Old Drawings #61

Beyond Lemba (Charcoal, compressed charcoal on cartridge paper, 60 x 60 cms.)

This was the second large drawing I made based on the curious wall round the Cyprus College of Art. Things seemed to be going really well, I thought, and I continued with a second large painting of the same subject, working on it at the same time as the painting already posted here.



Beyond Lemba (Oil and collage on board, 60 x 48 ins)

"Great!" said the MA student in the adjoining studio. "You should try not to be simply The Man Who Paints Newcastle."

Ah, if only. Unfortunately, the market locally calls for paintings of Newcastle and until I can establish a greater presence outside the area, I may have to ensure the greater part of my output continues to be Tyneside oriented.

Old Drawings #60

Lemba (Charcoal, compressed charcoal on 60 x 60 cm cartridge paper)

This was the next drawing based on the wall at Lemba College of Art. I was getting quite excited about the turn my work had taken at this point and began to make plans to construct still life set-ups of random junk from which to make drawings.

Meanwhile, I started a painting based on this drawing. It drew no comment from any of the lecturers and as it was nearing the end of term, I think it was abandoned rather than finished (although not a lot more was planned on it).



Lemba (Oil and collage on board, 60 x 48 ins.)

Old Drawings #59

Small Lemba Drawing (Charcoal on cartridge paper)

Despite my reservations about the first trip to Cyprus, I returned to Paphos in 2000. I still didn't like it much, but a visit to the Cyprus College of Art at Lemba did pique my interest.

For some years the students at the College had been building and adding to a strange wall round the edge of the yard. Made of concrete, wire, bottles and general junk, it was a fascinating structure and it led me to produce some drawings. This was the first.

My interest was such that I immediately made this painting from the drawing. As was always the case at Uni, no one expressed any interest in either the painting or the drawing and I came to believe that it was in some way wrong.

Looking at it now, I realise that it was, as I secretly suspected then, an interesting direction I could have taken. Another nail in the coffin of my University course.



Organic Form, Lemba (Oil on blockboard, 21 x 22 ins)

Old Drawings #58

Collapsed Ceiling 2 (charcoal and pastel, A1 cartridge paper)

This drawing is so like the previous one that it seems daft to wait a while before posting it. Even now I'm surprised by how similar the two are.

I don't often follow up a charcoal drawing with one in pastel of the same subject, but this time I was trying to work out whether I wanted to make painting of it. I never did make up my mind and the painting didn't get made.

Old Drawings #56

Cypriot Depths (Charcoal on A1 cartridge paper) Private Collection

My eyes have been bothering me lately. My left eye, in particular, has been aching now and then and blurring occasionally, so I finally gave in and went to have them tested, the first time in 13 years. As I suspected, there's been some deterioration in my vision, especially in the left eye, so I'm on the point of biting the bullet and getting some glasses.

This puts me in the slightly worrying position of not knowing how it might affect my work, how I might cope with painting while wearing glasses and - as a friend asked - whether it might lead me into more detailed painting. I think the latter is unlikely, given that my earlier painting was less detailed years ago, when my eyesight was actually better. The more detailed approach in recent years is due to other factors and is something I keep under review.

All of this, together with some Spring cleaning and some minor work on the house has led to a pause in painting. So for now, here's a drawing done after my first visit to Cyprus in 1999. It's a view into and through an old building whose roof had collapsed, possibly as a result of shelling (it was near the demilitarised zone).

This is the painting that followed on from it. Both drawing and painting were completely ignored by the tutors at Uni, of course, but that was par for the course.


Into the Depths (Oil and collage on canvas, 36 x 36 ins)

Old Drawings #55

Snake Root (Charcoal, compressed charcoal on A1 cartridge paper)

This seemed an opportune moment to post the third and last of the Picton Root drawings, because I won't be able to post anything new for a short while. I'm off to Winchester for a few days, to have fun at Corflu, "the convention for SF fanzine fans". If you don't know what a science fiction fanzine fan is, don't worry about it.

As a parting shot, here's something I started last night. Can you tell what it is yet?

Old Drawings #53

Crustacean Root (Charcoal, compressed charcoal on A1 cartridge paper)

In 1999 I was doing research for my BA Dissertation on the Pembrokeshire landscapes of Graham Sutherland and in an effort to get first hand knowledge of the area that so inspired him, I took the opportunity of a stay in Swansea to go for the day to Picton Castle.

Everything I'd read told me that Sutherland had donated his considerable archive to Picton Castle in the form of the Graham and Kathleen Sutherland Foundation, so it came as a big disappointment when we got there to find that everything had been shipped off to Cardiff and the gallery space at the Castle was devoted to contemporary Welsh artists. Apparently funding for the Foundation had proved insufficient and all of Sutherland's papers, drawings, paintings had been lodged with the National Museum Wales.

But the trip wasn't wasted by any means. Before going back we had time to wander along the shores of the Eastern Cleddau where the shaly soil of the banks has fallen into the curious shapes that fascinated Sutherland and where the twisted roots of old oaks poke out into the air.

This drawing is one of three inspired by the roots of the Eastern Cleddau shore. Not done in a terribly Sutherland manner, but they are important to me. As each of them developed, accidental effects made them take on individual characteristics that the original roots didn't obviously possess. This one, for instance began to take on the look (at least to me) of some kind of lobster or other crustacean. These drawings represent an approach not yet explored but waiting for the time to be right.

Just to round this story off, I did get to see the Sutherland Archive in Cardiff. It was unbelievably thrilling to be able to sift through his sketchbooks, squared-up photographs, watercolours, prints and paintings. Definitely a trip to remember.

