martin davey illustration

collection of animals enjoying time at an animal funfair

2012-01-12T10:16:00.000-08:00

collection of animals enjoying time at an animal funfair.

This image was painted in photoshop to a size of A4 dimensions, during january 2011. The title is "animal funfair", and portrays various animals enjoying a trip to the fair. The animals featured are a mother bear and her cub, snake, crab, pig, lion, dad and son tiger, crocodile, cow and several horses, monkeys and elephants.I wanted to set the scene at twilight as fairs seemed exciting to me, with the light bulbs gradually replacing the fast disappearing daylight.
An image like this is drawn on the computer, then painted in a traditional, layered way similar to conventional painting media.

Knight and big serpent

2011-12-07T09:01:00.000-08:00

Knight and big serpent

This is painted in photoshop to A4 size. It was originally done around april 2011 but not fully completed. Then in nov 2011 parts were reworked, mostly the Knight and the lighting to add drama. It is set in a cave of sorts with lots of darkness abound and fire in the background. The red fire helps to balance the colder colours of the foreground, and makes the shaft of light seem more powerful. The creature is half snake, with a rattle on the tail and dragon details on the face.

Southampton Bursledon brickworks open day april 2011

2011-10-16T00:51:00.000-07:00

Southampton Bursledon brickworks open day 01
Southampton Bursledon brickworks open day 02

These images are based on a number of photographs taken at the April 2011 open day at Bursledon brickworks, Southampton, UK. The brickworks is a heritage center celebrating the industrial past of the area.
They are both painted july/august 2011 in oils on a canvas 20"x16". The two paintings were then displayed at the open day in september and proved popular with the public and organisers.
The engine featured in the bottom posting is a Aveling and Porter traction engine, built 1899, registration TA 1063. The tall chimney in the top image is a local landmark but was taller in earlier times.

swans and boats at Christchurch harbour,UK

2011-09-22T13:59:00.000-07:00

Swans and Boats at Christchurch harbour,UK.

This painting was based on a photograph taken back in the summer of 2010 at Christchurch Quay/harbour, in Dorset,UK. It actually took ages to paint, not because on any technical difficulty but because of having to prepare other work for exhibitions, print cards and do commercial computer imagery. So this painting was started back in late july 2011 and left unfinished until the early part of sept 2011. I did not latterly enjoy doing it and found it a battle to get it looking reasonably ok. Maybe it was the composition that was wrong? I have to say that when the painting was photographed it tends to look a lot better, and does seem very sunny.
Painted in oils on canvas,16"x20".

More railway locomotive paintings

2011-08-25T03:17:00.001-07:00

exbury steam railway 10th anniversary

During August I was invited to attend the celebrations for the exbury gardens railway 10th anniversary. The above painting was a commissioned work for presentation to Leopold de Rothschild, owner of the garden and railway, and is pictured in the cab. The locomotive is named 'mariloo' and is pictured in the gardens. The painting is based on a great photo taken by Nigel Philpott, a manager of the gardens. I added the headboard,front of engine and the lord himself.
The painting is done in acrylics on a canvas 20"x16". I usually paint in oils, but due to time constraints I had to use acrylics, but I feel the outcome is successful.
steam engine bulleid merchant navy pacific 30005 study

During the Exbury event I set up my easel and did a small demonstration painting in acrylics,12"x10 on canvas board. It is a detail of a merchant navy pacific express locomotive (30005). The under drawing was done before the event, and the painting was sold during the event.

boat wreck with sea birds

2011-08-04T09:27:00.000-07:00

Boat wreck with sea birds

This was completed in mid July and is painted on a canvas 20" x16" in oils. The boat wreck was situated on the river Itchen, southampton. I was attracted to the textures on the boat, the flaking paint and the rotten wood and the reflection in the water. The birds were added to the composition, though are typical of the wildlife in the local area.

Bournemouth sea front_july

2011-07-16T01:11:00.001-07:00

people on Bournemouth beach:beach groin
people on Bournemouth beach:kids and sand
people on Bournemouth beach:waves and sand

These three paints are painted in oil on canvases measuring 16"x20". They were painted during early June, one after another in a very economical style,taking about one and a half days each to do. They are based on photos but heavily rejigged to get a nice composition. Hengistbury head features in the top painting,a land mark in the local area of Bournemouth, Dorset, UK.

2011-06-17T00:04:00.000-07:00

Christchurch priory, west view

This is a painting of Christchurch priory from the west aspect. I did a previous painting which depicted the northgate entrance, and is here.
Being a piece of complicated architecture naturally meant that some time would be spent drawing it out and getting the details correct. The figures help a great deal to give a sense of scale. The church is in the coastal town of Christchurch in Dorset, UK.
The painting is on a 20" x16" canvas, and painted in oils.

