Thierry Henry

A housewarming present for my Arsenal supporting brother, commemorating the triumphant return of his hero/mancrush.

Derwent Charcoal pencils and Stabilo CarbOthello pastel pencils on A3 paper

Jessica Chastain

I became pretty fascinated by Jessica Chastain in the wake of Terrence Malick's 'Tree Of Life'. It was totally unlike any performance I'd seen before, genuinely ethereal yet totally grounded. If I have a mental list of filmmakers and actors who's attachment to a project immediately piques my interest, hers is definitely a name near the top of the list.

Faber-Castell Albrecht Durer pencils on Gunmetal Canford paper

Early charcoal experiment

I've been photographing, with varying levels of success, my old drawings, just to keep an archive. I want to use this to catalogue where I've been going wrong, or what needs practice, or what materials I think I've been able to work well with. This drawing was the first I did after buying a set of Derwent charcoal pencils, from a reference photograph of Jessica Chastain by Ellen Von Unsworth. I wanted something striking in contrast, and I really loved this composition. These are very much personal experiments; as much as I enjoy doing these, the aim is to use them as warm ups for creating my own images from scratch. Using a reference photograph so closely is great for honing accuracy, but it's pretty limiting, like colouring within the lines (except that I pretty much never use colour).

Derwent charcoal pencils (dark, medium, light) on paper (approx A4)

While I'm happy with this, and I like the way the charcoal has its own texture which stops it all looking too soft and overworked, I can see a lot of room for improvement. But the charcoal handles the high contrast drop off to full black shadow better than either coloured pencils of graphite could. For this kind of 'film noir' look, it's the ideal medium. It even has the look of aged film grain.

Mandela

This was a commission from my Dad's life long best friend, who, like many Glaswegians, campaigned for the release of Nelson Mandela tirelessly in the years the British political elite were still calling him a terrorist. This is going to be framed alongside the letters he sent to the Home Office in the 70s and 80s.

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Black, white and grey charcoal on Daler Rowney Caramel Murano A4 paper

Fiona Apple

This is a pencil sketch of Fiona Apple I drew around a year or two ago, when her latest album was being released and I was starting to experiment a little more seriously with drawing. I've been a fan of her's for a while, drawn to her intensity, her mix of boldness and fragility. I thought this picture caught some of that in her ineffable expression, with hints of boredom, or amusement, and her eyes which seem to house something more troubled.

Prismacolor pencils on black paper, A4

The original drawing is now up for sale on my Etsy account 

New commissioned A4 piece

This was a request from a friend for a wedding present for his sister. Based on one of their engagement photographs, it was drawn on Daler Rowney Platinum Murano paper with a 0.05 Staedtler pigment fineliner with highlights in Lyra Rembrandt white pencil. It was fun experimenting with ink shading techniques, and definitely something I want to continue playing with. Commissions are always welcome, my email address is above. (Click to expand image)

Leonard Smalls, The Lone Biker Of The Apocalypse

I love Raising Arizona. As a guy who grew up obsessed with Looney Tunes cartoons, seeing their madcap energy and elastic physics being grafted on to an endlessly quotable, lovably ramshackle comedy was a total revelation. The estimable Little White Lies magazine, whose consistently brilliant and unique visual style is a constant source of inspiration, ran a little online contest to draw your favourite Coens' character of all time to celebrate the impending UK release of Inside Llewyn Davis and for me it had to be the Wile E Coyote of the piece, the rabbit-detonating man- (and occasionally baby) hunter Leonard Smalls, as played by former boxer turned hulking cameo specialist Randall "Tex" Cobb.

"Leonard Smalls: Lone Biker Of The Apocalypse" Derwent charcoal pencils on paper, A4

Prints are available at my Etsy store