Tempus fugit

Busy as ever again which is a good thing. Today I am drawing for 'Boots' the Chemist at their offices in Feltham, London. Feltham is just south of Heathrow airport and I have a 2 hour train journey.

Two weddings over the weekend to draw for and the rest of August is looking pretty full. I am looking forward to my holiday in October!

Next week I have 5 weddings to draw at!

We are in the early stages of planning a trip to Orlando in 2010. More about it in the coming months, as we firm up ideas.

Enjoy your weekend!

Artist to check out

C.F.Payne is an artist of amazing talent. An American artist who combines caricature in varying degree's of his work, you would have seen his paintings in Reader's Digest & Time magazine without realising it! He has completed many other outstanding commissions as well.

Check his website out for more information and to view examples of his wonderful work.

Click Here

....and by the way, I am very lucky to own an original painting by C.F.Payne that I purchased at auction from the ISCA 2007 banquet fund raiser! It has pride of place in my studio.

This mornings job

Completed for a client this morning...

Crazy?

Both my professional life and home life at this moment in time are very busy and what feels like, craziness! I really hate missing my blog post commitment but when time is such a precious commodity, I have to to put things in priority.

For example, not only do I draw but I handle daily enquiries for my services both via email and the telephone, which has the tendency to ring off the hook when I am trying to get some work done on my computer! It is a problem that I do not really mind as it is better than sitting here with nothing to do and willing the phone to ring!

But along with that, I have my family and my role as husband and father to add to the daily going's on as well the needs of my wife's mother who we help care for. Again, I am not complaining. It just is always a busy household.

What I sometimes struggle with is when I am drawing at a wedding, people ask me a question, one that is often repeated night after night, and that question is, "What do you do during the week?"

When I am asked that question it makes me stop and realise what I haven't done during the week!

So when it come to my blog, I am always trying to post topics of interest and examples of my art. When I am unable to do that I feel like I have let my readers and myself down.

July and August are very busy times with weddings and corporate events, so at the moment I am struggling to post any good stuff.

Yesterday we took my son and his friend to London Heathrow to see them off for their USA month long holiday, well deserved after graduating together at University. Then I had emails to sort and enquiries to answer, plus some telephone calls to make to clients.

Today I am drawing at the Essex University in Colchester, then tomorrow I have a gift commission to get done, Thursday I am drawing in London at lunch time and then again locally in the evening. Friday I am drawing for Boots the chemist and then a wedding on Saturday and Sunday evening!

Phew!

BUSY BUSY!

Sorry I have not put something up today. Very busy with weddings and events this weekend.

Have a good weekend while I am scribbling away entertaining people!

Latest commission

Completed this last night during the hours of 10.30pm and 11.30pm.... VERY busy at the moment with live events/weddings and commissions.... day off on Sunday!

Looney Tunes!

My favorite cartoons are Looney Tunes and one of my fav characters is Marvin the Martian!

The Looney Tunes art is amazing and very worthwhile taking a closer look at!

Full steam ahead..

As busy as ever with commissions rolling in almost everyday! Above is just a few of the recent 'batch'..!

It is good to know that the website is working so that people are finding it and placing their orders there. It also tells me that my pricing is about right and that is good!

Vegas spectacular night!

If your Essex based this is a show not to be missed!

Get your tickets NOW!

Danny has appeared on television many times and has worked alongside some of the big names in show business!

I shall be there enjoying the show with my wife, hope to see you there!

Oh and by the way, Danny is a family member of mine so yes I am biased but Danny is a fantastic entertainer!

This mornings work!

Completed this morning for my client who is a Rangers FC fan!

Wedding fun

Last night I was drawing at a wedding and everyone loved their caricatures. I had a que of guests all evening waiting their turn to be drawn and it was great fun as people got involved by calling out and laughing as the face appeared before their eyes, the person in the chair (the subject or victim) would gauge at how funny the drawing was by how much laughter was coming from those standing behind me watching the drawing progress!

The suddenly a guy came over and said hello, it was a previous client of mine who I had drawn for at his 40th Birthday party. He was a guest at the wedding and it was a nice surprise for the two of us!

I like it when that happens!

Having fun for the guests is one of the key aspects of my services that I always try to deliver. I want them to enjoy much more than just getting a drawing. I want them to have a fun experience of the whole aspect to me sitting there and drawing people. It gives them so much more and also adds so much more to the evening reception for the bride & groom.

Often I receive heart felt thanks at the end from the bride & groom for entertaining at their wedding.

Tonight I am in London, not far from Golders Green, entertaining at a 50th Wedding Anniversary. Should be fun!

My photography

Photography is a hobby for me and I love shooting pictures and then having fun with them in photoshop, cropping and messing about with so many of the functions that photoshop offers!

Above is a shot from my trip last year to Malta, I changed the colour photo into black and white and I am pleased with the result!

Click on image to view full size

Kitten art

This is a piece I did yesterday in photoshop, a cute little kitten. Hope you like it!

Click on the image to view full size.