Bournemouth sea front june_set01

2011-06-14T04:09:00.000-07:00

People on Bournemouth beach : boys looking
People on Bournemouth beach : Pulling dingy

These were painted in late may one after another. They are on canvas in oil, sized 20"x 16" and painted in a more cruder,quicker method. Some times the brush strokes are quite large and the paint is only lightly applied. But over all they are appealing, particularly the water. There will be others of this type following soon.

Bournemouth Throop flour mill through trees

2011-05-29T02:08:00.000-07:00

Bournemouth Throop flour mill through trees.

This scene is painted in oils on a 16"x20" canvas. It is of the old, grade ll listed flour mills at Throop, Bournemouth, Dorset, during early morning. The buildings were owned by a company called 'Parsons & Sons', but I believe they stopped trading in the early 1970s. They are now awaiting conservation/restoration. The milling equipment was powered by the river Stour,and the water wier equipment can be seen in the front of the building.

Steam traction engine Ransomes Sims and Jefferies General Purpose Engine

2011-05-19T00:59:00.000-07:00

Steam traction engine_02

This is a picture of the Ransomes Sims and Jefferies General Purpose Engine,built in 1931 in the UK. Its name is the "velfrey queen".
The painting is done in oil and was completed early april 2011, and the canvas it was painted on is 20"x16". I am quite pleased with the result and it looks mechanically correct and solid. There is a technical error, not a painting one, where a certain component has accidentally been left off!
I also like the stark, but colorful background. The brass rims are always fun to paint.

Small paintings of animals_01

2011-05-15T02:32:00.000-07:00

Spotty grey horse in field
Single mallard duck on lake

These were painted in oils on canvas during late April 2011. The size of both paintings is 12" x9", and both were intended to be simple projects that each could be done within a day. I was successful with this self imposed deadline. Additionally the duck was painted while at an exhibition, not from life but as a demonstration for the crowds attending.

'Rosemary' narrow gauge locomotive at Exbury Gardens

2011-05-05T13:10:00.000-07:00

1 st version
2nd version

This is a new (2001) locomotive, called "Rosemary" which runs on the narrow gauge Exbury gardens steam railway in Hampshire,UK. The first painting was done in autumn 2010 and the second in march 2011. Both are painted in oils on a canvas, size 16" x 20". The figure in the second one was added for extra interest, and was not there at all when the original photo was taken for reference. I got the basic figure off the internet, as a B/W image and then modified it. It does help to give scale within the image. In the first painting the signal helps to give and interesting framing to the composition. On the other hand the pistons cannot be seen in the first on but are visible in the second, and our a part of the character of the locomotive.

SS shieldhall at southampton docks

2011-04-15T00:03:00.000-07:00

SS shieldhall at southampton docks

This is painted in oils on a canvas that is 20" by 16". The steam ship 'SS Sheildhall' was built during the 1950s by Lobnitz & Co of Renfrew, in the UK. It is now preserved as one of the 'historic ships collection'.
The location is east docks, looking south with the grain silos in the background on the southern tip of the docks.
The combination of the colours of the ship, with the colours of the water made this an attractive view to portray.

Southampton River Itchen Northam mudflats

2011-04-11T07:12:00.000-07:00

Southampton River Itchen Northam mudflats

This is an oil painting that measures 16" x 20", and was completed march 2011.
It is of the river itchen (estury) when the tide has gone out, and reveals a sea of algae and seaweed,as well as the remains of long forgotten boat wrecks. In the background can be seen Bitterne.
The old wood was enjoyable to paint!

Animal wedding

2011-04-07T00:45:00.000-07:00

Animal wedding

Its that time of year! This was painted in photoshop in early march 2011, to A4 size. I suppose many of the characters here have been seen before (with the same treatment) in my work,like the hippotamus,crocodile and horse. I enjoyed the scale difference between the happy couple.

Southampton River Itchen Chapel Tredegar Wharf

2011-03-30T11:36:00.000-07:00

Southampton, River Itchen, Chapel, Tredegar Wharf

This is an oil painting of one of the small wharfs,known as tredegar wharf, at Southampton docks. It measures 18" x 16" and was completed in feburary 2011. The green algae is quite prominent, perhaps because the wharf is largely unused,but the green colour is very strong and dominant. The cranes help to add interest in the landscape, and I would expect at some stage to paint the cranes themselves as they are quite interesting in shape.

Bournemouth beach:Pier theatre

2011-03-20T09:08:00.000-07:00

Bournemouth beach: pier theatre

This was painted in oils on a 16" x 20" canvas and is of the sunny, sandy beach at Bournemouth, Dorset ,UK.
The pier itself was originally built in the 1800s, but was extensively rebuilt in 1950 and the theatre (or theater) was built in 1960, and shill holds summer shows and plays.
This was painted during late January/early February 2011 when the UK was caught in an ice/snowy grip!
Other paintings of the beach can be seen here .

