23rd April is St George’s Day. One of my more unusual paintings of Newcastle is this one of the War Memorial in Old Eldon Square. It depicts St George slaying the dragon. The painting is set against the backdrop of a winter sky, indicating the bleakness of war. The inscription of “Peace” is a […]
God’s Son had taken the punishment that I deserved on the cross 2000 years ago.
Magnetic Bookmarks are not wildly available even though they are very practical. How many of us use bookmarks made from bus tickets, business cards or scraps of paper which easily fall out. Magnetic Bookmarks are much more practical as they clip onto the page you are up to without there being any danger of slipping […]
Yesterday I finished yet another Moleskine sketchbook by making some further studies of the portrait work by John Singer Sargent. I’m a great fan of the Moleskine brand and have a growing collection of notebooks, sketchbooks and journals filled with important notes, studies, ideas and thoughts that are documenting my humble career. The drawing on […]
Newcastle upon Tyne is full of architectural treasures, one of which is the Central Arcade, a stunning Edwardian shopping arcade built in 1906 within the Central Exchange, a triangular building built by Richard Grainger in 1836-1838 to the designs of John Wardle and George Walker. I’ve painted the outside of the building on many occasions […]
Prints of the Theatre Royal in Newcastle are always popular. I’ve seen very few artists paint it at night which is when most theatre lovers see it. Artificial light is not easy to capture convincingly in paint, particularly in watercolour. However, this scene has worked well. The key is keeping the palate simple and the […]
Paintings of Newcastle The popularity of my limited edition prints is partially down to the fact that I usually include figures in the paintings. This helps to bring the painting to life. Over the years I spent considerable time observing people going about their daily business in cities. Some of my favourite cities are Newcastle upon […]
In one of my recent blog posts I talked about a commission I received when I first went full time as an artist. This was back in 1984 at the age of 22. It was to do two watercolours of the River Tyne near North Shields for a leading North East businessman. He wanted me […]
Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne is full of architectural treasures, one of which is the Central Arcade. It’s a stunning Edwardian shopping arcade built in 1906 within the Central Exchange. Built by Richard Grainger in 1836-1838 to the designs of John Wardle and George Walker, it’s a triangular building. I’ve painted the outside of the […]
My first exhibition over 30 years ago when I was an art student. I have regularly painted specific scenes for my clients. The subjects have varied considerably and have ranged from landscapes to cityscapes, sailing ships to aircraft, even red blood cells to pets! There have been many occassions when my clients have asked me […]