Published inCounter Arts·PinnedMember-onlyNude Portrait CommissionsWhat to expect when you pose for a nude portrait — After practising life drawing for over forty years, I had long been frustrated that I had been unable to sell many of my drawings. Despite advertising my work, exhibiting in galleries and establishing an online presence, I had only ever sold a handful from my extensive back-catalogue of work. I…Nude Portraits8 min readNude Portraits8 min read
Published inCounter Arts·Nov 10Member-only5 Nudes: Olja 2Five more life drawings of one model — I’ve drawn the Polish model Olja many times and been inspired all of those times by her professionalism, litheness and imagination. Not to mention her hair, which is worth the entrance fee on its own. …Nude Female7 min readNude Female7 min read
Published inCounter Arts·Nov 1Member-onlyAnother 5 Nude FemalesFive life drawings of female models — With hundreds of drawings and paintings of nude women to choose from, it was quite a task to choose five I felt were worth including more than any of the others. Since the first article was published and was well received (to date 3.3K reads from 7.7K views) I subsequently…Nude6 min readNude6 min read
Published inEllemeno·Oct 31Member-onlyDream StateNostalgia for an age yet to come — I’ve lived whole decades in my head on my daily walk to work. Imagined a range of scenarios of where my life will take me. I never think about what’s gone before, preferring to concentrate on what is to come. Along the way I wonder, how long have I got? …Daydreaming3 min readDaydreaming3 min read
Published inCounter Arts·Oct 18Member-onlyKhadiMy love affair with paper — Ah, Khadi. I can’t recall exactly when I first came across the sumptuously bound sketch pads that captured my heart. But for at least the last sixteen years, I have been truly, madly, deeply in love with their soft, satisfying cotton rag hearts. A blank sheet of paper is often…Paper4 min readPaper4 min read
Published inMorning Musings Magazine·Oct 10Member-onlyAmbition is criticalA critique of my ambitions, in roughly chronological order. It was once my ambition to: be mammy’s little chocolate pudding (achieved); be daddy’s best boy (achieved); have a dog called Beano (achieved); go to the cinema (achieved); make models like Uncle Ralph (achieved); be a soldier (thwarted); be a jet…Ambition3 min readAmbition3 min read
Published inMorning Musings Magazine·Sep 29Member-onlyDarknessThe abiding memory is of darknessPoem1 min readPoem1 min read
Published inCounter Arts·Jul 24Member-only5 Nudes: Chairs MissingFive life drawings on a theme — I hate props in a life drawing session. By ‘props’, I mean anything that is not a part of the body, and effectively distracts me or detracts from the pose. I have variously been afflicted by models wearing pieces of clothing, sunglasses or masks; models holding wine glasses, umbrellas or…Nude Art6 min readNude Art6 min read
Published inEllemeno·Jul 10Member-only5 Nudes: ElenaFive life drawings of one model — I’ve been umming and ahhing over including Elena in this series for a while now. The reason? After four years of intermittently drawing her I still don’t feel I’ve done her justice. The little I know about Elena is that she is German, elusive, erudite and intelligent, and is a…Nude Female6 min readNude Female6 min read
Published inCounter Arts·Jun 23Member-only5 Nudes: SarahFive life drawings of one model — Sarah came to us from the US, a research student at the time looking for a little extra income. She initially seemed shy and unsure but, as is often the case, quickly relaxed into the task, and became a regular member of the modelling cohort. The Print Workshop in Swansea…Life Drawing6 min readLife Drawing6 min read