Alien beach vacation

2011-03-18T07:19:00.000-07:00

Alien beach vacation

Painted to A4 size in photoshop,during February 2010. This was fun and easy to do, my favorite part being the child alien who has dropped his ice cream and is now worried by the strange crab coming to it. The spider like aliens are having jelly!

Southampton River Itchen Northam winter afternoon

2011-03-12T04:12:00.000-08:00

Southampton River Itchen Northam winter afternoon.

This was based on a photograph I took on a late afternoon in December. It is of the river Itchen at Northam,Southampton. It was a very calm day and the water was almost like a mirror.
It was painted during February in oils on canvas and is 20"x16".

Royal Wedding 2011

2011-03-11T14:07:00.000-08:00

Royal Wedding 2011

Painted in Photoshop early march 2011, ready for the big day in april of Prince William and Kate Middleton. This is of course is an alternate view of the situation, illustrating the rotten and broken british society that they are well separated from, yet knowing that the very same society will be financing there privileged lifestyle as a matter of fact, with no public consultation.

Princess releasing bird

2011-03-06T06:47:00.000-08:00

Princess releasing Bird

This was painted in photoshop around early February 2010, but I was never that happy with it. I left it a few weeks and added flowers and more tonal work to help bring it out a bit more, as I felt is was too flat, despite the prospective. It does look better now. Ironically I was expecting the figure (in perspective) to be the most difficult element here but it was not after all.

Swan and duck conversation

2011-02-27T03:03:00.000-08:00

Swan and duck conversation

This is an oil painting,size 20"x16", of swans and a Mallard duck, done around January 2011. It is at the Quay at Christchurch,UK. I tend to paint the water in last when painting subjects like this. The reflections can be sometime very difficult to plan, though this one was not to bad. But once the water and reflections are in place the painting comes to life! Interestingly the water is almost black.

Animal Office

2011-02-19T02:13:00.000-08:00

Animal Office

This was painted in january 2011, in photoshop to A4 size. I have used a horse before in this position (1 2 3) but it is always funny,but this time I have added some lipstick! The 6 key keyboard and hay sandwich add some fun.

Rockstone Lane, Southampton UK

2011-02-09T01:31:00.000-08:00

Rockstone Lane, Southampton UK

This was painted in oils on a canvas having the size of 16"x 20". It was painted during november 2010.
This is a pretty little street with nicely turned out character terrace houses on both sides of the one way street (SO14 6JA). It is also on a hill leading down to the Bevois valley/ Itchen River area of the city. It is interesting how big the chimney stacks are in comparison the the house itself!
The photo it was based on was taken on a very sunny october morning, and the passing cyclist adds the finishing touch to the composition.

Two Romantic cats....for St Valentine's Day

2011-02-05T14:39:00.000-08:00

Two Romantic cats in love, by a tree.

This is obviously created for st Valentine
The colour version was painted first, in photoshop to a A4 size in january 2011. I was quite pleased about the way it turned out, and looks quite cute. I think that the bows do add a lot to the cuteness and help to define the two sexes.
The black and white image was done about two weeks later. It has been done for presentation at a local arts society and needed to be B/W, with no grey tones, for easy reproduction in the news letter. It is a tracing, in photoshop again A4, of the colour image, and has come out quite well and still retains the character of the cats.

Mermaid underwater city

2011-01-30T08:22:00.000-08:00

Mermaid underwater city

This was painted in photoshop during december 2010, to an A4 size format which I often use. This type of subject is always a nod to disneys 'little mermaid'. The positioning of the arm avoids difficulties!

Southampton Civic Center public building

2011-01-21T08:23:00.001-08:00

Southampton Civic Center public building

This was painted in oils during late 2010 and early jan 2011. It is 16" x20" on canvas.
This is the Southampton grade ll listed building that contains the council offices,library and art gallery of the city. It is an 'art deco' building, completed in 1939 and the architect was Ernest Berry Webber. Parts had to be rebuilt shortly afterwards because of bomb damage during ww2.

gorgon medusa

2011-01-15T06:44:00.000-08:00

gorgon medusa

This was painted in nov2010 in photoshop. I thought it would be fun to do and the darkness of the painting came naturally to the subjects haunt. I needed something bright to show a part or hint of the subject which is why the background with the daylight coming through part of the temple is very important.
Apparently there were three Gorgon sisters, this one being Medusa!

children snow sleigh ride

2011-01-09T03:22:00.000-08:00

children snow sleigh ride

This was painted in photoshop during mid december,2010. This is one of those projects that worked out so well. It is as though the image just painted itself! It is a follow on from a previous,recent post of two children with a snowman.

cat romance in garden

2010-12-29T01:37:00.000-08:00

cat romance in garden

This was painted in august 2010, in photoshop. I always think of cats being black and white in colour,because I suppose of the family cat in the previous post! On reflection I suppose the white,disinterested, female cat should not have been against a white wall. I am pleased with the distant,'blue' house.