Old Drawings #50

Collingwood Monument (Charcoal, compressed charcoal on A4 cartridge paper)

I seem very susceptible to the kind of cold that imparts an endless hacking cough. I collected one from Tesco just over a week ago and it's been wearing me down ever since. 24 hour coughing is very debilitating, and I've had no energy to pick up any of the threads I was working on previously, or to make a start on some new projects I have in mind.

Bear with me? There are, after all, Old Drawings to keep things going. This is another from that lonely walk in 1998 from Seaton Sluice to Tynemouth that resulted in the Seaside Shelter drawing.

Old Drawings #49

Seaside Shelter (Charcoal, compressed charcoal on A4 cartridge)

I'm still distracted by various things, so no new painting to show.

On one of many lonely days in the studio at Uni late in 1998, I decided to take the Metro down to the Coast and look for inspiration. It was a cold but sunny day and I walked down the almost deserted beach from Seaton Sluice to Tynemouth. This is one of the drawings that resulted.

Later, I used it to make this painting:



Shelter (oil on canvas, 24 x 24ins)

Old Drawings #48

Saltwell Park "Frying Pan"
(Charcoal, compressed charcoal on cartridge paper, 16.5 x 23 ins)

I've always liked this view - I've drawn it several times over the years and even started a small painting which failed to take off.

Saltwell Towers and its grounds, which lie at the heart of Saltwell Park, are surrounded by low walls and walkways and every now and then there's a little turret. These used to have nice wooden seats in them but seats always offend the loutish section of society, so they aren't there now. When I was a kid, I always called these turrets "the frying pans".

Old Drawings #47

Steps by Saltwell Towers
(Charcoal, compressed charcoal on cartridge paper, 16.5 x 23 ins)

Walking down the path in the previous Old Drawing, you come to this set of steps next to the Towers. The Towers building at the time was hidden behind the dilapidated fence at the right, with many Danger - Keep Out - Falling Masonry signs.

Old Drawings #46

Saltwell Park - By the Towers.
(Charcoal, compressed charcoal on cartridge paper; 19 x 33 ins)

In 1998 I began to think about drawing the countryside rather than the town. I don't live in the countryside, however, so I decided the next best thing might be the local park. Saltwell Park at the time had been in decline for some years and the once splendid Saltwell Towers was nearing collapse. The Towers are that gloomy bulk at the right of the drawing.

I'm delighted to say that with a Government grant, the Park has since been restored to its former Victorian splendour and won an award as Britain's Best Park in 2005

Old Drawings #45

Drury Lane Fire Escapes (Charcoal on A2 cartridge paper)

I seem to be unable to get down to some work at the moment. I spent today with friends, looking at the Red Box and Guildhall shows, but I didn't come away with a burning need to get back in the studio, as sometimes happens.

So for now, let's carry on with the last of the Drawing for Sculpture drawings. There was one other, also done in Drury Lane (it's a lane in Newcastle, not London); a much better drawing, I believe, but one which I sold without taking a photograph of it. Foolish.

Old Drawings #44

Central Motorway (Charcoal on A2 cartridge paper)

Another in the University Drawing for Sculpture series. I took my life in my hands and climbed over a railing to get right next to the motorway. If there's a more hurried look to this drawing, put it down to freezing wind, cars and lorries rushing by only feet away and really horrible fumes. I didn't stay long.

Old Drawings #43

Processional Way, Civic Centre (charcoal on A2 cartridge paper)

I'm full of cold at the moment and struggling to complete my end of year accounts, so only time to post another in the Old Drawings series.

This is the third of those I did for the Drawing for Sculpture project in 1997. It's a drawing of part of the Processional Way leading into Newcastle's Civic Centre and shows an ornate bronze screen which proved a bugger to draw with wind-frozen fingers.

Old Drawings #42

Pilgrim Street car park (charcoal on A2 cartridge paper)

Another of the Drawing for Sculpture pieces from 1997. Brings back memories of a cold and windy October.

Old Drawings #41

Car Park Steps (Charcoal, compressed charcoal on A2 cartridge paper)

As I'm still in Sorting Out mode, I'm not getting anything done to show you, so I may have to resort to showing Old Drawings for a while. Not such a bad thing, as we've reached the point in 1997 where I went to Newcastle University to start my BA (Hons) in Fine Art. As a result, there are quite a few drawings from that period.

The course was a four year course (rather on the model of the Scottish art colleges) and the first year was designed to bring everyone up to a similar level of ability. There were periods of drawing, sculpture and printmaking and this first exercise sent us out into town to make drawings of urban architecture, with a view to making sculpture based on the drawings.

This is the first I did.

Old Drawings #40

Gallowgate (charcoal, compressed charcoal on cartridge paper)

This must have been one of the last drawings I did before starting my BA (Hons) course at Newcastle University in 1997. The quality of the photograph is a little compromised because the drawing was sold and is now under glass, so the image has been Photoshopped to try to remove excessive glare.

In the background of the drawing is the Newcastle Brewery, which dominated the Gallowgate area of Newcastle for many years, but which was demolished in 2008.

Old Drawings #39

Sunday Market (charcoal on A2 cartridge paper)


Sunday Market (collage with some paint, on cartridge paper)

Dating from 1996, the drawing is a view from the Tyne Bridge of some of the stalls on Newcastle's Quayside. Unusually, I followed it quite quickly with a rare collage.

Even more unusually (I was really keen to try out different approaches in the year before I realised I could go to Uni), I followed up the drawing and the collage with this painting:


Quayside Market 1996 (oil on board, 24 x 24 ins)

Old Drawings #37

Ammonite Wall (Charcoal, coloured Conte, on A1 cartridge)

There are so many things needing my attention at the moment, that posting an Old Drawing seems the best way to keep blogging.

I found this wall in 1996 in Lyme Regis, a town famous for its fossils. I liked the vertical arrangement so much, I had to do a drawing.