hector,Alan Hinton...and Brian Clough! What a wonderful prize for a young ardent Derby County fan...that is until days later, a group of my friends and I were to go off to our local park to play football...no one had a ball......but I did!...so I took along my my treasured ball...and stood with pride that I was the one who'd won it and we were playing with a genuine champions football.

Of course, the grass was wet, and all the autographs got rubbed off.....To my 10 year old mind the REAL value of the ball was the fact that it had been played with by our heroes...Had my parents known, I'm sure they'd have stopped me taking it..but I'd sneaked it out of the house.Looking back, I should have kept it safe and sound locked away...gathering value.

Things are valuable for different reasons...the value is determined by by the significance of the 'thing' to an individual....one person will pay a fortune for a significant work of modern art..to another it's a worthless pile of bricks.It's an interesting thought.Is there any point to this story?....no, but it's funny isn't it?

Today I've progressed well with my work.. I love the texture that the dots create,(click on the image to get a closer look) i love the warmth of the colours....and I love the fact that the yes worked and I can look forward to all the hours of work yet to come.

Jigsaw - 1

Here you can see me applying the very first few dots to what will become a large intensely colourful work. But the very beginning establishes the tone of the rest of the picture.So with regard to faces, I like to work on the eyes first...once they are right, the rest will follow....if it's to go wrong, it may as well be now rather than in a couple of weeks. The first thing to do is to lay down a few base colours..I do not use black when working in colour...the pupil here is dark blue overlaid with medium blue. the flesh tones are made up with a base layer of scarlet overlaid by yellow ochre, blue and green...and anything else that seems appropriate at the time. this photo gives a good illustration as to the size of the actual dots. I use the Rotring Isograph Pen with 0.25mm nibs...this is the only gauge I use.

Here a layer or Scarlett has been applied around the eyes, and yellow ochre is being applied next...it's a matter of applying more layers of each colour strengthening the tone and establishing the areas which are darker .
Here I've worked for a few hours, the warmth of the image is coming through now...and yes, it is me yet again, so those of you of a nervous disposition who don't want to look at me for the next month or two...please look away now!

I have so many symbolic references to come in this work and I'm positive it will become my most accomplished work to date. As the days go by, you will see the image spread across the page...remember, you were here at the beginning!

Jigsaw - Sketch and prep.

The aim was to spend all day working, but as usual, being the other half of a busy actress and father to three means certain duties have to be done that cannot be avoided.The main one today was to do the weekly shop. Now I'm usually quite capable at most things,I've a qualification in childcare...I've worked with young people for years, I trained as a nurse and ....well there's one handicap.....I'm a man.Apparently we men can only concentrate on one thing at a time...and even this is distracted by thinking about sex ... according to some sources, that occurs every 15 seconds...(or more often)..but it also means that shopping is a very different exercise when I do it to when Jan does it.....

Now I know what you're thinking...I bet he comes back with a crate of beer,crisps and lots of cake.Well no you naughty thing....I buy meals for the week, cat food,toilet rolls ...salad etc....I'm quite capable.But when I got home today,swaggering like the architypal caveman dragging the limp carcass of a Mamoth into the family cave, I started packing all the things away and I was sure I'd bought more stuff, but where was it?...I must have left it at the check out.So I rang the supermarket and confessed my slip up...but the lady I spoke to was only in an office...so not only had I confessed my stupidity to one lady, I had to be put on hold to tell the lady at 'Customer Services' as well. Sadly she was too busy (servicing customers I presume) so the first lady took my number and assured me that she would ask the lady in customer services to call me. I've no idea if she eventually did, because I had to go off on the school run.

But I sat and applied my colossal brain to what I'd bought...looked in the cupboard and looked at my receipt and guess what?....I'd not forgotten any bags at the shop, the lack of some vital sundries was due to the fact that i'd just forgotten to buy them......I must have been thinking about something else!

What the heck am I going on about?.....this is supposed to be a post about art...aren't I supposed to be the bohemian one...aren't i supposed to lounge about surrounded by naked models offering me absinthe by the bucket load?.....Ladies and gentle men...I give you the reality....'my reality'....and i wouldn't have it any other way.....................well perhaps with just one glass of Absinthe would be nice...but the reality of being an artist and responsible dad is just this.

Oh, i nearly forgot......The pencil work above is the very beginning of my new picture...and after all that talk yesterday of 'Nebulae'....my new picture is given the working title of 'Jigsaw'. Tomorrow I shall start dotting.

Below is my workspace...with blank piece of paper before any work....it was a beautiful morning.

A long time ago in a nebula far away.

Did you know that the word 'Nebula' is from the Latin word meaning 'Cloud'...I think I knew that already, but in relation to the Nebula (The Orion Nebula pictured above it) seems almost an understatement. There are various types of Nebulae,but are all characterised by the presence of dust and gas . Now I'm not an astronomer so I'm no position to talk about the types of gas...the formation of stars and planets and the collapse of stars...xray emissions...dark nebulae...black holes etc.... But what fascinates me is the fact that the nearest Nebula to Earth is the Helix Nebula, about 700 light years away . For those of you with brains like mine...let us consider the 'Light Year'. Light travels at 180,000 miles per second...you would have to travel at that speed for an entire year to have travelled a 'Light year'...and you would have to travel for 700 years at that speed to reach the Helix Nebula ( see pic below)..it can be found in the constellation of Aquarius.

