Art in Focus: Treebeard

Throughout most of November and December I have been working on a top secret piece of artwork to be gifted to some of my oldest and best friends for Christmas. Now that the cats out of the bag and they have the piece I can talk a little more about it’s creation and concept!

As some may be aware, Tolkien is a absolutely huge influence on me, having visited some of his old haunts in Oxford, his grave and an exhibition at the Bodelian in 2018. The Hobbit is my favourite book of all time and I collect editions of Lord of the Rings (and almost anything Tolkien related) whenever possible. So it’s probably natural that at some point I did some Tolkien related art.

Many years ago I designed my half sleeve on the theme of ‘good and evil in Middle Earth’ (kindly tattooed by the super talented Nick Brinsley) and the main focus of this is my imagining of Treebeard, one of my favourite characters. (I always felt a huge affinity with Treebeard and probably wanted to be him more than any other character.)

Fast forward several years and me and good friends went to the Rodney Matthews exhibition Electric Rock near Birmingham to see many prints and originals on offer. My favourite was Rodney’s depiction of Treebeard (which I’ve been looking at in books since childhood). My friend ordered herself this print as she liked it so much. Little did I know she also ordered one for me and kept it safe over 9 months until my birthday! What a wonderful surprise, absolutely blew me away!

So, I got to thinking how I could express my gratitude and give a gift that really meant as much as some of the gifts she has given me over the years! So, I decided creating something was the only way.

I started doodling Treebeard in early November based on what I always saw reading the books (I refused to see Lord of the Rings until I had read the books, hence only seeing The Return of the King at the cinema). He closely resembles the Treebeard of my tattoo as this was also his basis. Just with rather a lot more moss, and of course mushrooms.
On my recent autumnal walks I took lots of photos of tree textures, lichen, moss and fungi to help as reference material.

Similarly to when putting together my tattoo design, Treebeard is imagined, but other elements are based on the depictions in the film. In my tattoo Sauron is based on Christopher Lees portrayal, the Orthanc and eye of Sauron also inspired by the film. Yet in the style of an illustration (in particular the way I tend to draw, which is not photorealism). Merry and Pippin who I chose to include in the painting are loosely based on the movie casting, with similar hair and clothes, but again, are an illustrative interpretation.

Creating the piece was a very enjoyable challenge. The knotwork in particular was infuriating! A very unforgiving art form! The piece consists of a complete pen layer (below) to build the depth of the piece, and then watercolour work to bring him truly to life. Interestingly this was the first piece I experimented in adding some metallic watercolour to bring out certain areas and give them a bit of pazazz. In total the piece took around 25 hours. As usual in the winter months the light is the biggest challenge to most creatives. Unfortunately I had to resort to doing the majority of the work under artificial light, which is never ideal, but I was happy with the results considering this.

I hope my friends are happy with their painting and enjoy it for many years to come!

The Alchemy Series

Recently I have been hard at work on the sometimes painfully detailed Alchemy series. While I think quite easily I could keep on going with this series and dreaming up more weird and wacky designs and picking even more of my favourite creatures to feature I decided to call a halt on it at 6, as its a nice round number and a number of different eco-systems and creatures have been covered.

Originally the Alchemy series was born out of the twisted take on the idea of being a creator. My idea of some ancient fellow using mysterious magic and methods long lost to modern man to create these curious creatures prevailed throughout the series and often led me to pursue some of the more bizarre creations nature has to offer. Each creature sits inert in the bottle of their birth, surveying their surroundings and place in the world. This mere man, a magician or a deity depending on your perspective, has unleashed these curious creatures upon us through the power of his alchemic practice. Does his ancient practice make him a god? Or are all those whose imagination knows no bounds capable of creation?

The series was a truly mammoth undertaking with over 130 hours work creating the final pieces and countless hours of photoshop work preparing them for print.

The Alchemy series is available to buy as a set of A4 prints, or individually, to check them out Click here!

Art in focus: 'The World'

In Tarot 'The World' signifies the end of life's journey. You have experienced what the world has to offer, you are wiser and more learned because of it. With the end of the great cycle of life comes fulfillment, achievement and understanding. Great satisfaction comes with following your path through life and upon completion, this eternal process begins anew.

From the earliest surviving Tarot through to popular modern day decks, such as Rider-Waite, the traditional imagery of 'The World' is largely unchanged. A dancing figure rejoices, surrounded by a wreath of thick foliage and in each corner a lion, bull, cherub and eagle reside, representing the four fixed signs of the zodiac, the four elements and the four suits of Tarot. The symbolism is complex, representing victory, achievement, infinity but also enlightenment.  

With 'The World' I took a very different approach to the imagery seen in most Tarot decks. I wanted to move away from traditional depictions and re-imagine 'The World', but maintain many of its key messages. I decided a logical option was to depict our world, earth, in its place within the universe, seen not from an insular point of view, but encompassing all.
The Earth is surrounded, almost cocooned and protected by Ouroboros - an ancient symbol, usually a snake or dragon eating its own tail. It represents the infinite and continual cycle of nature, of birth and death, of eternal renewal and the constant cycle of life. In my depiction of 'The World' the Ouroboros represents that not only the cycle of life all over the Earth, but across the universe.
I chose to include the Sun and the Moon, as the Earths celestial neighbours they are essential to our survival, providing warmth, light, fertility and tides to our planet. They are essential to our balance and place within the universe.
Surrounding the World are the constellations of the 12 signs of the zodiac. They surround the earth, signifying their relationship to the world and life, and the different qualities they bring to the world.
The infinite blackness of space is the canvas for our world, often feeling lonely and isolated, but also suggesting that in the infinite vastness of the universe, 'The World' may not be alone.

My version of  'The World' was not a difficult creation, mentally wrestled over and struggled with as art works often are. It simply leapt from my mind one day, virtually fully formed, and I had to race to scribble it down before it vanished as quickly as it had arrived. Those are often the artworks which feel most satisfying as an artist. Their creation and conception has felt like an effortless joy, so their completion often feels very rewarding and 'meant to be' in a strangely comforting sense.

Design work for 'The World' and a clearer view of the 12 zodiac constellations 

Reckless Love Jacket Replica

After a number of months I can finally say that the jacket commission which I have been working on is complete! The commission is one of the most detailed and specific projects which I have ever undertaken, and I'm pleased to say my client was happy with the end result.

My brief with this work was to create a replica of Olli Herman's jacket (of Finnish Glam Metal band Reckless Love). The client had specific details in mind which they wanted altering slightly, and some additional features such as logos adding. I created the custom piece using a combination of photos of the original jacket, the official band logo and sketches/diagrams indicating stud placement, numbers and configuration as reference material.

Creating the back piece involved several layers of air brushing, combined with controlled stippling and splashing. On top of this came hand painted layers of blocked in colours, line work and detailed fine logo work, all painted using a mixture of leather paint and Createx wicked colours. The artwork is sealed with layers of varnish to limit the effects of time on the creation. Across the jacket are small additional pieces of paintwork, as well as 438 studs of assorted shapes and sizes, each of which was applied to the jacket by hand.

Working to create this jacket replica has been a very rewarding, enjoyable challenge! Many many thanks to my client for giving me the opportunity to work on such a different project! Its been fab!

Jacket Comission Progress

The custom jacket painting which I am currently working on is progressing well. After several layers of Airbrushing, paint splattering and runs, the background is finally complete and work is progressing on forming the jackets centerpiece, the huge sugar skull. Below can be seen the progression of the jacket so far.