Preston Zine and Artists bookfair.

About 3 months ago my friend asked if I'd like to take part in the preston zine and artists bookfair. Last year, a few of us took a trip up to leeds to visit an old tutor (and friend!) who had a stall at the zine fair, aswell as our old college, so naturally, I said yes.
It's always a treat to see beautifully hand-crafted works, you can just tell most of them are created with such passion... so any excuse to go is a good one!


anyway, here's us at our stall. With quite an eclectic mix if you ask me!

It really was a pleasure to take part in, and I even managed to find someone with as many paper cuts as myself!
What was most pleasing was the wide range of fine art styled pieces, to the vibrant graphic pieces. In a strange way, it was sort of humbling how there was no divide, and all the work was welcomed in one place.

Back to the grindstone.

It's been a lovely Christmas break. Going to be honest and say not enough work was completed... but everything will get done, it always does. I work most well under pressure, oddly, something to do with the panic spurring me on I guess...

Anyway... for a while now Lucian Freud has been one of my biggest inspirations when it comes to portraiture, the chunky paint and blank expressions are just music to my eyes. However, when it comes to me and my (amateur!) attempt at portraiture, I get too obsessed with how a face should look when I really should be hooked on my interpretation of it. I love colour exaggeration, but I can never execute it. There is something annoying about portraits that are so perfect you can never tell if its a painting or a photograph. Why not just save yourself the time and energy and just use a camera?!

... Perhaps they're just showing off their talent. Actually, thinking about it now I'd probably do exactly the same. If you've got it flaunt it right?!

Here are some pictures of Lucian Freud's portraiture:



I was recently flicking my way through a contemporary art website when I came across this next guy, Nick Lepard. While his work bores no great resemblance to Freud's, besides obviously the portraiture, and the chunky paint... it just reminded me of them. With a contemporary twist. Sort of like that feeling of coming home. This is what makes me comfortable, and this is what I like. They're not taken on overly flattering angles and there seems to be a great emphasis (in my head!) on movement and application.

Better get my dancing shoes on.