CAT

2010-12-15T01:40:00.001-08:00

Cat

This was painted ,in oils, during mid summer 2010, at a size of 7'x10' on board. It was based on a old B/W picture that I took around the early 1990s. I then made a B/W 8'x10' print in the bathroom from the negative, and its from this that I took the information to do the picture, and used other photographs, in colour, for the colour information. The cat was the family cat and she was called 'cuddles', because she was more aloof and proud, rather than wanting to be a popular cat. She is sitting by the fish pond in the garden.

Old Christmas Cards

2010-12-09T01:48:00.000-08:00

2008 santa christmas pudding ride
2005 father christmas down chimney
1990s santa express

Collection of past Christmas card artwork

here are three christmas cards from the past. The B/W drawings is hand drawn on paper with marker pen and 'letratone, and then photocopied. It was done before I had a computer. The 2005 and 2008 cards are both painted in photoshop,and mostly printed out to give to people though there were occasions when it was emailed instead.

cow and calf in field

2010-12-06T03:50:00.000-08:00

cow and calf in field

This is an oil painting that measures 16"x16". It was painted in early november 2010, from a photograph taken a few weeks previously. The photo was heavily cropped to get this composition as a starting point. The original picture was taken at Throop, a countryside area on the outskirts of bournemouth,UK. I hope to produce more paintings of this pretty area in the future.

children playing in snow

2010-12-01T01:28:00.000-08:00

Children playing in snow

Painted in photoshop and completed yesterday (30 nov). This image was quite easy to do and just 'fell out of the pen'. It is A4 sized as well. I think the simple layout and colour pallette have work out quite well. I wish it could always be this quick/successful!

class 85 electric locomotive at euston station

2010-11-21T08:32:00.000-08:00

class 85 electric locomotive at euston station

This is so far the oldest image of mine that has been posted here. It was painted in 1992/93 and it is,unusually for this blog, painted in gouache. It was based on a B/W 35mm photograph I took back in 1990. At that time I was also developing my own B/W prints, in the bathroom! The colour reference was gained from reference and my own memory.
These were old electric locomotives at the time. Built at doncaster,UK in 1960, they were withdrawn and mostly scrapped in c1990, this one pictured, scrapped in 1991.

steam roller traction engine

2010-11-19T05:09:00.001-08:00

steam roller traction engine oil painting

This was painted in oils during september 2010. It is based on a photograph taken about 5 years earlier at at steam fare. The engine is a Wallis & Steevens Road Roller, built in 1925.7844, Old Ken",and "HO 6442", are other details connected with it, possibly the registration number.
I think it turned out very well as a painting, and the brass and copper fittings worked nicely with the shiny green paint. The painting is 20"x16".

Christmas Card 2009 dinosaur carol singers

2010-11-12T13:53:00.001-08:00

Dinosaur Carol Singers

This was painted in photoshop very late 2009. It was the christmas card for that year. As you can see I have had fun with the 'Dickensian' traditional christmas, and it is always nice to research clothes of the period. Very few were printed out and sent. Instead it was mostly sent via an email attachment.

Cheeky alien invasion

2010-11-10T11:37:00.000-08:00

Cheeky alien invasion

Painted in photoshop in late oct,2010. More scifi!. I suppose in the back of my mind I am thinking about HG Wells war of the worlds, but it would not correct, to the descriptions in the story. Only the victorian man would be correct. The alien is cheeky, because he is smiling!

Oil painting collection 02 Bournemouth Sea front

2010-11-03T02:20:00.000-07:00

people on Bournemouth beach
Bournemouth Air festival
Boy standing in sea

These 3 oil paintings were painted august-sept 2010 and are of roughly the same location.
The Air festival has now become a regular event at bournemouth and this image features the "Breitling wing walkers",one of the numerous events, though the women walking are on the other side of the plane and cannot be seen here! The location is 'overcliff drive, overlooking the beach.
The beach scene shows crowds on the beach. In reality there are often even more people on the beach than pictured here. The arches of the pier are in the background.
The solo boy in the water is my nephew!

Animal Supermarket

2010-11-02T10:08:00.000-07:00

Animal Supermarket

This was painted in photoshop and completed in oct 2010. It is a follow on I suppose from the animal underground commute illustration done a few years ago. Some of the animals are the same,in particular the crab and snake, but there are a few additions that were noty in the previous one. Doing all the packs on the shelves does take time, even using cloning,etc tools in digital painting.

