My Methods

I make all of the canvases myself, with a bit of help from my wife. I didn’t do this sort of thing at college or university, so I just use my own technique.

I mitre the ends of the wood and then screw on L-shaped metal brackets to hold it all together. Next, I use wood glue and filler to make the frame secure and smooth. Using calico as the fabric, I stretch it tight and my wife hammers in tacks to hold it in place.

This is the theory. In actuality, I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not much of a craftsman. Despite the fact that I measure all the angles with a T-square and saw fairly carefully, I almost never get a square frame. It often seems to go really well, but when I take a step back to look at the final undercoated result, I see it for the wonky monstrosity that it really is. Some of my paintings (Born to Skid is good example) are breathtakingly rhomboid. It doesn’t really bother me, and fortunately some people find it charming. Due to technical restrictions all of my paintings are cropped square on this site.

As for the painting process itself, this is done in an organic manner. Despite what the blocks of colour and sharp(ish) black outlines might suggest, my paintings start out very rough and then tighten up. A bit like a photo coming into focus. I certainly don’t draw out a finished outline and then fill in the gaps with colour.

I do a rough drawing or two in my sketchbook to plan out what I am going to paint, but these are very loose and small. Next, I sketch it out in pencil on the undercoated canvas and rough it out in black paint. When I think I’ve got the composition sorted I block in the large areas of colour. Next, I start refining down the lines, painting into the boundaries each side of the black to get a thinner, more elegant shape.

Mostly, I use household emulsion tester pots for paint as they are cheap and a good way to get a flat, even colour. If the shade isn’t right, then I stir in acrylic. The quality of the paints can vary; some are really nice and opaque, others are watery and translucent. If a colour I require is thin, then I have to use lots of coats, especially if I’m painting over a previous section.

Because of my lack of planning, it takes a lot longer than you might think to complete my paintings. Sometimes I totally change the colours and have to re-do it all. This is a pain when I’ve already done a load of lettering and I have to paint up to the letter edges and fill in the counters (holes). Likewise, if a picture doesn’t look right I re-paint the lines or move things around. Because of this, my paintings tend to be rather textured. If you look from the correct angle you can see where the old outlines used to be.