Cool old People

My love of drawing old people continues….I love the distortions that happen as we age, how clothes hang differently and the body changes. I like how old people have their own very particular take on fashion and clothing. Sometimes its a throwback to an earlier era but I think often its arises from the restrictions placed on them by what’s available. They tend to wear more clothes than younger people and this also makes for a different aesthetic. Maybe I won’t appreciate it all so much when I reach the vintage stage of life myself…

New Year 1012

Wanted to post these up last week. Wanted to do more of them. Wanted to do them all nicely in colour. But wanting and finding the time and energy are not always compatible. Still….they’re here now! I was fascinated and just a little appalled, but not surprised by the antics of New Year revellers in the UK on New Years Eve. The thing is if you don’t live in the UK you might be mistaken for thinking that this happens only on News Years eve, so that would be okay. But it pretty much happens all over the country, in small towns and cities, every weekend. It don’t know what it says about the state of the UK at the moment. It’s certainly a pressure valve, with out which, the frustration of living there would likely bubble up somewhere else. It does however make great subject matter for my art. I love the resemblance that some of the prostate drinkers have to dead bodies…i guess that’s why they call it dead drunk. You can see the originals here….

sketch book project

I just added a new link to a very cool website/blog which is part of the Brooklyn Art library called, the sketchbook project. You can sign up to this and receive a sketchbook which is yours to fill in and send back. It is then put on display with all then other entries.  Not all the work is of the highest standard or skillfully executed, but it doesn’t matter, what is fascinating is the incredible diversity of the work on offer and how it offers a brief insight into a huge variety of different peoples lives. What a great idea and what an interesting archive for the future it will make.

Paris

My favourite pastime while traveling…and no better place to do it than the metro and cafes of Paris…I would have liked to have had the time to get a few street shots in….maybe next time….Looking at these has just made me realise again how closed and introspective most people look in large cities, especially on the subway or metro…or maybe its just the ones I pick on?

Leonie Hampton

Occasionally you come across another artist or photographer whose work just blows you away with its raw beauty and integrity. Leonie Hamptons photography is one example, thanks to Lyll at electriccityartlodge. Real people, ordinary lives, extraordinary images.

Faces

I spend a lot of time filling up my sketch books with character studies like these. Either directly from life wherever I happen to be, or if I’m stuck indoors then from the T.V. and newspapers. In the end there’s nothing more fascinating to draw than people….