Who's Next?

I've finally hit upon a nice theme for my current run of paintings. I'd intended to do a series of British stereotypes but that was too wishy-washy a plan. But then, as I worked on the fisherman picture, it suddenly struck me that the fish looked more like pets than a catch. It looks like, out of shot, he's hugging them all together. They were ... The Fisherman's Friends! And suddenly I had my theme - popular British clichés, both as caricatures and the story of each painting. It was perfect.

So, the set now comprises The Fisherman's Friends, Vicars and Tarts and (with the addition of a couple of sprouts), Meat and Two Veg. See how it works?

So ... what next?

A Sniff of the Barmaid's Apron? 

Policemen are getting Younger?

Highland Fling?

Any ideas? Do leave a comment :)

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P.S. After I'd posted this, I suddenly realised that the first ever painting I ever did, back in 2010, was also a stereotype/cliché type affair. It was called North and South and it looked like this:

It was inspired by seeing two football fans shouting abuse at each other. What struck me as bizarre at the time was that they looked so similar - they could have been brothers (perhaps they were?). They were wearing different coloured football shirts; their team allegiance was the only difference between them. Had either of them been born in a slightly different part of London, they might have been best mates. It made me think about tribalism and there's no greater divide in London than that forced by the river Thames.

Interesting also to see how far my painting has come along in two and a half years. I was pretty bad, wasn't I? That's why I practice.

New Painting - Vicars and Tarts

Having my first work-free week in months this week, I thought I'd bang out a few new paintings - just for the practice. For some time I've been toying with the idea of doing a set of portraits of British stereotypes; the toothy vicar, the beefy butcher, the lusty landlady, the cheery chimneysweep etc. So I kicked off with the vicar, based on these doodles in one of my sketchbooks and with the old phrase 'Vicars and Tarts' in mind:

 

Here's how the painting developed on Day 1:

 

 

 

Overall, I was quite happy with the basic composition but I didn't like the blue of the sky and I really didn't like the vicar's smile. Things would have to change ...

 

 

So, on Day 2, I remodelled his mouth (much happier with it), painted the sky a much nicer blue and added a few marquees and some bunting to give the impression of a fete. And voila, I thought it was done:



Only ... it wasn't. The more I looked at it, the more I (a) didn't like the marquees, (b) didn't like the bunting, and (c) didn't like the shape of the vicar's body. So I painted out the tents and pennants, re-painted the sky, added a finger, and took out part of his body. Then I added a signpost, a sky-borne balloon, some more subtle bunting and a cheeky 'Darwin Fish' lapel badge. Then I realised that I'd done his dog collar wrong so I re-did that too. The final result looks like this:

It's a much better painting as the result. I really enjoyed this one. I stayed in the right frame of mind while painting by watching some classic old British comedies. On Day 1 I watched Kind Hearts and Coronets, The Titfield Thunderbolt and Two Way Stretch. On Day 2 it was The Wrong Arm of the Law, The Naked Truth and Hue and Cry.

Ripping stuff.