Still Life

At the moment i'm pushing myself to paint as much as i can, and also trying to reuse old canvases in the process. I'm also trying to emulate (albeit rather badly) some of the artists i admire with each piece, and endeavouring to teach myself the techniques they used to achieve the effects the did....sounds Arty huh?
Anyway, first up is a Still Life i did, after taking a bit of sandpaper to the elderly canvas to try and reduce the impasto, somewhat groping after Peploe. I really like Peploe's work, and feel that he painted some truly fantastic artwork, not only being influenced by The Glasgow Boys but painting in Paris right around the time Braque & Picasso were developing Cubism, so please check him out if you can, it's also surprising how many 'Peploe's' can be found hanging around UK art galleries.

Dweezil Zappa Painting

Hello there...how's things? Good? Good! Me too.
The last couple of weeks have been an exciting time for a zappateer like me, Zappa Plays Zappa have been touring the UK and i was lucky enough to catch two of their shows at Edinburgh and Manchester, where i met the charming, witty and handsome Ob from zappateers.
While we were at the Manchester show we decided to go Full Anorak and got VIP tickets, which meant seeing the soundcheck and a meet & greet-type affair afterwards. Why am i telling you this? Well, just think of it as back-story. Exciting huh?
Anyway, during the soundcheck everyone was free to wander about and take photos (with no flash naturally) so Ob decided to take photos of everything. At one point he lent over to show his latest capture, whereupon i immediately thought 'I certainly would like to paint that!' so, yesterday, on the 18th anniversary of FZ's passing with Return Of The Son Of... playing on an extremely loud loop, i did just that.
Normally i'd post the whole process, because it's more interesting than just here's a painting wot i did, but blogger has been a nightmare...so here it is:

Yes, of course i'd like a slice of that humble pie...

Well, of course it was going to happen...it always does after you post an acerbic strip. The zappa by us guys did in fact get my Fz cartoon and posted it on their blog the other day. Thanks very much to them. If it wasn't for the fact that it's a collective decision on which artwork to use, i would worry that i'd pressured Fred into doing it.
Once again, please got to the exhibition if you can, and i heard today that there's going to be a book out next May too, which, with artwork and comic strips from all over the world, is sure to be a cracker.

Freak Out in Turnhout

All that said, i know there could be any number of reasons why i never got a reply....they could just be very busy, or just being very sweet and trying not to hurt my feelings, or they could just be very impressed, using my cartoon and not got around to telling me yet or they could just being very nepotistic, or even very easily not have received it in the first place...which is fine, but always worth a giggle, and this does look like a great exhibition to go to! So, try and go if you can.

Zombie Pic

A little zombie pic i did for this year's Hallowscream...but they didn't use it so here it is for all you luverly folks instead. Pass the salt, please...

The Ignoble Beginning by Thaddeus Witt

Crawlin' Eye Art presents the fourth collection of poems and other musings by writer, and noted technophobe, Thaddeus Witt.

I really enjoyed working on this book, and love the way not only the artwork but the book as a whole has turned out. Thaddeus and i worked together very closely on it, mainly due to his aversion to owning a pc or the internet, but i think the slow pace we adopted really suited the book.

Please have a look, and maybe even buy a copy because all profits will be plowed into re-issuing his three previous books. These are currently out-of-print so i'd love the opportunity to work on any new editions.

FZ doodle

I've been trying to get to grips with photoshop, without a tablet, which is a lot of ...erm..Fun. So here's a doodle i did yesterday. I specifically tried to go for that '60s illustration look with bright blocks of colour...not sure how successful it is, but i like it all the same.