The Ascent process...

I would have liked a little more time on this, but that is often the case. I had just over a week to get it done, so I had to take a couple of 'short-cuts' here and there. It's painted on oil paper which I very rarely use. It tends to be either canvas or board that I work on, but actually it felt fine after I primed it with Clear Gesso (this gave it a bit of 'tooth', as the paper was relatively smooth). Instead of starting with an imprimatura (a thin wash of colour, usually a neutral, to cover the whole image and set the basic mood), I blocked in the basic light and dark masses with a quick ebauche (a preliminary layer of semitransparent oil colour). Once I set down the basic value structure, I worked on the sky first, and gradually moved to the middle, and then foreground figure, and ended up painting the birds last. I think the motion blur on the birds is too subtle now in hindsight. I should have pushed that further. In fact, I would have liked to spend another day on the birds, but alas, the time just wasn't there. I used a double complementary pairing for this painting; for the background (including the buildings) I used orange and blue, and for the foreground I went with a more violet and yellow-orange approach.

Maligned Species: Nettles...process

This is a book cover for a series entitled Maligned Species. Some of the other topics included frogs, spiders, and grey squirrels. My topic of course was nettles. This painting is based on a sketch I did on a walk on the outskirts of a small town called Stradbally in Ireland. As soon as I came across this wonderful scene I knew it was going to be my book cover idea. What I was going for is the idea that nettles often seem to encroach on once busy pathways, and man-made places that have fallen into ruin and abandonment. Where once there was thriving human life, now there is only nature enveloping mans emblems of achievement and vanity. So although a maligned species, nettles are often found in secretive places, hiding forgotten wonders, and therefore possess something of a semblance of mystery. I sometimes transfer my drawing onto board or canvas, so it acts as a guide as I paint. This is most usually an illustration technique for me. For this painting I dispensed with the drawing stage, and instead blocked in the basic forms with paint right from the beginning. This can be a much looser, more painterly approach. I think it helped to add some extra spontaneity and vigor to the final look of it.

Dried Bones process...

This will be the front cover for the Dried Bones EP by hard Celtic rock band Torous. They wanted to go back to a more traditional approach, hence my involvement. I did a lot of thumbnail concept sketches for this, more than usual, but my imagination was fired up for it. I was sent over the lyrics and got to work immediately. The lyrics were vivid, which really helped generate lots of ideas. I had my heart set on one idea in particular, but another image was chosen instead. In hindsight the final painting reflects the concept of the song much better, so everyone wins. The tattoo on the chest is the torus symbol...

Barack America process...

As you can see my original idea was an image of Obama on a billboard poster, but it didn't seem right. Less is more in most cases, particularly satirical illustrations, so I simplified the composition and it feels a lot better now. The colour scheme was done entirely with the complementary pairing of orange and blue. I used some of the background sky colour on the bomber jets to help them go back more into the distance. I don't have a vendetta against Barack Obama. Like every other sane person in the Western world, I was both delighted and excited about him being elected as president (particularly after the ineptitude and drudgery of Bush). It seems very naive now to have felt that pang of hope and wonder, but the stark truth is he hasn't delivered. Much is as it was, and Obama, like Bush before him, is merely the plaything of the Ultra rich and powerful. They are the ones who decide change, not politicians or even Presidents...

The Martyrdom of Rebekah Brooks process...

It's good to have finally got this idea out of my head, down onto my sketchbook, and finally out onto canvas and existing in the real world- while the matter is still alive and kicking. There is a lot being said and written about this subject at the moment, and I felt compelled to add my creative viewpoint amongst all the...clutter. I had originally planned to have a halo, but sometimes you need to reign yourself in and not overstate the concept. Make of it what you will... I have plans for a Rupert Murdoch one as well...