It’s been a turbulent day of intermittent downpours and sunshine in London today. Fortunately, though, I’ve been able to spend it at the drawing board with nothing to take me outside. I dedicated last week to overhauling the website, and now that the task is (largely) complete I’ve been able to return to the analogue joy of pencils and paper. I’m currently working on a portrait for my new series, ‘Reading Men.’ It’s a group of semi-nude male figure drawings, where each subject is holding a book from their own collection. I never ask why they’ve chosen their specific title, as I want there to be a kernel of mystery, both for me and the viewer, at the core of each piece, which otherwise lays the individual almost entirely bare.
The series so far comprises four portraits: Pythagoras (with Ocean Vuong’s ‘Emperor of Gladness), Jacob (with Seán Hewitt‘s ‘Open Heaven’), AJ (with Russell Tovey and Robert Diament’s ‘talk ART’) and René (with Albert Camus’ ‘The Stranger). Of these, Pythagoras and Jacob are now in a private art collection, whilst the originals of Jacob and René are for sale here on the website (and in Jacob’s case are one of the first three prints in my new reproductions series). The portrait in progress is of Charles, who lives in Paris, and I’m hoping to finish sometime next week.