Thus when you look up into the sky , the light you see from these Nebula...Stars and other astral bodies is not how they appear right now....often the light has in some cases been traveling for hundreds...thousands and millions of 'light Years' to reach us.We are therefore 'seeing' into the past.

It is our presence in the 'Now' and the light from the past which will form the background to the concept with which my next picture will centre on.I've spent time today taking photographs and preparing sketches, some of which I will share with you as the week goes on. Regular readers of this blog will be aware that I often change the various factors included in my pictures as the work continues. I hope you will feel able to keep checking back and see the picture develop from the first sketches to the finished picture.

For those of you wanting to find out more about the adventures of Peter Bread and Captain Kebab.....watch this space.

Captain Kebab #5

So...my self imposed exile from artistic endeavour is coming to an end...tomorrow I shall begin work on a new picture. I can't wait. A week ago I was feeling negative about so many things, and the advice a valued friend gave me was to take a break,to rest. So this I have done, and in doing so I've found that the negativity has gradually melted away and the natural drive which makes me who I am has had time to heal and replenish itself. The urge to start working again has grown so that it's an effort not to....This evening I'm going to imagine it's the last day of the holidays...I'm going to be kind to myself...take a relaxing bath and listen to some music.

Captain Kebab #4

Today I began to seriously consider my next picture. I've put a few ideas down in my sketchbook and have an overall concept about the metaphors I'm hoping to represent. Meanwhile Captain Kebab strip continues. you know, it was the artwork in comics that got me interested in drawing when I was a kid. As a little boy I used to read comics such as 'The Beano' 'The Dandy' 'Whizzer and Chips'..where characters like Dennis The Menace,Corky the Cat, Desperate Dan and The Bash Street Kids were the staple diet of a ten year old,

But my teenage years brought the real serious stuff of comic lore...'Marvel Comics'...now I was introduced to The Amazing Spiderman..The Avengers..The Incredible Hulk and it was here that my pencils got to work.My school mates would crowd around me at play time to see my drawings of my heroes...and I'd sell them ..I'd even do them to order....and not only comic book superheroes...I drew 'Charlie's Angels'..'Steve Austin The Six Million dollar Man'..'The Bionic woman'...'Starsky And Hutch'...I once even had an order to draw Abba! Looking back now, they were not very good, but they were good enough.

Captain Kebab #3

I must tell you about the thing that happened last night. For a while I'd been detecting a strange smell in the downstairs of our house.I attributed it to my two teenage sons and their various forms of footwear lying strewn around the foot of the stairs...but the smell increased, and popping my head into the under stairs cupboard I realised what it was.....: Gas. This smell had been around for a couple of days and I felt foolish for not realising it...so I rang the gas suppliers emergency number and got a garbled list of do's and don'ts from the young man on the other end of the line. Around 40 minutes later..at about midnight, a gas fitter arrived and quickly found the gas was leaking from an 'Anaconda' pipe..we'd had a new central heating boiler installed in January and apparently, a spot of solder had fallen on to the pipe..the result (I'm told) is that it slowly corrodes the pipe.

Thankfully the gas fitter had a spare Anaconda pipe and was able to fix it and be on his way by 00:30 am....and my family and i would be able to sleep peacefully in our beds and not wake up the next morning and find we were all in orbit!

Reminds me of the old joke: A man jumps out of an aeroplane...he tries to pull the ripcord of his parachute but nothing happens...so he pulls the ripcord of the reserve chute...again nothing happens.As he is plummeting earthwards...he sees a man coming up towards him...as the man approaches he shouts out: "Hey...do you know antything about parachutes?"...The man as he flies past replies: "NO!...do you know anything about gas cookers?"

They say "Life is a 'gas'"...I think it's preferable to "Life's a blast!".

Captain Kebab #2

So I've not entirely managed to avoid putting pen to paper and drawing...but I'm keeping work to a minimum...I also managed to pop into derby today and take a few photos...this is in an effort to avoid picking up the sketch book . I don't know if I'll be able to last for much longer...I guess that the point where I'm unable to resist, will be the exact right time to start work again....and that will be soon as I'm having ideas bubbling to the surface already!

Captain Kebab. # 1

Here's the first panel in an epic adventure adapted from a mini cartoon strip I drew in the 1980's...join me tomorrow for the continuing adventures of 'Captain Kebab'!

National Blog Posting Month.

Last episode,we saw our hero' Dotman' considering his fate at the hands of the evil 'Doctor Despair' who'd infiltrated the labyrinthine depths of our hero's Psyche with a calculated attempt to prevent him from creating more art.

But Doctor Despair had not counted on our hero's famous resilience and the support of his 'Super Friends'...together they fought and destroyed Doctor Despair consigning him once again to his dank and watery hide out somewhere in another dimension.

