44, The Shambles

A surreal, stylised illustration of York's most famous and oldest street, The Shambles. A variety of techniques including HDR and digital manipulation are used to create a fairytale, medieval feel with impossible colour.

A hooded, besandled figure carrying a lantern could be expected to appear from around any corner at any time. The history of The Shambles is as rich as the history of the City of York, one of my favourite places.

The venue '44 The Shambles' itself no longer exists but The Shambles will remain for as long as York stands. The city's famous Ghost Walks make appropriate use of the intense atmosphere found here.

Many people think The Shambles was used for the location filming of 'Diagon Alley' in the Harry Potter films. It was not - but it most certainly influenced the design. Many also associate the town of 'Ank Morpork' from Terry Pratchett's Discwold novels with this curious relic of a street.

I find the daytime tourists overwhelming and that The Shambles is best experienced after hours, when the history and atmosphere become thick and tangible.

Lady Of The Lake

Classical 'masters' oil portrait style of classical pose with rich dark detail of dense autumn (fall) woodland background and a rusty crimson autumn leaf covering on the ground. A modern artwork in a classical style with deep crimsons, blues, greens and painstaking detail.

It may appear at first that there is no Lake for this Lady. However, the image was inspired by the wooded eastern shores of Coniston Water in the Lake District, England, one of my favourite "secret" places. The model used to create the pose, now an internationally known model of some fame, grew up in the area. The obfuscation of the Title is deliberate. There is no visible lake and she is clearly stood in woodland, but a Lake (to my mind at least) is implied a short distance to the left as the trees thin out.

I wanted to create an image which could easily be mistaken for one hundreds of years old, in style and content.

Dragon Lady Faded Glory

A richly detailed portrait with strong Gothic and Georgian overtones. Intense detail of fabric, lace and age-darkened woodwork contrast with the simplicity of the forlorn expression. The questions raised by the opulent but tattered dress, heartbrake and crumbling splendour which surrounds her outnumber the answers given.

This portrait, like my other 'Dragon Lady' images are inspired by a Jacobean Manor House at a location very special to me - but one which must be kept secret to protect it and the incredible heritage it contains. The location is the birthplace of the 'St. George & The Dragon', and all other similar English 'dragon slaying' legends.

The hero / slayer of the original tale, which inspired amongst many other things, Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky, is a direct ancestor of mine.

For this beauty as with her name-sake beast, the glory of fiery passion is long gone, but the legend lives on.

John's Door

Unusually detailed watercolour style image of an arched chapel entrance with the door ajar, allowing sunlight beams to enter. A restricted and muted green brown pallette adds a natural warmth. The feet of a stone figure lie on the ground just out of reach. The open door exits from earthly stone religion to a brighter world outside.

Watercolour never seems to carry enough detail for my taste, so I created as much texture and detail as possible. I also wanted to create a distraction - just when you think the door is open and route is obvious, something catches your eye; the stone to the right.

The image is based upon a real chapel in the North of England, which is no longer consecrated and has fallen into ruin in the grounds of a privately owned Manor House. However, the ancient relics remain.

Who is John? One answer would be the stone figure, once adorning his own tomb, now scattered casually on the floor. Another answer would be John Dashwood. Both ancestors, both relics. Both just out of reach.

Bridge Over Calm Waters

Realistic coloured pencil sketch of a simple wooden bridge over a serene narrow waterway, within landscaped English Stately Home gardens on a warm summer's day. Gentle greens and blues are very English, like china teacups. The scene has oriental overtones.

The image is based upon all Stately Home landscape gardens so has no no direct 'real' equivalent. I've spent many hours wandering around places such as Castle Howard, and they all have elements which I remember. The trees are from Burton Constable; the bridge itself is like one at Headlam Hall. The hedge - Castle Howard and so on.

Eventually if you see enough of them, they seem to merge and it's hard to distinguish the memory of one from the other. Your recollection becomes sketchy.

