Some recent paintings - which really started whilst I was whiling away some time and trying to copy, in watercolour, a photograph of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.  A voice nearby said - 'That's amazing!'  After I realised she was talking about my work, and I got off from the floor....(only joking!) - we agreed that I should do a portrait of her granddaughter, and luckily there was a good photo on a mobile phone....

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See opposite for the portrait that I did in acrylics on canvas, which was well received....

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My next foray into the world of doing portraits for people was after taking a photograph of Wendy, a very community minded person in the Stonehouse area of Plymouth.  I wanted  to get the light coming in from the left, as is the case in many traditional portraits, so I took photos near the door, but the contrast was perhaps a bit too much, and that brought some challenges.  Also, Wendy turned out to be a fan of the painter Gustav Klimt, and so I tried to get some gold effects in the painting, as well as trying to symbolise something of her personality....

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My next portrait took some to finish as there seemed to be a lot going on for me at the time.  Although Paula had a lot of images on Facebook, I also took some photos from when she sang and played guitar to a small audience at the Clipper, on Union Street, Plymouth.  Of those, only a few showed her in between playing, and I thought one of these, with her in a contemplative/quiet mood, was a good one to work from.  I've accumulated quite a few things that can be glued onto a painting, and these together with a representation of the earth in the sky, make for some symbolism.  See if you can work out what that is, and what kind of person she is!

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Something I have done recently is to try to copy an old watercolour entitled 'The Pilot' by William Wainwright and painted in 1884.

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I think it's quite good, but I think the amazing thing is the quality of the watercolour - which looks like it was done in oils.  I am convinced that the watercolourists of old had techniques and skills that it's very difficult to reproduce nowadays.

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A recent painting was to express thanks to a woman who had helped me a lot in the Vashti Vincent project and who liked to have paintings and other items that were dedicated to hippopotamuses.  This watercolour is named 'Hippopotamus in love'. 

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Recently, I was asked if I could produce a very large portrait of Bob Marley for a local café owner. I found a very dramatic image on the web, and had a grey and white copy printed onto a large piece of canvas, so that I could paint over the top.  I added colours that related to Rastafarianism, and gold paint in his hair.  It can be seen in a restaurant on the Octagon on Union St, in Plymouth.

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