I’ve been making art for as long as I can remember. As I grew up, it was all about drawing spaceships, monsters and robots. However, after spending my career as an artist in the Games Industry where those things are ever-present (and every game-related idea you have inside or outside of work is the property of the company you work for) my personal work headed off in an entirely different direction.
My work is mostly digital these days. I use a Samsung Galaxy Book laptop, painting in Clip Studio Paint with a Staedtler Noris S-Pen. It’s the ultimate magic paint set for me that I could’ve only dreamt of as a kid: all the paints I could ever wish for that I can take anywhere, and with no mess. Whether it’s life drawing classes, travelling on trains or planes, or sitting in a coffee shop, I can paint on the go, opening and closing it to pick up where I left off. I love it. If technology stops right now, I have the perfect setup.
Although I am delightfully retired from full-time working I still undertake private commissions and really enjoy the chance they give me to work in many different styles. If you’re interested in a commission, please do contact me.
Retro Game and Magazine Covers
Because of my work in the Games Industry, I’m often commissioned to create modern covers for retro titles and retro gaming magazines. These projects are a lot of fun as they require a mix of 80s and 90s designs combined with modern digital painting techniques. It’s so cool to be able to bring new art to those old games. It’s a privilege to be asked to draw someone else’s classic characters, as well as bringing a new take on the games and characters I created many years ago but didn’t have the skills back then to illustrate myself.
Life Drawing: Burlesque and Cabaret
Away from the digital world I’m a regular at Dr Sketchy’s Anti-Art School in Nottingham, UK. It’s a life drawing class that uses burlesque and cabaret performers as models. Graduating from pencils and paper, I now use my Samsung Galaxy Book for these sessions. I’ve always loved theatrical costumes and the challenge of drawing beautiful things and people where the margin for error is tiny – it’s so easy to be a few millimetres off on a beautiful face. Compared to my digital work, for which I have a methodical process and works can take many weeks, life-drawing is a sprint. It’s like a CrossFit workout for anyone with a pencil, all done in a live environment.
The 51m0 Art Project
The 51m0 Art Project is a bit of a departure for me. After decades of working with pixels and tablets, and with the whole world now filled with generative AI tools and fantastic applications, I decided I wanted to do something entirely analogue. This also started as a way to stop me doomscrolling in cafés. I carry a stack of small art cards, pencils and marker pens that I can break out anywhere, taking inspiration from anything I’ve seen around me or random thoughts that simply don’t fit with any of my other projects.
This has since grown into larger pieces using acrylics and paint markers on canvas, often created as part of the live painting demonstrations I do at game expos. There’s no “undo” button here, and that’s exactly the point. It’s a raw, immediate way of working with no safety net: just jump in and see where it goes. Whether it’s a tiny card or a large canvas, I like to take a photo of the finished piece out in a public space. It’s my own small nod to my love of street art, placing the work back into the world. You can follow this project on X at @51m0artproject.
Alternative Fashion
Following on from my interest in cabaret and costume, I’ve developed a body of work that focuses on alternative fashion. This work is deeply personal and features subjects and costumes that are far beyond the aspect of my work here, and as such I publish it under a pseudonym to keep the work separate.
The reception to this side of my portfolio has been a pleasantly surprising one. Removed from my other works, it’s found an entirely new and welcoming audience and proven to me that the art I create can stand alone. Working through a persona has enabled me to push boundaries and dive deep into subject matter that I would’ve otherwise never explored. It’s been featured in alternative fashion magazines, a gallery display in Amsterdam and a fashion show in Köln, with collected works from the first four years of this project now being compiled in an art book.
Personal Commissions and Caricatures
Away from the more technical rendering, I still love doing character work. I take on a variety of personal commissions ranging from quick caricatures to more involved portraits. I like the challenge of trying to pin down a person’s character in a single image.
Fan Art and Charity Pieces
I’ve also created a small amount of fan art and one-off acrylic painted pieces for charity auctions. I love painting pinups so I’ve had fun with a few game characters as a result. The rest are mostly Disney-related because my wife, Jayne, is a huge fan and there’s simply no escaping it.
