Gallery 1

Here are my latest works. I don't claim to succeed, but I have always strived to paint in a photo-realistic manner. Defined by Dali as hand-photography. I've nothing against non-realistic styles of painting, but it has always annoys me when an artist says something like:

'I'm not trying to make an exact copy of what's in front of me,
If I wanted to do that, I'd take a photograph'.

In many cases I'm sure they are using the camera as a convenient excuse for their lack of technical ability. Surely in ones first lessons in art, one is taught to make an accurate representation of what one is copying. Would you hear a mathematician say:

'I'm not trying to work out the correct answer,
If I wanted to do that, I'd use a calculator'.

Obviously not, but that is the same logic as used in the artist's statement above. Also, many artists who produce realistic paintings will create something looking more real than a photo. A photo may often look 'flat' compared to reality, whereas an artist may exercise many skills and tricks such as exaggerating aerial perspective, thereby creating something with the illusion of being more realistic than a photo. 

Anyway, why would I want to take a photograph? - I'm an artist.

Click on an image for a larger view.

Stone Henge	Man with a bald head	Front Garden
Back Garden	Flow cup	Self portrait
Prehistoric worms