Chrysler Sunbeam "Mel's Folly"

Drawn from several reference pictures.

This is, believe it or not, a restoration project to take it from being a battered grass track racer to being a road legal Chrysler Sunbeam.  You can read more about it over here: http://retrorides.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=readersrides&action=display&thread=78084

Ford Fiesta

Recently completed automotive portrait for a new customer.  Enjoyed working on this one but as usual with blue, the scanner really hasn't done it justice.

First Gallery Appearance

Interesting news: I got a piece of my artwork in a local gallery!  The gallery isn't huge, but it is new and local and has some terrific stuff in as well as excellent coffee and home made cakes and pies.  Well worth a visit.

 

Go to http://www.beanscoffeeshopgallery.co.uk/ for all the info.

 

The piece that was accepted was an old one of mine that also appeared in the only thing I've been published in, Aether d'Animaux ( http://www.intrinsikdesign.com/clients/aether/buy.html ) and is titled Eighties Jazz Cat.  The bulk of my framed work was considered too controversial for the conservative market, unsurprisingly.  However, I view this as an opportunity and I have already started taking photographs around the town for stuff I'm going to paint to better fit with what the gallery is about.

 

Expect to see some nice new art from me in the near future.  I've got a very clear idea for a Rememberance Sunday piece focused on the war memorial in town.

 

I feel all invigorated and enthused about my art in a way I haven't for some time.  Tomorrow I'm off to Wirksworth for the festival http://www.wirksworthfestival.co.uk/  there, but it's unlikely I'll get to the Melbourne Festival http://www.melbournefestival.co.uk/ as that's a bit too far for me to travel on the current budget.

 

Once a week, I'm hoping to drop into the coffee shop for a coffee and some sketching, it's got a great atmosphere and it's just what I've been after.  Who knows, this could be the start of something awesome, but I'm not going to count any chickens just yet.

Boso Standard Atlas

I've recently moved house, but I've only just got settled, so work has had to take a back seat until recently.  Happily, tonight I managed to do some artwork for myself, in this instance something for an informal art challenge on the Retro Rides forum.

Bosozoku themed Standard Atlas camper.

Watercolour Practice

It's been a while since I updated here.  I've not had much opportunity to do artwork of late, had a lot of other things to organise.  I did get a few minutes free and decided to relieve some boredom with a little watercolour practice.

It's a shame my scanner doesn't like blue, this looks so much better in person than it does on the screen.  Ah well, I hope to do more stuff like this.

Sketch Commissions

Lately much of the work I've been producing has been sketches.  I've been kept away from my art desk by a rebellious body that insists on being fixed at the hospital, but now that the rebellion has been quelled I can at least get back to work and updating my blog.

Here's the finished general audience stuff that's made it out of my pencil during June

1920s themed bartender

A raptor playing on a wiicube or a Xstation or some such.

A drunkard.

Chiron - Commission

It's been an interesting few weeks for me lately, including a stay in hospital.  Thankfully, I'm well on the mend again now and have been able to do some artwork, which I can share with you here.

Most of the work I've had through the books lately has been adult work, it's the mainstay of my income which can sometimes be frustrating, but one must go where the money is.  However, I do occasionally get non-adult work and in this instance it was for a sketch of a draught horse centaur.

Crochet Critters

With a convention coming up soon, it's time to get as many different bits of stock finished off as I can in time.  Convention in question is the modestly proportioned Confuzzled in Manchester: http://www.confuzzled.org.uk/speakeasy/  This year they have a 1920s theme, but most of my work is, unfortunately, not on theme due to not having the time to create stuff specifically for that.

However, I have been working away at these little things that I've dubbed Crochet Critters.  About fist sized and made from multicoloured yarn they're little balls of random.  These are just the first three examples, I should end up with about 20 of them, all unique, providing I have the time to devote to making them of course.

From left to right we have Seaweed Cat, Dragon Ball and Pompom.  Each new one will get a name and a name tag as I go along.

New Start

A little while ago life had got the better of me and I went through and made a mass deletion of various blogs and information.  Happily, things are resolved and I've realised the error of that decision, so this is to be a fresh start.

This blog will focus on the items I create for my small business Stone Orchid Creations.  Primarily I produce artwork, but I produce other items as well so this seems as sensible a place as any to showcase those things.

Updates will likely be sporadic as is the nature of the work, but I will attempt to release an update at least once a month.

To begin with I've decided to share a few of my favourite artworks with some details about them.

"Magpie"

This painting was based on a photograph for the anatomy with the cloth and mask imagined afterwards.  Part of a slowly progressing themed series of paintings featuring men dressed to depict birds this one is as the title suggests a Magpie.  Created on Bristol Board paper in acrylic paint and watercolour pencils, this piece has around 20 hours work in it and is approximately A3 in size.

"Jebediah Huufenbacher"

This piece was created as a sketch just to see what I could do by way of translating my imagination into a painting.  The entire piece is completed in watercolour with some finer details being picked out in coloured pencil.  As a challenge to myself I used a webcam to provide a live show of the piece emerging from barely-visible sketch into fully coloured completion for those watching.  Much like Magpie, this piece took many hours to complete over the course of several days but remains one of my favourites.  This piece is completed on A4 sized Bristol Board in watercolour and coloured pencils.

"Prayer"

A small piece, this is something of a milestone for my work.  Created by commission, this piece is only A5 in size and shows a pair of hands praying with a stained glass window behind.  The reason this is a milestone is that I've always had the greatest difficulty depicting hands but this bears some resemblance to them I think.  Completed on Bristol Board in watercolour and coloured pencils.

"The Laughing Zebra"

This piece is tiny but another of my favourites.  The texture of smooth fur and bristly mane always pleases me when I look at this miniature and the happy, laughing expression of the zebra is delightful.  Completed in watercolour and coloured pencil on Bristol Board.

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Watch this space for the next update when I should be showing some of the Crochet Critters that I've begun producing and some more artwork.