Grotesque

One theme that captures my imagination is the concept of the grotesque. Doing paintings of horrible things is strangely satisfying. The idea of having poured hours into a creative piece that has something of a sinister or negative undertone is amusing to me.

WARNING: Some of these paintings and the language used to describe them may cause some offence. If you want to be easily offended, please don’t pick me as a target for your patronisation.

I bring you the gallery of the grotesque…

Shit Mountain

This classic, started as a day doodle. Shit Mountain is an allegory for those times in life when you get fed a shit sandwich. A thankless task that is of no great benefit, is not particularly enjoyable and yet is also an absolute headache to complete. I am sure that everyone has to paddle up ‘Shit Mountain’ at some stage!

Christmas Dinner

I really enjoy having a go at seasonal work. This year was no different. After a number of attempts at designing an amusing Christmas e-card for 2014, my Xmas Mickey led the way. However, this grotesque Santa came close to making the final cut! Santa Claus has a creepy presence. A weird, beardy old man, accustomed to sitting the children of strangers on his lap. The true stuff of nightmares…

Nailed

Nailed was somewhat inspired by a rather gruesome torture scene from the video-game, Grand Theft Auto V, that I worked on. I got the chance to finish colouring in my sketch whilst sat on a plane from Malaga to Gatwick. A passenger on the flight had a medical emergency, resulting in an unscheduled and time-consuming stop-over in Bordeaux airport. A morbid bonus window for finishing off my latest painting. I do hope the lady was alright…