BRITISH BANK PIG

2010-10-28T09:02:00.000-07:00

Fat British Bank Pig

Painted in Photoshop in 2009.
I think this is the only political work I have done . It is aimed at the British banks, and was originally done in response to the RBS scandal of 2008 when sir fred goodwin (fred the shred) took the bank in to meltdown, partly causing the recession in the UK, but Goodwin still walked away with a £700.000 per year pension package. The RBS logo was originally on the arse of the pig, where the it is now replaced with a 'British banks' label. The banks have still not been punished and do what they want. They recieved lots of taxpayer help to prevent them from going under, despite their actions causing lots of other business to go under instead. Bank bonuses are now on the level they were before the recession.
The fat pig image naturally suits the banking image, stuck up its victorian, unrelated to society, arse.

Oil painting collection 01

2010-10-26T05:00:00.000-07:00

swans at christchurch harbour
river avon christchurch
christchurch priory

These are the first oil paintings placed here on this site. They were all painted during summer 2010, and based on photographs. The locations are all in the historic and pretty town of Christchurch, Dorset in the UK. The painting of the swans at Christchurch Quay was based on a photograph originally taken during a winter, a few years ago.
Christchurch priory is 12" x16", river avon is 16"x20" and swans at christchurch harbour is 12"x16" in size, on canvas.

Monster loose in laboratory

2010-10-12T09:56:00.000-07:00

Monster loose in laboratory

Painted in October 2010 in photoshop.
This is obviously inspired by 'frankenstein'. Fun to do! The lighting is completly cheated, but helps to add drama and force the creature in to a silhouette. He would really be working under some lights, rather than darkness!

dragons relaxing at home

2010-09-13T08:32:00.000-07:00

Dragons relaxing at home

Painted in late august,2010 in photoshop. I've tended to do a lot of 'couples' artwork, and here is another. It is similar in lighting and subject to the 'bear family' image done a few weeks ago.

Graveyard diggers and ghost rising from grave

2010-08-30T14:07:00.000-07:00

Graveyard diggers and ghost rising from grave

Another one of my 'pulp' horror images. Totally unoriginal but fun to do! Painted in photoshop in august 2010.

Front room bear family

2010-08-24T13:55:00.000-07:00

Bear family in front room with son playing a computer game

Painted during august 2010 in photoshop. I wanted to have a go at painting 'nice' bears, and I also wanted to see what happens to the elements in a picture when I paint a 'tv' glow.

Fabulous Creatures

2010-08-18T11:50:00.001-07:00

Mermaid on rock with friends
King Kong plane swatter

'King Kong plane swatter' was painted in july 2005. I suppose if I was to do it now (2010) I might pick a more dramatic angle,more film like,but then this angle does show the empire state building and king kong on top of it very clearly. The joke is easily to read flat on I suppose! I would paint the clouds to a better standard though.

'Mermaid on rock' was painted in dec 2008. I had painted an earlier one about a year previously but was never happy with that one. I'm sure I will revisit this subject in time for a repaint!

Princesses in forest settings

2010-08-15T04:39:00.001-07:00

Princess lost in the forest with cherubs looking on
Princess and the frog

'Lost princess' was painted in december 2008 in photoshop. It was quite a detailed image at the end of the day which is lost on the small version placed here on the blog. The trees and the horse both took some time to do!
'Princess and the frog' was painted slightly later in march 2009, and is based on the fairy tale of the same name.

more dinosaurs

2010-08-15T04:25:00.001-07:00

Community dinosaur policeman
Dinosaur chasing jeep

Dinosaur chasing jeep was painted in September 2005, and is a comic reaction to the 'jurassic park' film a few years previously. It is painted, in photoshop at quite a small size. It was one of the first images I painted but now as a standard any image would be at least twice the size.
'Community dinosaur policeman' was painted in july 2010.

news at bedtime BBC animation artwork

2010-08-12T09:57:00.000-07:00

humpty dumpty/ princess Di sketch
news at bed time main news desk. The animated characters heads, sitting up in bed, would be added in later.
Humpy dumpty death location This is a collection of artwork created for the BBC comedy 'news at bedtime' animated sketch, that can be seen here..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMXENnwd-hE. It was written by Ian Hislop and Nick Newman, and stars the voices of Jack Dee and Peter Capaldi, and was based on a audio recording for BBCradio 4. This animation was done during late 2009 and early 2010. The basis of the sketch is a news programe,with all the current contempory issues we see every day, but presented visually in a fairytale setting, based on old labybird book illustrations. It has been animated to the existing recording using 'flash' to move pieces of artwork. The artwork itself was created in photoshop by me, a selection of which you can see here. This artwork is production artwork as supplied to Kate, and so it is missing animation elements, which is why some images seem 'empty'. The animated sequence itself was cleverly directed and animated by Kate Sullivan, and you can see her own web site here http://www.katesullivan.co.uk/, which contains other great work done by her for the BBC as well as 'News at bedtime'.. For this project she would import artwork of a character for example, prepared by myself which would have a body with seperate arms and head. She would then join the individual limbs to the body in the 'flash' programe, and then animate the character to the BBC audio, bringing the visuals and humour to life!
I supplied a few 'bits and pieces' for some of the other projects Kate has done as well that can be see on her site.
It is hoped that this 'news at bedtime' small movie will get the go ahead to be made in to a proper pilot for TV, which in turn might become a series.

unused artwork for title (lady godiva),with a nod to the carry on film type poster artwork.this is for a joke (unused) about micheal jackson as peter pan. The head is missing as it would be added in the animation.
A selection of items that would be animated. Many other pieces were provided for the animation, not shown here.

