Notes from the sketch book

It's been some time since I've scribbled in my sketchbook. April's arrival marks a quarter of the year gone by, prompting a moment to reflect on the studio's journey thus far. January began at a leisurely pace, following a bustling December filled with completed commissions. Midway through the month, I wrapped up a new pop art piece titled "Jumping on the Steamboat." Crafting works that blend painting with street art demands time and patience, unlike the swift turnaround of ink commissions. With other mediums, I find myself picking up and setting aside projects multiple times before completion. Indeed, the completion...

  I recently picked up a set of gelli plates and although I have dabbled a tiny bit in other printing methods such as linocut, I'm somewhat addicted to all things Gelli. Its quite infuriating to begin with as over the course of a weekend I was surrounded by a dark painted mess of failed prints. Eventually you get the hang of it, everything has to be just right. The right initial image, the right Gel surface, the right amount of acrylic paint, the right "push" pressure , the right length of time until a pull, so on and so...

Shawn Martinbrough When I first started to draw again after decades I bought a few books for reference. One of those I picked up was a copy of How to Draw Noir Comics by Shawn Martinbrough. I did this not because I was venturing into comic book illustration but as a self taught artist I'm usually fumbling about without having the knowledge or techniques to fall back on. This results in a tendency to venture down a few deadends due to not planning or being able to “rescue” some of my work. Working with a lot of inks and mainly...

Quentin Blake (Quentin Blake: my sketch of the great man, himself) The visit to the Quentin Blake exhibition at the end of last year was a genuine immersion into the art that I loved when I was younger. Stepping into the gallery, I found myself surrounded by a small but amazing collection of imagination and ink. Learning about Blake's creative process, from the initial sketches to the final strokes, added a layer of appreciation to each whimsical creation. Standing in the presence of the original illustrations felt like discovering the heartbeat of the stories – the characters I grew up...

Under pressure after the critical success of Fargo but given a free hand for their next film the Coen Brothers decided to make a Raymond Chandler mystery, but with pot, milky cocktails and bowling. In the "The Big Lebowski," The Dude, effortlessly portrayed by Jeff Bridges, is the film's core. Here, I find myself captivated by the Dude's nonchalant coolness, a throwback to a bygone era tinged with the idealism of student protests and dreams of societal transformation. The Dude, now weathered and wiser, navigates the urban landscape in his weather-beaten car, paying for life's essentials including a 69cent bottle...