21/09/2026
I haven't posted new work for quite a while, because I am deliberately taking my time with my latest painting, entitled Ark. It has been an ongoing project since 2024 when I spent months working on preparatory drawings and composition, and even a small preparatory painting. The animals on this ark are not in pairs but instead are single examples of animals who are used in laboratory research (some of them in both that and abusive entertainment). They are being taken to safety by the woman on board.
Now that I am rather old I paint part-time, something like 10 to 15 hours a week, and I see this painting as my final substantial composition and statement. I'll probably need another year or two to finish it, after which I shall work on smaller things. These photos are of work in progress, and even the bits that look finished are not. The more feint areas of the whole picture are in their underpainted state, and in the detail of the rat you can see exactly how unrealised that underpainting is. The dimensions of the canvas are 48" x 36" (122cm x 91.5cm).