Jack and the beanstalk

2010-08-11T01:38:00.000-07:00

Jack and the bean stalk

Painted in photoshop june 2010. I tried to get a wide angle view with the perspective lines going up to the top of the beanstalk, and where it meets the cloud.

Tea time space walk

2010-08-11T01:24:00.000-07:00

Tea time space walk

This is one of my more unusual pieces of artwork as it was created in illustrator, a vector based drawing programe. It is also quite old and dates from june 2005. It has a bit of a retro feel to it but producing work in illustrator, or the similar vector 'flash' programe, can dictate the style you work in.

Animal sport events

2010-08-10T00:30:00.001-07:00

crocodile tennis
elephants leaping
Dinosaur football
A collection of animals in sporting scenarios. Tennis crocodile was painted april 2010. Leaping elephants may 2010 and dinosaur football march 2010. I don't have any interest in any sport whatsoever, but it can provide some interesting visuals to reinterpret.

ghosts and spirits

2010-08-09T04:27:00.000-07:00

mummy awakes
dungeon ghost chasing princess
haunted house couple

The oldest image in this collection is 'The mummy awakes' and was painted in march 2009.'Haunted house couple' was done in june 2010, followed closely by 'dungeon ghost chasing princess' in july 2010. Each one is of course very cheesy. The mummy one was actually a redone version of one done back in the mid1990s. It was then done again in acrylic paint in the late 1990s, so this is the third version,so far. The perspective in the 'house' one is completely cheated!

witches

2010-08-08T01:35:00.001-07:00

wicked witch and cat
wicked witch casting spell

The first image,with the cat was done in 2007. It was created in illustrator (vector) rather than photoshop.
The second,photoshop painted witch was done in feb 2009. Quite a difference in styles, although the figure is basically the same!

farmers

2010-08-08T01:17:00.000-07:00

Robin in field
Southampton cow flight
pig farmer
'Pig farmer' was painted april 2009.The farmer is a mixture of american and european looking. 'Robin in field' painted feb 2010. 'Southampton flight' was also painted the same time and features the clock tower of the local southampton civic centre.

Dragons and knights in armour

2010-08-06T13:51:00.001-07:00

Knight riding dragon in flight
Dragon with next meal

The top one was painted in november 2008. The lower one was march 2007. They are unconnected except they have a dragon, knight in armour and a castle. They are also both humour based. You can just make out a leg bone sticking out of the 'armour' shoe. The fire really helps to bring out the image with out being to distracting.

fairy story type thing!

2010-08-06T13:32:00.001-07:00

Water bucket maid

Princess and Prince and friends

Princess and prince and friends was painted in photoshop in may 2010, with water bucket maid painted a month earlier in april. I tried to avoid a direct copy of 'seven dwarfs', by having six!

racing animals and vehicles

2010-08-05T00:46:00.001-07:00

Racing elephant
people in car chasing fox
Go cart animals

These are largely variations on a theme I suppose. Two animals are used twice,fox and elephant. And all three images are 'old fashioned', and use old fashioned wheeled transport. The 'racing elephant' was painted in march 2009, 'people in car chasing fox' dec 2008, and the 'go cart animals' also painted dec 2008.

jobs

2010-08-05T00:29:00.001-07:00

Post man Hippo
Milkman on morning round

The postman hippo was painted in april 2010. I wanted to have fun showing the difference in scale between a little bike and the large bulk of the animal. The milkman was painted in sept 2008. It is a 'cheeky' image, and I thought about the 'carry on' films while doing this.

kids on the moon

2010-08-04T01:15:00.000-07:00

Alien ice cream
moon kids catapult
the top 'ice cream' was done in the summer of 2007. I particually enjoyed painting the ice creams. Its always good if food looks good painted. The later 'moon' catapult' was done in feb 2010. I was thinking of 'giles' the cartoonist moon creatures when painting my troublesome kids , in character rather than design.

family activities

2010-08-04T01:02:00.000-07:00

father and son building model railroad
mother and son building snowman

These two images were painted, in photoshop, at about the same time in dec 2008. I enjoyed painting the dog, which is copied from photo reference googled.

