...the same car

The same car - just a fresh paint-job. It might not seem like a big deal but actually getting round to doing a painting rather than a drawing took quite a lot of effort. I'm pleased with the result and it's given me the confidence to take things a step further.

Scrap Yard

This piece has taken me ages to finish. I started it back in August and have only just completed it. I’ve done stuff between times but really this has been my main focus. It’s coloured pencil on paper – about 14 x 18cms. Very detailed, very controlled, very precise. The Friedrichstrasse photographs continue to offer up new perspectives.

Collage #2 - Dec 2011

A very small collage (on a postcard) - painting shapes with cut and torn elements from photos...

Collage - Dec 2011

Another scrap yard collage, the finished piece being constructed from an assembly of car parts.

Pile-up

Friedrichstrasse Column

The original Friedrichstrasse piece is a column of car bales and I thought that it would be interesting to take that primary form as the jumping-off point - retaining the style, medium and source images but imposing them upon this non-standard format.

Friedrichstrasse - gridlock

A detail from a larger piece - using squares from source photos to paint pixels.

Not very sucessful...

Collage...

Another Crash# Collage

So, still using the Friedrichsrasse piece as the inspiration and the starting point, I've used contemporary images, crushed, crashed and fragmented, to create the new image - re-cycling the scrap...

Crash #59 Collage

Friedrichstrasse - the series continues

Busy coupla weeks....

Collage

Still focused on the Friedrichstrasse series... This collage is

based on the same kind of image that I've been working with: crushed (or crashed) cars. The image here is created from photos I've taken of my current car - so a sense of identity, of connection.

Friedrichstrasse (aux une crayon)

Friedrichstrasse - Crash #3

It’s the engagement with the medium that is the reason and the essence of drawing. It's the pure delight of creation and construction – and I guess that that is what it’s all about. The day to day practice and involvement with these things. It can be a struggle and sometimes it can be pure pleasure - and although it's nice to have an audience and to know that people are looking at the pieces, that isn’t really what its all about – its about the struggle and the effort - seeing if you can make something relevant out of these chosen materials and resources.

Friedrichstrasse - Crash #2

The sculpture on Friedrichstrasse epitomises consumerism - cars are so readily disposed of, crushed and discarded. The detritus of modern life is here transformed into art.

Friedrichstrasse - Crash #1

I've just completed this new drawing and am really pleased with how it's turned out.

It's an attempt to blur the boundaries between my figurative work and the abstract - maintaining precision and control but focusing upon non-figurative subjects.