An iPad sketch in Procreate of a bird drawn from the imagination. I’ve given it a hornbill-like bill, so I suppose it’s a hornbill.
I like the dramatic effect of using strong areas of black with smaller areas of colour.
I’ve deliberately avoided giving the bird an obvious eye.
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A sketch from the imagination depicting a ship with legs.
The ship looks as though it may be based on a historical wooden sailing ship. The masts resemble crosses for some reason, each having only one horizontal member (or yard). This is probably just for simplification and clarity (and laziness) rather than it being some sort of profound allusion to Christianity. Feel free to find a profound allusion though. The legs are very long and spindly, which is probably linked to the long-legged surreal birds that I’ve drawn on and off over the years, starting about fifty years ago in the 1970s.
The sketch was drawn on an iPad in Procreate. I see from the metadata that it’s got 318 strokes and it took 12 minutes.
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An abstract image created using Procreate on an iPad
The black spheroid forms seem to be holding the smaller red spherical form in suspension between them. The proximity of the black spheres gives the small gap between them the feeling of some form of concentrated energy.
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A geometric abstract painting produced using Procreate on an iPad with an Apple Pencil. This is a particularly useful way to create artwork, as the combination of tools lend themselves to particularly intuitive and spontaneous creations.
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A quick sketch from the imagination drawn using Procreate on an iPad with an Apple Pencil.
I find that drawing quick sketches with no particular end in mind is an excellent way to open up to new possibilities. Obviously the same themes and styles keep cropping up, but often with minor variations that move the sketches off into different and new directions. That’s the nature of evolution of course – small changes over time gradually end up creating something new.
I’ve drawn quite a few sketches of people or strange creatures that seem to have a wheel instead of legs. Haven’t managed to work out why yet.
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A digital sketch of a person on stilts. The stilts have wheels.
Stilt walkers have been an occasionally recurring theme in my work since about 1975.
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A bizarre sea creature created digitally in Procreate on an iPad. The shape of the sea creature is based on the number six, as the image was created as part of an exercise in which I sketched several images on my iPad based on the numbers between zero and nine. The concept behind the exercise was that by having to take into account the restraints of including a number in each image I would be forced to work with forms or shapes that I might not think up straight from my imagination.
When creating the sketch I was attempting to produce a bizarre, weird and sinister image. The result looks as though it owes a debt to surrealism, dada and the symbolists.
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A monochrome sketch, created using Procreate on an iPad, depicting a striding figure.
The work is from the imagination and was created spontaneously with no specific concept in mind.
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Titled Number Two in a Series, this is part of a series of prints based on images of numbers drawn in Procreate on an iPad.
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This is an example of digital abstract art, created in Procreate on an iPad using an Apple Pencil.
The brushes in software such as Procreate and Adobe Fresco are getting better all the time, allowing for much more spontaneous and expressive work than was ever possible in the past. The expressiveness of the medium is now such that I think that the results can legitimately be classed as paintings rather than just digital art.
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A quick sketch of a man on stilts. He has a stilt fastened to each leg and is holding two further stilts.
I’ve been drawing people on stilts on and off for a long time. I think my first one was about fifty years ago.
It’s drawn on an iPad.
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A digital sketch or painting that reflects my concerns about environmental issues, showing a watch sinking in a stormy sea.
The watch or clock is a metaphor for time (as usual). The watch is being buffeted by a stormy sea and is in the process of sinking. The sea is a metaphor for climate change, global warming and other environmental concerns, both generally and specifically as they apply to the sea. The fact that the clock or watch is sinking is a sign that we are running out of time. The clock is not just a metaphor for time, it is also a metaphor for civilisation and the technology on which we rely ( A clock being an elaborate piece of highly sophisticated engineering). The fact that it is impossible for a watch to float in the first place may be a factor to consider too.
The theme of this sketch reflects my interest in creating environmental art because of my concerns about the state of the planet due to climate change, environmental degradation and other aspects of environmentalism (which has been a concern of mine since the 1960s).
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