International Dylan Thomas Day

I had the honour of being asked to design the logo and posters for this year's International Dylan Day by poet Mab Jones, this year's organiser. I was given free reign to do what I wanted but was asked to concentrate more on the younger Dylan Thomas and, in particular, the photographs taken by Nora Summers.

I produced a lot of sketches of Dylan Thomas and once I'd achieved a look I was happy with I tried to abstract it. I use a brush to draw with and I wanted the sketch to have a calligraphic and lyrical look. I tried different brushes and papers (including Japanese calligraphy paper until I got the look I was after).

Despite the artwork needing to be produced digitally I needed the original image to be created as traditionally as possible. Each layer was created using brush, ink and paint (and in some cases painted on acetate) and combined in Photoshop. All the lettering on the posters was written by hand (a bigger task than normal as all posters and logos were required in English and Welsh).

It's a pleasure to see my Dylan Day posters out and about and across social media. A real honour to be associated with an artist of Thomas' stature (especially as a Welsh illustrator). Details about the day itself can be found HERE and the event kicks off with sand artist Marc Treanor recreating my portrait of Thomas on the beach at New Quay. I can't wait to see this! If you'd like to learn more about Dylan Thomas before the day itself I recommend the excellent "Set Fire To The Stars" film starring Celyn Jones and Elijah Wood.

Prints of my Dylan Thomas portrait can be bought from my online shop.

Welles & Murakami

Two recent portrait experiments. Both in pencil (the trusty Palomino Blackwing!) and watercolour. I've been trying to experiment with crossing my usual stylised approach to portraits with more realistic shadowing. I saw an incredible Janniot sculpture in Lisbon last year and it got me thinking. It was beautifully stylised but with it being a real 3D object reacted to light and shade in an interesting way. The same goes for the stone heads created by Modigliani (a long time influence). This is what I've tried to achieve with both of these drawings. I think I may have lost track with the Murakami drawing and veered a bit too close to realism for my tastes but sometimes it's fun to interpret rather than reinterpret.

Tove Jansson

A sketchbook portrait of Tove Jansson to celebrate her 101st birthday. She was an incredible artist from an early age and her career was far more diverse than I'd original thought (watch this superb BBC documentary to find out more about her life and career). I think she's more influential now than ever.

David Lynch (again!)

I seem to draw David Lynch every couple of months. It was Mr Lynch's birthday yesterday so it felt like a good opportunity to have another go. This is the closest I've got so far. It was originally a sketchbook page but I've scanned it in today and added a watercolour wash (a real watercolour wash pieced together in Photoshop).

Mug Shots

Some recent drawings based on old 1920s mugshots (from the archives of the Sydney Police Dept). I wanted to draw faces without being bogged down with likenesses and all these people had proper faces!

Jazz portraits

I posted the sketches a few weeks back of my Jazz portraits but here's the finished versions (top to bottom - John Coltrane, Charlie Mingus, Thelonious Monk). Brush pen drawings coloured digitally (incorporating a lot of paint scans!). The first three are available to buy now from my shop. I'll be adding more as I do them.

Jazz Portraits

Some recent sketchbook portraits of jazz musicians (colour pencil and watercolour) - John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, Thelonius Monk, Nina Simone. I wanted to experiment with different shapes and space and I thought jazz kind of reflected what I wanted to do hence the subjects.

Dario Argento

Dario Argento portait in "deep red" - what else?!

William S Burroughs

William S Burroughs portrait. Brushpen, paint and photoshop.

PJ Harvey

Another new portrait - this time the great PJ Harvey.

St Vincent

Brushpen and watercolour sketch of St Vincent (how could I resist drawing that hair?!).

Thin White Duke

Station to Station-era Bowie.

Available as a print HERE.

Sherlock and Watson

A sketchbook drawing of Sherlock and Watson (Cumberbatch and Freeman and their extraordinarily drawable faces!) and a digitally coloured version.

Available as a print HERE.

Bowie drawings

Saw the Bowie exhibition at the V&A recently (excellent, by the way) and have been sketching Bowie in my sketchbook since. Here's two. They also work as drawings of Tilda Swinton! Like a magic eye caricature.

Painting for the Amy Winehouse Foundation

Here's my portrait of Amy Winehouse for the Amy Winehouse Foundation's fundraising events. Amy would have been 30 this September. It was an honour to have been asked to contribute something.

"The Amy Winehouse Foundation works to prevent the effects of drug and alcohol misuse on young people. We also aim to support, inform and inspire vulnerable and disadvantaged young people to help them reach their full potential." More information about the good work they do can be found HERE.

Follow @amysfoundation on Twitter for updates and on Facebook HERE.

You can see the Felt Mistress contribution HERE.