Biographical Information:
I was born in London and lived there for 30 years. Growing up, influenced by my father’s interest in The American Civil War era and my love of shows such as The Virginian and Rawhide, the American West made an indelible impression on me and the subject of my earliest drawings. That interest continued into my teens as I became aware of the films of, among others, Sergio Leone. I was fascinated by this less traditionally romantic view of the west and instead seduced by the characters, dry landscapes and border towns which formed the backdrop to so many classics.
Despite receiving no formal education my growing abilities artistically and my interest in film brought me to the world of film posters in 1984. During my most impressionable years it was the larger than life imagery of Bob Peak, Drew Struzan and Howard Terpning used to advertise movies piqued my interest professionally. My first job was at a film poster studio in London, my first job being concepts for the Steve Martin/Lily Tomlin movie All Of Me for Thorn EMI (cant believe that was over forty years ago!) I came to Los Angeles in 1986 and was fortunate enough to find people both welcoming but, not being legal to work, returned to the UK. I spent several years illustrating book covers for romances, thrillers, "steamy" paperbacks also painting the European VHS covers for the first release of Manga's Guyver series. In 1996 was offered a position in LA at a studio illustrating for educational computer programs, toys packaging including many illustrations for Playmates WWE series (WWF then), Zorro & chocolate-covered macadamia nuts! After almost three years of working there I started freelancing and, in addition to continuing with toy packaging projects, I found work producing sketch concepts for TV and Movie posters in an industry that was vastly different than my experience in the mid-80s. Illustration was seen as "old-fashioned" BUT the skill of drawing was still needed to visualize and put flesh on the bones of the ideas of art directors. I was able to work on Band Of Brothers as my first job for HBO on a multitude of projects from The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, The Wire, Carnivale, Deadwood etc. to Tomb Raider, Star Trek(s) Listing the movies and shows I’ve worked on seems overkill but I have worked on many many projects, a few recent(ish) highlights of course are the Deadpool series thanks to Ryan Reynolds for whom I’ve painted illustrations for all three films (three for the second movie) which then led to illustrations for Free Guy and The Adam Project.
In 2008 I began producing paintings focusing on the Mexican and buffalo soldiers. In both cases it was not only a personal fascination with these generally unspoken histories but the fact that visiting the various art shows and galleries I found no depictions of these stories. The Autry was a fundamental inspiration: When I first visited the museum it was during the Masters' show and I subsequently became a member. The Revolution was captured at the time through photography and I was interested in depicting these events had they occurred sixty years earlier when they would have been portrayed through paintings. The overriding intention was to bring both dignity to the men and women who took part and an element of romanticism and colour to their struggle.
In the case of the Buffalo Soldiers once again my intention was to create positive images of a period largely forgotten when after the Civil War black cavalry regiments were formed and tasked with “taming” the west, again with the desire to present the subject with dignity as a tribute to their bravery that earned them the nickname from the native Americans. Neither series of paintings was undertaken with the intention of saying this was more important history nor to "replace" but to hopefully appear alongside. Sadly neither the Autry nor the California Art Club had an interest in exhibiting the work.
Artist Statement:
I was born in London and lived there for 30 years. Growing up, influenced by my father’s interest in The American Civil War era and my love of shows such as The Virginian and Rawhide, the American West made an indelible impression on me and the subject of my earliest drawings. That interest continued into my teens as I became aware of the films of, among others, Sergio Leone. I was fascinated by this less traditionally romantic view of the west and instead seduced by the characters, dry landscapes and border towns which formed the backdrop to so many classics.
In 2008 I began producing paintings focusing on the Mexican and buffalo soldiers. In both cases it was not only a personal fascination with these generally unspoken histories but the fact that visiting the various art shows and galleries I found no depictions of these stories. The Autry was a fundamental inspiration: When I first visited the museum it was during the Masters' show and I subsequently became a member. The Revolution was captured at the time through photography and I was interested in depicting these events had they occurred sixty years earlier when they would have been portrayed through paintings. The overriding intention was to bring both dignity to the men and women who took part and an element of romanticism and colour to their struggle.
In the case of the Buffalo Soldiers once again my intention was to create positive images of a period largely forgotten when after the Civil War black cavalry regiments were formed and tasked with “taming” the west, again with the desire to present the subject with dignity as a tribute to their bravery that earned them the nickname from the native Americans. Neither series of paintings was undertaken with the intention of saying this was more important history nor to "replace" but to hopefully appear alongside. Sadly neither the Autry nor the California Art Club had an interest in exhibiting the work.