You can get a full size high resolution copy (copyright text removed) of this kitten for your computer/to print off for just £1, simply click on the paypal button to buy now and then the kitten is emailed to you within 24 hours or less!

Celebrity sketch

This is the celebrity hunk, Agim Kaba

Last week on the river cruise

We had a great time last week on the River Thames cruise that was hired out for a corporate event. The company was celebrating their 21st Anniversary in business and had invited customer both old and new.

It was a lot of fun drawing people and after they had had a couple of drinks I was in great demand and tried my best to get as many drawn as possible!

The client emailed me today with these pictures of my old mug in action and also said that it was a success with some very good feedback.

That is wonderful to hear!

Reading for a change!

Yes today I received a book I ordered from Amazon.

I am almost finished and it is a great read that I can highly recommend to everyone!

Here is the website for the book - click here

Last one of the series!

Yes this is the last one of the current series of commissions I have been working on for my client!

The journey

Art is like a journey. Both for an artist and also the person viewing art.

When you can approach art in this manner, to understand that over time you will grow with your knowledge and appreciation for art, you will find even greater beauty in art.

For anyone learning how to draw and paint a journey is something they should be prepared to under take.

It rarely comes overnight like a flash, an artist has to learn and take time to grow and apply the skills and techniques that allows them to produce their art.

So if you are trying to improve your own art, remember it is a journey and allow that to be your fall back when things seem difficult and a challenge. Give it time, practice and experiment everyday.

The journey never ends, it just becomes more interesting as we move along.

I am at just the beginning myself and look forward to how my journey shall develop and present itself as I draw and paint more each day!

Weekend special

Today I have two weddings to draw at, one this afternoon and then after that, straight onto the next one for this evening!

Tomorrow is my daughters 17th birthday and she also has her final keyboard exam during the morning of her birthday, so I hope she passes with flying colours!

We are then going out to dinner in the early evening to celebrate her special day!

On Monday I shall be drawing the last in the current series of my commission that I have been sharing with you and will post that up as soon as its finished during the course of Monday!

Busy bee

Still busy with weddings and other stuff to do with drawing live!

Last night I was drawing on a Thames Cruise ship for a client and we had lots of fun and everyone was really pleased with their caricatures!

I have a wedding tonight and then two tomorrow to draw at. Hoping the weather holds out for tomorrow afternoon as we are scheduled to be outside!

Please remember that my Michael Jackson tribute art is available to buy for just £1.99 (approx $3) and do tell your friends and family if they are fans of MJ and would like this exclusive tribute to add to their collections.

Click here to visit my main website page that has the exclusive offer available

Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by!

Busy!

Sorry for the lack of post today, busy as usual and I'm off out right now to get to London to draw for a client on a Thames cruise they have booked for their customers!

more commission

Another few in the series..... great fun putting these together!

MICHAEL JACKSON EXCLUSIVE!

I have made a tribute to Michael Jackson which you can enjoy buy purchasing a copy of the high resolution jpg file. The file is emailed to upon purchase via paypal.

The high resolution file has the copyright words removed and is intended for personal use ONLY!

It costs just £1.99 to purchase the tribute

Please click here to get to my page where you can place your order

rush rush...

We had a wonderful day in Belgium yesterday, visiting Jan & Emi OpDeBeeck and their 11 day old daughter, Sakura who is beautiful and a real cutie!

My new printer has arrived but fist I have some commissions to get on with then I shall post some more later...

Online friends

The internet is great to allow people to connect without ever meeting in person. I have many such friends and one dream I have is to meet them all over the course of my life!

One such person is Dennis who is a very cool photographer!

Check out his site here

Another wedding tonight to draw at and then tomorrow, my wife and I are off to Belgium for the day to visit our very dear friends Jan & Emi OpdeBeeck and their newly born daughter, Sakura. We can't wait to be with them and to catch up and meet Sakura for the first time!

Printer on its way!

Yes I have ordered my new printer and selected the Epson R2880.

I ordered it from Amazon for the total price of £529 delivered.

It should arrive early next week and then I have the fun of setting it up. The results should be very spectacular and I can't wait to print off some of my photography & art

My current Epson photo stylus 1290 A3 is available for purchase, it is in working order and would suit someone looking for an A3 printer at a very reasonable price.

I am asking £100 for it, buyer collects, and it is also has 2 black ink cartridges with it as well. Good value for money!

So contact me if you are in the market for an A3 printer!

Phone me on 0796 000 6799 if you would like to know more about the printer or make the purchase.

Current job

Have a total of 9 of these to do and have 5 completed so far, shall finish the last 3 today!

Michael Jackson caricature

A new Michael Jackson Caricature I have put together this week. The news is still full of information about him and all that is happening during this time before he laid to rest. Not sure if that is a good thing or not?

The pet dog project

Meet 'Drummer' who is the dog portrait commission that I have on the 'do to' list for the next couple of weeks.

He is a beautiful dog and I am looking forward to drawing and painting him in photoshop.

I shall be putting the picture together with his full body in the centre and around a few close up head drawings to show his character. I hope it will look great and that the client and everyone else will love what I come up with!