we made it through the first month (yay!)

31. A good listener.
Acrylic on board
15cm x 21cm

I think we all have friends who we think of like this. also month one of this project is done, only eleven let to go :)

Now for some Painting

30. Rising
Acrylic on Board
15cm x 15cm
Today I felt like returning to some painting, and was daydreaming about this project, before starting it in late December (and with the exception of the stamps I designed in October) I hadn't done much painting for around 2 years, so now I'm feeling like I'm rising out of some sort of hibernation, like I've been sleeping at the bottom of a lake and I'm finally coming up for air. (wow that was wordy).

a funny thought

29. Mobile Home.
Digital
15cm x 21cm

just a funny thought I had on the bus today, so I turned it into an image. I think I'll do some painting tomorrow.  

Day Dreaming

28. Head in the clouds.
Digital
15cm x 21cm

Do you ever get days where you can't focus on anything and your mind just seems to wonder..... yeah me too.

It's Monday

27. A case of the Mondays
Digital
15cm x 21cm

Very much have that crushing Monday morning feeling right now.

good nights, followed by not so great mornings

26. Martyr of the Morning
Digital
15cm x 21cm

having a great night is one thing, but the consequences the morning after are another. seriously I need to do an exhibition about hang overs at some point. I hope your week end has been as crazy as mine :)

ouch! my head!

25. The morning after the night before!
Digital
15cm x 21cm

Ever get that feeling that you had way too much to drink and you wake up and you can tell the hangover is on it's way but it hasn't quite hit you yet?

rushing about!

24. Always in a hurry!
Digital
15cm x 21cm

So there once was a time where I had free time and I was never in a rush to get anywhere. what happened? at least it's Friday :)

I love Tea!

23.Tea Break (mug shot)
Digital
15cm x 21cm
I drink way too much tea, I don't really drink coffee, but on an average day while painting or doing digital work, I have been known to drink around 12 cups a day :S and then I wonder why I can't sleep.

A few more things to say with the digital.

22.The Gossip
Digital
15cm x 21cm

the digital images have gone down quite well, so I think I'll do a couple more and then a few paintings. happy hump day all.

Music

21.Portrait of a Musician
Digital
15cm x 21cm

for all the many musicians that I know.

Monday = Teaching (for me at least)

20.Portrait of a teacher
Digital
15cm x 21cm

carrying on the digital portraits theme: on Mondays for those of you I've never met is a day where I teach illustration to foundation students at the Isle of Man College, so aptly here is an image that sums up how I feel about teaching.

More digital work

19.Portrait of a visual artist
Digital
15cm x 21cm

Continuing the digital theme a little, here is an image which sums up how i think the world views me, working within the world of visual art. 

a bit of a Change

18.Portrait of a creative
Digital
15cm x 21cm

So far within this project I've mostly produced paintings, I feel it's time to do some digital artwork now, this collaged technique is a way of working I've not used for a long while and I have a computer now, which is a powerful creative tool (when I used to work like this I used to use a photocopier and a lot of glue), the computer allows all sorts of exciting ways to put the images together., so to take a break from painting I'm going to create 4 digital portraits, after all this project is all about creativity and trying new things.

INTERNET!!!

17. Zombiefied by the internet!
Acrylic on Board
15cm x 21cm

So after having a somewhat uninspired morning, I lost most of the afternoon to reading al lsorts of odd and weird stories on the internet. the hours just dropped off of the clock, please tell me I'm not alone in often being zombiefied by the internet? anyway this painting was the result, done rather late on Thursday evening.
Happy Friday folks.

The Blues

16. That January feeling
Acrylic on Board
15cm x 21cm

An image based upon the suggestion of doing a piece on the January blues, the January feeling refers to that feeling of cold, miserable tired, fat and a general lack of motivation that a lot us associate with January.

Day 15

15. Chatter Box.
Acrylic on Board
15cm x 21cm
I think every one knows some one like this.

slight change of theme (sort of)

14. When in doubt talk about the Weather.
Acrylic on Board
15cm x 21cm

I feel like I've found my feet with this project now, so the next bunch of images will be theme-less, though if you have any suggestions or themes you would like to see me tackle then please do not hesitate to comment about it. 

it's cold!!

13. that wind will cut you in two.
Acrylic on Board
21cm x 30cm

I think all of us who live here on the island know what thaat wind feels like in the middle of winter.

Nice Weather for...

12. Nice Weather for Ducks.
Acrylic on Board
21cm x 30cm

Given the storms we've had lately this seems like a fair statement.   

predicting the weather

11. trying to predict the weather...
Acrylic on Board
21cm x 30cm
I used to love magic 8 balls when I was a kid, with the bi polar weather we have been having lately, it feels like the weather of each day is determined by a shake of the 8 ball.

Weather Blues

10. Don't worry about bad weather, there is nothing you can do about it anyway.
Acrylic on Board
21cm x 30cm

Some times when I paint a figure it ends up reminding me of someone I know, not really looking like them but feels like them, i don't do this consciously it just sometimes happens. Happy Friday :)

More Bad Weather

9. Rain Clouds seem to follow me.
Acrylic on Board
21cm x 15cm

This is about those days when no matter where you go it seems to be raining, or the moment you open the door to go out it starts raining. I hate that.

Don't forget!

Don't forget you can follow the project on FACEBOOK
and on TWITTER

New Theme: Bad Weather

8. Walking to work in January.
Acrylic on Board
15cm x 21cm

I'm starting a new theme for the next few images, since all I'm reading throughout social media and all most people are talking about is the awful weather and we have had some bad storms here on the rock, the next few images will be about Bad Weather.

image 7

7. A fertile mind
mixed media
25cm x 25.9cm

today is the last day of the idea theme so I wanted to have another crack at the mixed media work. a new theme tomorrow.

Ideas image 6

6. We are ideas of People.
Digital
12.5cm x 15cm

It's quite awhile since I constructed an image entirely in the computer, I may well do more. Happy Monday :)

More idea based work.

5. All my ideas are born of caffeine.
Acrylic on Board
15cm x 21cm
Today's painting is based upon the fact that I need to have about 3 cups of tea in me before I start work, something tells me I'm not alone with this.

4. Expelling thoughts
Acrylic on board
15cm x 21cm

Today I felt like doing a very messy limited pallete painting about getting rid of what's in your head, so here it is.

Idea image 3

3. Inspiration strike!

mixed media

18cm x 22.5cm

For today's image i thought I'd try something a bit more mixed media-ish, it was this way of working that originally landed me my first illustration jobs, though I haven't worked in this style of quite some time, I thought I'd take this opportunity to give it a another go (the last time I worked like this properly was 2008). I moved on from this way of working simply because I began to use less and less photo images with the painting. you can see some older work in this style HERE

see you tomorrow folks.

Bonus work today: how I created the first image of image a day!

I'm planning on recording a few of these videos as the project progresses, this particular painting too around 3 hours, what I find interesting about it is how many mistakes I make and paint over without really thinking about it (particularly the shirt) I suppose making mistakes has become part  of my practice.
Anyway I hope you enjoy it and feel free to comment in the box.

Ideas day 2

2. The Big Idea
Acrylic on Board
21cm x 30cm

The ideas theme continues, I forgot to say earlier that feel free to leave any comments about the work and also if you have any suggestions about potential themes please feel free to either leave it in the comments box or send me an email.

It has Begun...First image!!!

1. Nervous Anticipation.

Acrylic on board

21cm x 30cm.

I've decided to work with a theme for the first  seven artworks, the the theme is ideas and inspiration, come back tomorrow to see the next image.
JM