Day and night in the studio. It's nae warm in Brooklyn these days readers, hence the headwear. I am starting to look and smell like something from Lord of The Flies..Another week or so and I might just grow a beard.

Deadline is now less than 3 weeks.

I can do it, I can do it, I can do it.

Yes I can, Yes I can, Yes I can.

This is the partner piece to Conqueror, not sure of its title yet. Suggestions on a postcard...You know the address.. He is standing on a crumbling grecian pillar - not sure where that came from. These pieces with highly rendered backgrounds are a bit like huge comic book frames I think and are a have a totally different direction from the more graphic work but hopefully there's a cohesion.

The Believe sign is something I saw the other day on the outside of Macy's. It's huge and I suppose it refers to Santa. But it's a beautiful sign and word.
I was having a drunken conversation about self belief the other evening with a pro tennis player. He'd had 8 pints and I wasn't far behind so we were pretty full of it (self belief) but it's an interesting topic, where does it come from and more importantly how to hang onto it.

Guinnea Vision!

My German friend, the very talented Per Fritsche, has finally got his shit together and uploaded the results of many years of hard graft on his personal vision and mission, Guinnea Vision, a comic series about "a bunch of bitchy rodents who run their own mildly successful TV station, headed by a Swedish Schlager queen named Lavinia."
I remember a couple of years ago in Barcelona when Per told me about his passion for G Ps and showed me his Guinnea Vision original drawings for the first time and telling me that he'd been on this mission for years. The original drawings were amazing and I can only imagine that GV will be a resounding success. Well done Per!!!!

I have been on fire in the studio. Working day and night. New images coming very soon. Over and out.

Nostalgia

This is one of my favourite self portraits from about 10 years ago. Unfortunately times were tough and I sold it for about 20 quid. Wish I hadn't.
The studio is getting a bit much. I am off to thrill and inspiration seek on a motorbike in Maryland to blow the cobwebs away and prepare the neurons for the final push when I get back.
VROOM VROOM.

La Vie en Bleue

A long day in the studio. I am toying with putting another figure into this. Initial concerns over the length of Pabs' hair are unfounded - his curls fly in a spectacular fashion. The blue is a lot more difficult to manipulate than the charcoal so it is a bit more of a struggle - but I'm no stranger to struggle..

My approach to the blue drawings is to spray a random line to divide the picture plane and then to draw in the figures to react with the line. And then smoke a fag to react with the carcinogenic aerosol fumes.

I have made the executive decision (not that there's anyone else at McArthur Enterprises to decide for), to scrap the few paintings I've made here in NYC and make the London show purely drawings. Time is against me, and I've never been terribly convinced of my abilities as a painter - I reckon a return to paint should come next year when I'm under less pressure. So the drawings need to be as ambitious as possible and the whole show will be Black and Blue which I think will look pretty damn cool.

Too many frocks spoil the broth

Sweet JESUS! The DVF sample sale screwed me completely, I should spend more time in Bushwick. The Puerto Rican Tortilla makers had started to wolf whistle me in jest I was looking so rough en and off route to and from the studio... But my dabble in materialsm today in Chelsea has ended badly. My initial plan of a couple of frocks has ended in ... not 4 or 5,................. but 7!!!! And a bag... Woops. Gotta spend it to make it is my philosophy..And cancel the heels..
Sugar daddies apply here please and soon.

Conquered!

I'm in high spirits today readers! Not only have I conquered the conquerer but I have also started the next new big blue drawing using my Spanish Super Model as muse. He is going to be a winner that is for certain. Although the end is definitely not yet in sight for the work for the London show, there is perhaps a chink in the light at the end of the tunnel, albeit a small one..
To treat myself I have cut the working day short to attend the DVF preview sale to stock up on a couple of new frocks for when I have finished the black and blue period in a month or so and can scrub myself clean and return to my impossibly glamorous self! This is a new work reward system I have devised - another 5 drawings finished and it will be time for a new pair of heels!

Conqueror

I think it's fair to say I still haven't broken America, although it's useful to note that it still hasn't broken me. I have therefore started this drawing about a man who has. Gotham skyline and grid will be going in below my superhero, who is contemplating his next nove..

Why Am I So Black and Blue?

Provisional Title for show, "Bruise"
Joking...
There were some humourous references to my Blue Period when I was back in Scotland and it was my creative accomplice Dylan Lisle I believe who came up with the concept. I never take anything he says too seriously but it appears he may have had a point! This is a large 1.25metre drawing in Spray can and a very intense blue pastel and I think the blue has a very seductive quality. Not finished yet, it needs a bit of perfecting, but I think more of this blueness is called for.

The Flying Doctor!

My dear friend Pabs has flown in all the way from Madrid to help me out with some modelling. He is an International Healer of The Sick so is a great help to an artist in trouble. After yesterday's shoot, we found a huge leg of lamb in the Lower East Side which Pabs seemed to really enjoy..

Sore Fingers

Got the spray can out again. These are about 1 x 1.25 metres. I am heading back into the blue period though, the blue is out for tomorrow but my fingertips are starting to crack - repetitive strain injury readers - this is a hazardous occupation, on top of the mental trauma there are physical manifestations. I only have two fingertips left.

Invasion ....Again!

And the beat goes on.... I am revisiting some of the images i was working with in Berlin following the success of my Invasion and Arrival series in the UK. I also visited the George Adams Gallery in Chelsea the other day and George has little positive to say about McArthurs. But he was, I think, pointing me in the direction of less rendering background wise and to stick to what is important, which obviously is an analogy for life as well... Food for thought, thank you, George if you're listening....I have now rid myself of background noise...

Otherworld goes Global

It would appear that UK band Sennen are McArthur fans!! They have expressed an interest in using my 2007 drawing, Otherworld, as the cover for their new album "Age of Denial" released in March. They have releases in Europe, Japan and the US, they are regularly described as "kings of the NU-Gaze scene" and also have fantastic taste in art it would seem! See link in creative accomplices.

Chaos

This piece is a new commission loosely based on "Chaos In Wonderland" from about 5 or 6 years ago.

Freefall

Start of a new painting. Not sure which way he's going yet but at the moment he's headed south. I'm planning a mammoth week in the studio, time is running out for me...