Poppy Flower

Britannia, Oh Britannia!
This is a country of the free
A country for all religions, all colours, all creeds
So if your brother is blind and he cannot see
Then you should send him onto me
I will show him at the morning light
That life is more than a human right
How we should live it in harmony
As one great family

We’ve stood here for 10,000 years
We’ll stand here for 10,000 more
Our people’s pride will never slide
We’re proud, we’re brave and strong
As others flock from across the sea
With open arms, we shall welcome thee
Embrace you now as a brother
To a home where you may reside forever

But remember who you are
Who your fathers were
Who your sons will strive to be
For that is Britain
For that is home
For that is the British dream 

Through the torment and oppression that we'll endure
Patriots we'll remain; for that we are sure
For whatever reason; we owe this land
And to its beauty we shall lay our hands
If the union Jack should ever bleed away
If it’s black, white and fucking grey
Then we shall spill our blood and restore her colour
Holster high our poppy flower

i sat down to watch the Europa League final earlier,

picked up a pencil and a pad and started scribblin'

down some lyrics for my proposed national anthem.

This is what i came up with, and i think i'm pretty pleased with it.

The idea is for it to be presented as more of a poem

 than for someone to actually sing it.

Alongside illustrating the lyrics in a book i'm thinking of recording myself performing it or getting someone else to perform it, 

maybe a group of people?

Happy 19th Mr Conway!

meh.

my scanner makes this look terrible, i don't know which i prefer haha

happy birthday lewis, you absolute hero! 

Colossus

This is what happens when i dos instead of doing my college work

Revolt

The day we occupied Millbank tower.

tik tok

Messing around on photoshop when I should really

have been getting on with my pathway projects.

woof woof

There's nothing that says British like a abstracted

 bulldog / dogey alien thing out of Men in Black

lolz

still though, i really like my drawing
although i'm considering actually drawing one

 of the worms out of MIB in this style just for the artistic banter!

Union Josh

I asked Mr Bell to participate in my FMP and he kindly obliged.

I bought a decently-sized British flag from U-Need-Us and turned it into a toga, dabbed some face paint on him and staged a quick photo-shoot.

I was also experimenting with some different camera techniques which I think came out really well.  Going to render some of the images on photoshop and see what I can do with it.

Josh Bell is a talented young Journalist
 currently studying at Portsmouth Uni.

Take a look at his blog and follow him on Twitter!

Click here

for a fantastic read

and then

follow him on Twitter

Matyrdom

All of these are Guercino works.

I'm thinking of this style for my final outcome..?

Andrea Del Sarto

Loving this pen & ink of Julius Caesar by Del Sarto.

i swear i'm gonna practise til i'm this good at drawing haha!

Mitch Griffiths

Another instalment of talent in the form of a great contemporary British artist who should be a true inspiration to anyone who has ever picked up a paintbrush.  His painting style rivals the skill of the Old Masters and the mind behind the art is a brilliant one.

It's Keira Knightley and Ray Winstone in the pic above if you hadn't noticed ;)

Check out his current exhibitions on his website

Mitch Griffiths

Georgie Porgie

So yeah i really need to catch up with this blog since i started it for my final major project and forgot to update it haha!

St. George and the Dragon

Peter Paul Rubens

1606 - 10

So i've launched this project off by looking at different depictions of St. George.  This one by Rubens is by far one of my favs.  I've also been looking at a lot of his pen & ink pieces which are fascinating so i think i'm going to revisit some of that research to push my developments.

On a side note:

I find it really strange that the patron saint
 of England was in fact not English
and never actually stepped foot here either.  

Bafflin'     

Vincenzo

Well i thought that i'd start off by posting a painting from someone who truly inspires me and my art.
I love his painting style and all of his ideas. 
I'm so glad to be friends with and work close to someone
 with so many great ideas about the world of art
 and how he wants to change it.

Ode to Vincenzo