Lady Of The Lake II

Sorry. This artwork is no longer available.

Dragon Lady Mask

A richly detailed oil portrait with strong Gothic and Georgian overtones. Insane detail of lace, fabric and age-darkened woodwork are overpowered by an Italian masquerade mask.

The story is a question; Is she hiding, or revealing? Two opposite actions which would result in the exact same scene. If she's hiding, is she ashamed? Would she reveal beauty or disfigurement?

This portrait, like my other 'Dragon Lady' images are inspired by a Jacobean Manor House at a location very special to me - but one which must be kept secret to protect it and the incredible heritage it contains. The location is the birthplace of the 'St. George & The Dragon', and all other similar English 'dragon slaying' legends.

The hero / slayer of the original tale, which inspired amongst many other things, Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky, is a direct ancestor of mine.

Dragon Lady Lost Love

A richly detailed portrait study with strong Gothic and Georgian overtones. Intense detail of feathers, lace and age-darkened woodwork contrast with the simplicity of the forlorn expression, as she holds her feathered mask.

The story is a question; Is she hiding, or revealing? Two opposite actions resulting in the exact same scene.

This portrait, like my other 'Dragon Lady' images are inspired by a Jacobean Manor House at a location very special to me - but one which must be kept secret to protect it and the incredible heritage it contains. The location is the birthplace of the 'St. George & The Dragon', and all other similar English 'dragon slaying' legends.

The hero / slayer of the original tale, which inspired amongst many other things, Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky, is a direct ancestor of mine.

Watch The Skies

Sorry. This artwork is no longer available.

Elevato Vigore Cascata

A rich hyper-real illustration of High Force Waterfall, in Northern England, with powerful thundering falls and serene pools below. Intense textures on the rock contrast with the silky glass smoothness of the water.

The word 'Force' itself comes from the Viking word for Waterfall, making the name a double redundancy. As a language enthusiast, this has always irked me, so the Latin title is deliberately ironic.

I wanted to re-create the darker textures of 18th Century English landscape paintings, which seem to blur the line between etching and painting. My starting point was a good deal of high dynamic range long exposure photography of the falls, which were digitally enhanced to bring out various details. Different elements from 4 separate HDR composites form different parts of this work. It is not possible to produce a single image which kept all the high-frequency detail I wanted in the rocks and moss, whilst keeping the polished glass feel of the water.

Sitting On The Fence

A deceptively simple winter sunset behind a tree, behind a fence, above snow. Close inspection reveals intense, deliberate detail in both the distant trees and close foreground with cold blue snow highlighted by weak gold sunlight.

The detail in the twigs of the far distant trees is what made me create this. It's fractal, the closer you look at far away, the more detail there is. But then you look down at the ground and the heavy frost on the twigs right in front of you, and it's equally fractal. And then you notice the bare plants behind the fence, which are the same.

No matter how far away from, or close up to something you are, there's something to mentally zoom in on. Fractal.

I also wanted to emphasise the way our eyes are totally fooled by light. We think snow, sky and sunlight is white on a day like this. Our brains are lying to us. Instead, we have baby colours, pale blues and yellows.

The Castle

A light, relaxed watercolour of Dunstanburgh Castle from across England's Northumbrian Shoreline, pale yellow orange glowing sky with light seas and seaweed.

I always feel excited when I can explore. Seeing a ruin in the distance - I have to investigate. It's a child-like feeling of adventure and discovery, even when the ruin is well known, it still feels like I'm discovering it for the first time. This part of the English coastline has several similar castles but the feeling is still there even when I spot a tumble-down cow shed in a field. I have to investigate.

This particular castle is my childish sense of adventure, it's the moment of 'Oh what's that in the distance? How do I get to it? The tide has come in and the beach route is cut off'. I gave the image itself simple, child-like easy colours, almost like a children's adventure book, and big simple swashes of watery colour.