Spade (2009)

50x60 cm, acrylic on board

Cardinal Deer (2009)

50x60 cm, acrylic on board

Most of my paintings are made by applying thick heavy-body acrylic paint by various means to a primed wooden board. I use masking tape and a scalpel to achieve sharp, angular edges, and to isolate areas that need to be kept relatively clean. In this way I can work in a quite expressive, vigorous manner within a controlled area. I generally try to work more life into surfaces, adding texture with palette-knives, rollers, and rough brushes.

The drawings are generally made using a wide range of pencils. 4B - 8B for a creamy dark surface, and 2H - 6H for subtle transitions and lighter areas. I generally use 2B - H only for definition and planning. Some of the drawings are drawn on fine, normal drawing paper, but most of them are done on hot-pressed watercolour paper stretched onto boards.

I tend to plan and outline the whole drawing or painting with a hard pencil - being quite intuitive and free, but using very light tones.

I aim for a relatively high finish, but without losing the sense of materials and mark making.