Hanzel and Gretal with evil witch

2010-08-03T13:38:00.000-07:00

Hanzel and Gretal with evil witch

I like to try to pick strange angles and force the perspective sometimes in images. It is a cheat as this image shows, but the drama is better for it. The figures are 'flatter' and in a different perspective plane than the room! If I could draw figures better this would not happen. Painted in photoshop march 2010.

Animal Train

2010-08-03T13:17:00.000-07:00

Animal Train
A train journey for an assortment of animals.A pig is driving, with passengers made up of a lion,giraffe,elephant and monkey hanging on at the rear. It is set, apart from the animals, in a very english setting with english railway equipment. My original intention was to repaint an earlier image featuring cute pigs travelling in a train. The earlier inage was painted quite small (link) so the intention was to redo it on a larger scale. But things sometimes never quite work out, and I ended up doing a different take on the subject matter. Painted in late 2008 in photshop.

Nasty big bad wolf pictures

2010-08-03T00:06:00.001-07:00

nasty wolf and little red riding hood
Nasty fox looking for next meal
Both painted in photoshop. The little red riding hood one was done in feb 2009. I particularly enjoyed doing the expression on the girl.
The fat wolf in the field was done in july 2010. I like the contrast between the cute,innocent sheep looking on, and the wolf's sharp teeth.

Little girl fairy and cat

2010-08-03T00:01:00.000-07:00

Little girl fairy and cat.
Something thats hopefully cute. Painted april 2010

Ghost train kids

2010-08-02T23:49:00.000-07:00

ghost train kids
Hints of 'scooby doo' maybe! Painted in photoshop in may 2010. Only been on one ghost train ride I think.

lion daily life

2010-08-02T00:25:00.000-07:00

Lion family in park
lion hospital

The park outing was painted in photoshop in march 2009. The lion hospital was done later in march 2010.

Giant squid attacking steam ship

2010-08-02T00:15:00.000-07:00

Giant squid attacking steam ship
I wanted to experiment with painting in photoshop something more realistic. I don't it has turned out particularly realistic, but not bad. Another test was to paint water which is always difficult but seems to work here. The ship is a made up one, but I always enjoy the design of old Edwardian ships. Painted Sept 2008.

marooned astronaut confronting monster on plane

2010-08-01T00:54:00.000-07:00

marooned astronaut confronting monster
Painted in photoshop in nov 2008. I am thinking while doing this about the cheesy book covers that I like/ liked to look at in my youth. I am also thinking about 'starship troopers' and the helmet is a bit 'space 1999'.

alice with humpty on wall

2010-08-01T00:46:00.000-07:00

alice with humpty on wall
This is a repaint of an earlier image, and naturally this one here is perferable. It is alice in wonderland meeting humpty dumpty. The original one had a small inset image of a broken humpty. The painting is better here as well. Painted in march 2009.

nightmare haunted castle

2010-08-01T00:38:00.000-07:00

nightmare haunted castle
This was painted in march 2009. I always liked to look at the cover illustrations on horror novels at my local bookshop when young.

pigeon post

2010-07-31T01:47:00.000-07:00

Post bird and elephant in plane
This image was done before the 'monkey and elephant aeroplane' 3D image as featured in the previous post, but was changed in the end for the 3D version. I quite like the pigeon and over all it is better than the later version. I think I had to change the subject later for the 3D one as the feathers on the pigeon may have been problematical!

Come back to update/ 3d lightwave images

2010-07-31T01:21:00.000-07:00

Images created in 3D
After a long break I'd thought I should upload some more images and notes up here. This image of the aeroplane was done during august 2009, and is different in that it is created in lightwave. It is resonable successful, but it took about 2 weeks to do and I think its too long to be practical. I did two other 3D images, one of which is the lion on the skateboard. I received a nice email from and authour in USA saying how much they enjoyed it straight away!
It is quicker to draw them in the usual way than create 3D models and I think they look better drawn and painted, in photoshop. The only upside is that the characters can be reposed or even animated as all this has to be built in to the model/scene set up.

2009-04-27T01:29:00.000-07:00

Dinosaur shopping trip
Painted in photoshop to A5 size, it took just over a day to complete, around mid April 2009. The dinosaurs are not any particular species, although the shop keeper is similar to a triceratops.

2009-03-18T12:52:00.000-07:00

SUPERMARKET HORSE
After painting an earlier image which had a horse using a laptop on an underground train, I thought it would be fun to have another horse doing something impossible, in this case using a cash till. The shady crocodile with snake adds more dark humour.

2009-03-18T12:41:00.000-07:00

VICTORIAN INVENTOR
This was painted a few days before this post,in march 2009. It is a small size at 4x5 inches at300ppi.My inspiration was watching 'the Victorians' documentary on BBC tv, particularly with the hair styles (side burns)!