Dot Man now sits comfortably, wine glass in hand smiling once again.Now a new challenge awaits out dotting hero...that challenge is to write a blog post every day for the duration of May...."HAH!" says Dot Man.."I can write a post every day...I already do it on most days...."

Dot Man Say's "You know it makes sense...if you are a blogger, join me in the challenge and click on the link below...then you too can be a 'Super NaBloPoMo' friend!'

http://nablopomo.ning.com/

Last day at Willington - Return to Minipix.

I wanted to write a little about what it's like to finish an exhibition at an Arts Festival...a unique experience quite different from a solo exhibition. Some people spend all their time going to events like this..some people find the camaraderie and group atmosphere wonderful.I can see why.The practise and profession of an artist is on the whole a solitary one....at least it is for me. everything that I produce is the result of long hours alone living within an often imaginary world filled with concepts and dreams.Not very healthy I hear you thinking...well that may be so.It might be the case I'm going crazy and managing to maintain a veneer of normality and respectability...it might be the case that confronting the contents of my thoughts is actually a good thing...I don't bury them deep within a padded brain cell...I deal with them.

The truth is that the end of an exhibition is a time to be subjective...not good.Thoughts arise that tell you it was a waste of time.If it was for artistic purposes, then all I did was answer the same old questions to a continual line of people who ask "How long does a picture take?"...."Do you ever see dots before your eyes?"...."What gave you the idea to use dots?"...."Do you ever suffer from repetitive strain injury?"...My friend Michael suggested I set up an animatronic version of myself to answer these questions. However, if it was for financial reasons I exhibit...that too would be a waste of time.I managed to cover my costs..and that was all...I'm never going to rid myself of the gnawing possibility that no matter what the depth of talent I have,I'm still going to have to pay the mortgage....That's why I'm off to do role play at 7:30 in the morning...because no matter how cuttingly 'now' or relevant I make my artwork...I'm never going earn more money than when I sit in a CCTV covered room and pretend I have a bad neck.

I told you it would be subjective...(and I've not drunk any alcohol to write this!)...I just feel that life would be so much better with a safe 'nine to five' job...perhaps my relationship with my wife would be good...I'd be a better father and a more dependable friend.....perhaps perhaps perhaps.Some one was looking at my one of my pictures..her partner said "He looks like John Culshaw"...she said "I think he looks like Russel Crowe"...I looked up and said "It's a self portrait....of me"...I thought just for a split second that it was the nicest thing I'd heard all day...

Oh...I was tired of people looking at me painting in water colours and asking "Is this how you do all your paintings?" that I decided to spend the day dotting a new 'Minipix' (see above).Meanwhile...the effort I went to make 10 water colours......they all remain unsold and unconsidered....you know, I think I'm just a curiosity...'The Dot Man'....

Watercolour number 10...yet more trees.

This is the tenth and therefore last in this series of water colours prepared for this weekend's festival.It's another view of the trees up on Radbourne Lane...So far the reaction to my water colours has been OK..but there are so many people producing pictures like this, they are commonplace and they do it so much better than me...people generally want to see and talk about the dot pictures. I don't know what I'm going to do next, it would be natural to embark on a larger sized painting,perhaps that's how I shall pass the time tomorrow.

Below is a photo of my co-exhibitor Michael Stewart's work.The painting uppermost sold yesterday was one that he had nearly not brought along to show..but it was eagerly snapped up by an enthusiastic buyer.I think it was a good choice to exhibit....I like it.

Willington Arts Festival 2009.

Exhibition time comes around yet again.Jan and I set up the exhibition last night.We are exhibiting in an old school building along with around 10 other artists.The venue is part of an 'arts trail' which includes private homes,churches and other buildings around the village.Doors opened at 10:00am this morning and visitors came in larger than expected numbers.

I was busy all day talking to people and answering questions...however probably one of the best aspects of these kind of events is the opportunity to get to know fellow artists, to exchange ideas and experiences. I'm in a side room along with Michael who is a talented oil painter. He's never exhibited before and was overjoyed when he sold his first painting for £350 ! I on the other hand sold a couple of prints. The water colours were well received, but on the whole, people were much more interested in my Hyperpointillism works.

I'm back there tomorrow and Monday (which here in England is a public holiday). I think I'll have plenty of time during the next few days to work on the last of my watercolour series (I'll post the progress on today's painting tomorrow)...

Oak tree on Radbourne Lane, Derbyshire.

Here is the finished painting showing the Oak Tree on Radbourne Lane I photographed yesterday. Again I'm happy with the progression of detail and and colour I've incorporated in the picture. Not a moment too soon as I'm off to hang the exhibition later this evening.

You might be interested to know that I'm this year selling enlarged prints of two of my most popular pieces (Ricky Rec and Reflections)...they look great. Also whilst picking up my most recently framed and mounted pictures, my framer has demonstrated his new printer which can print very large images onto canvas ...(we're talking 30x60 inches!)..not cheap, but he enlarged a copy of 'Bench' for me to see and it looks great..

See you tomorrow with a report of the first of my three days at The Willington Arts Festival.