Strider (Aragorn)

Strider, 21 x 27 cm, watercolor and pencil, 2015.

A painting of Strider or Aragorn as we later find out he is really called in The Lord Of The Rings novels. It was painted for the EBSQ "Inspired by Tolkien" show. I took inspiration from not only the book but also Tolkien's poem "Song Of Aragorn". My partner Mike posed for me :)

Frida De Los Muertos

Frida De Los Muertos, watercolor and watercolor pencil, 22 x 29 cm, 2015

Frida De Los Muertos, detail

I painted this for EBSQ's Day Of The Dead themed show. It''s a portrait of Frida Kahlo in Day Of The Dead make-up. It's based on her "Self Portrait with Monkeys" so she is surrrouned by spider monkeys with  decorated skull heads - her exposed heart is being caressed by the monkeys and the veins of the leaves are attached to the veins of her heart symbolising how nature fed her soul.

Prints are available from Etsy and Society 6.

Alfie

Alfie, 8 x 10 inches, graphite pencil.

One of my dog-walking friends recently lost her 11 year old Golden Retriever, Alfie, to cancer, so I drew him for her. He was a lovely sweet-natured dog who will be much missed.

Willem Arondeus 1894 - 1943

Willem Arondeus, pencil, 6 x 8 inches, 2015.

Willem Arondeus was an openly gay artist, writer and Nazi resistance fighter from Holland. He used his artistic skills to create forged identity papers for Dutch Jews. He led an attack on the Amsterdam General Registry Office in an attempt to destroy as many of the original documents as possible and managed to destroy thousands. Unfortunately he was later caught and executed by firing squad.. In his last message he said "Let it be known that homosexuals are not cowards".

Blue Iris

Blue Iris, watercolor and pencil, 8.5 x 11 inches, 2015

This year our garden was mostly given over to growing vegetables and fruit, and to our two chickens so they could clear the weeds! However, there were some flowers, among them these gorgeous blue irises, 

Mark's Male Art

Detail from Adam's Apple, watercolor, 2015.

If you're not aware already, and males in various states of undress are your sort of thing, I have another blog where I post my drawings and paintings of such subject matter - Mark's Male Art.

Cilla

Cilla, pencil, 6 x 8 inches, 2015

Cilla was laid to rest today - in tribute here is a pencil portrait I drew of her a couple of weeks ago.

Four Faces Of Toyah

I created this Toyah "wallpaper" by creating four individual portraits in watercolor and pencil, scanning them into the computer and using Photoshop to arrange them.

It's available to purchase as prints, mugs, leggings, pillows etc. from Redbubble or Society6

Ta-ra Cilla

Swingin' Cilla, 4 x 6 inches, watercolor and pencil, 2015

When I was 6 or 7 years old I was given an old record player - the type that was in a box with a lid, on legs.  As far as I can remember I think it had belonged to one of my Aunts and came with a pile of old singes - 45's and 78's, all stuff from the 60's. I can only really remember two of the records  - one was The Beverly Sisters  "Little Drummer Boy" and the other was "Anyone Who Had A Heart" by Cilla Black. That one I played again and again, I loved it.

Around the same time my paternal Grandparents lived in Denham, and I frequently stayed with them. I was outside playing one day when a lady passed with a pram. The baby in the pram threw it's glove into the street, so I retrieved it and handed it to the lady, who smiled. My Nan must have been watching as when I went back in she told the lady with the pram was Cilla Black,

It wasn't until the 1990's that I really paid attention to Cilla's music. Throughout the 80's and my adolescence she had been a fixture on TV with Surprise Surprise and Blind Date and I was ambivalent about her. I was working in a music shop in the early 90's when a compilation of Cilla's hits was released (I think it was the first time her music had been released on CD). I was hooked! I would play it in the shop - on one occasion Elvis Costello was in the shop at the time and examined the CD case in the "What's Playing Now" box with a wry smile. It's a love affair that's lasted until now. Cilla was the most successful of the 60's girl singers (Dusty, Lulu, Sandie etc) but the least well remembered, mainly because she never really went away but became a staple of "light entertainment" and that rather tainted her musical legacy. Of course, there is also the voice - distinctive but divisive. Cilla always said she hoped to be remembered as a singer rather than a TV presenter. I hope she is too.

Cilla Black - 1943 - 2015

Bianca Del Rio and Sharon Needles

Bianca Del Rio, watercolor and pencil, 2015

Sharon Needles, watercolor and pencil, 2015

I'm a big fan of Rupaul's Drag Race so I painted these portraits of two of my favourite contestants.

Frank Underwood, watercolor and pencil, 4 x 6 inches, 2015

I love the Netflix series "House Of Cards". I didn't think it would be my cup of tea but I gave it a go and was soon hooked. So I painted Kevin Spacey as Frank Underwood.

Gustav Klimt

Gustav Klimt, watercolour and pencil, 2015, 6 x 8 inches

Gustav Klimt, detail.

Gustav Klimt (1862 - 1918) was a Austrian symbolist painter mostly famous for his highly decorative paintings using gold leaf. Initially a very successful conventional painter of portraits and murals, he developed a more controversial and erotic style of painting influenced by Japanese art. I have been a huge fan of his since my teens. I adore the decorative style and the themes of life, sex and death that run through his work, so I decided to paint his portrait for the EBSQ Portrait of an Artist exhibition. 

Klimt portrait sketches....

Klimt sketches, pencil and watercolor, 2015

 This month on EBSQ the theme of the show is Portrait of the Artist. I'm still undecided on who I'm doing but today I did some sketches of Gustav Klimt, whose work I have loved since I was a teenager. Other possible subjects I'm considering are Andy Warhol and Joni Mitchell. Maybe Frida Kahlo but I've done her before...

Nan

Nan, 8 x 11 inches, watercolour, 2015.

A portrait of Jamie Brewer as Nan in American Horror Story:Coven.

Myrtle Snow

Myrtle Snow, watercolor and pencil, 8 x 11 inches, 2015

A portrait of Frances Conroy as Myrtle Snow in American Horror Story|: Coven, Belenciaga!!

Fiona Goode

Fiona Goode, 8 x 11 inches, watercolour and pencil, 2015

A portrait of the amazing Jessica Lange as Fiona Goode in American Horror Story: Coven.

Walking Dead character portraits

Carol, 8 x 11 inches, watercolor, 2014

Daryl, 8 x 11 inches, watercolor, 2015

Michonne, 8 x 11 inches, watercolor, 2014

Rick, 8 x 11 inches, watercolor, 2014.

A series of watercolor portraits I painted of characters from the Walking Dead TV series. Prints available from my Etsy store.

Hannibal and Will

Hannibal, watercolor and pencil, 4 x 6 inches, 2015

Will Graham, watercolor and pencil, 4 x 6 inches, 2015

I finally got around to seeing the first series of Hannibal and loved it - hence these two portraits of Mads Mikkelson as Hannibal and Hugh Dancy as Will Graham.
Prints available here:https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/MarkSatchwillArt?ref=hdr_shop_menu
Contact me if interested in the original paintings.

Sketching...

Sketching for a possible painting...