2009-03-09T13:38:00.001-07:00

ANIMAL TRAIN COMMUTE
Painted in photoshop at A4 size, this is an entertaining collection of animals going to work. The interior of the train is based on a central line underground train. I wanted the passengers to do normal things that commuters do, ipod etc, and liked the horse with hooves operating a laptop. If the scene was slightly wider I would have had water on the floor around the base of the seals tail. Painted dec 2008.

2009-03-09T13:28:00.000-07:00

MUM AND SON IN GARDEN
This is painted at a size of 4x5 inches,so is smaller than usual. It is painted in a stylized way with a heavy
'wide angle',and the treatment of the faces is particularly stylized. The perspective is very forced and cheated for impact.

2009-03-01T14:35:00.000-08:00

RICHARD LIONHEART LION
This was done in A4 size in dec 2008. I wanted to show a confrontation, in a humorous way, between two strong forces, but one good and one evil. The idea, and the composition came very quickly, and I wanted the sky to be dramatic and have strong, violent colours.

2009-02-26T14:22:00.000-08:00

SPIDER WEB PICNIC
This was painted in 2007 and is loaded with 'dark humour'. The fly is quite happy eating his sandwich and is offering some to the spider. It is difficult to say if the spider will have some sandwiches for lunch, or have the fly for lunch. I experimented in this image of painting the background out of focus, like a photograph of a real spider on a web.

2009-02-22T09:26:00.000-08:00

SNAILS IN LOVESnails in love is an early image of mine, painted about 2006. I was very much in to gardening at the time, and liked to grow 'hosta' plants, featured here in the background.

2009-02-22T09:13:00.000-08:00

RHINO ENTERING HOTEL WITH PORTER FOX
This painting was done A4 size at 300pp1 in december 2008. It continues the theme of animals in clothing. This time i wanted to contrast the size , and personality, between two animals. The Rhino here is powerful and bullish, being a business man of some sort, whereas the porter is eager to please and just gets on with the job. I wanted him to struggle with the big baggage as well. The edwardian clothing adds more interest in to the impossible scenario in this painting. The shiny floor was fun to do, as was the detail of the Rhino face and fox face.

2009-02-21T14:52:00.000-08:00

DAY TRIP FOR PIGS ON RAILWAY

This painting dates from 2005, and is one of the earliest photoshop illustrations of mine on the internet. I enjoy painting 'eccentric' railway locomotives, and I wanted to, at the time paint a picture which is clear and cute to the viewer. I have built in unrealistic curves in to the train track, hills and clouds.

2009-02-21T14:31:00.000-08:00

BUS QUEUE IN THE RAIN

This is an older painting of mine, done in Photoshop during 2006. It is quite cartoony, with the characters having black spots for the eyes rather than fully painted ones. There is quite a lot of dark humour in this image, particually with the cat right in front of the bus wheel, about to be run over. Also in the fact that the woman is in difficulties and her plastic shopping bag has split, with some of the contents spilling out. A surreal touch is the monkey on the top deck. I did wonder about giving the bus a 'disapproving' face, but the headlights seem to work as eyes anyway!
I was thinking of 'Reg Varney', from TV's 'On the Buses' when drawing the bus driver.

2009-02-20T15:05:00.000-08:00

ROMANTIC VICTORIAN PIGS
This is one of my favourite images completed in november 2008. it is painted A4 size at300 ppi, and took about 2 1/2 days. I had the idea while watching "little dorrit" , the BBC1 dickens adaptation. I thought it would be nice to paint some victorian clothes, and snow covered 'xmas' buildings. in fact this image did end up being my xmas card for that year. I was also influenced by the 'quality street' tin design, used here in the UK.I am overall pleased with the colour, composition and standard of painting.

Welcome to my blog

2009-02-20T09:01:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my blog...........

I am an artist, having worked in animated television commercials for my years, in london UK. My last venture in to commercial animation was as a texture artist on the 3D feature film 'the Tale of Desperaux',released xmas 2008 in cinemas. But when I started in the industry there were no computers used in production, even though graphic designers had been using early macs for a few years. so for TV commercials, and features, all the artwork was hand drawn. This applies to the animation, with 12 drawings as an average used to illustrate movement of a character over a second of screen time. The characters were hand painted and traced on to clear acetate,and the background artwork painted in watercolour, gouache or even coloured paper. All the artwork was shot on a special 35mm movie camera, called a rostrum camera.
Computers eventually came along during the mid 1990's.
I started using photoshop, combined with a wacom drawing tablet, and as time went by learnt Flash, Lightwave 3D ,AfterEffects ,Painter and a few other programes as the industry changed ot being computer based.
I did used to paint with watercolours and acrylics but painting on the computer was well suited for the new commercial world. Over a period of time I will be post some of my artwork here, and my thoughts on each piece.
My website is here.........www.martindaveyillustration.co.uk/