Story Behind my
"Coloured-In Doodles"
"Coloured-In Doodles"
When I first started out back in 2005, before I’d completed any finished pieces of art or had any exhibitions or anything like that, I used to keep sketchbooks of doodles and Mind-Maps, a bit like a doodle-journal, with various ideas and inspirations that I’d had...
Sketchbook of Mind-Maps and Doodles...
To start off most of them were in black and white as this was before I’d discovered the pens I now use for colouring-in my pieces:
Black and White Doodles in my Sketchbook
One day I was showing one my books to someone I’d met and he suggested I colour them in and turn them into finished pieces of art…
So I went to my local art shop, found some nice pens and stated experimenting with a bit of colour in my doodles:
Doodle with a Bit of Colour Added...
First Pieces...
The first piece I created in this style was around December 2005 and I called it “Swirl”, although to start of with I just called it “Number 1”:
The first piece I created in this style was around December 2005 and I called it “Swirl”, although to start of with I just called it “Number 1”:
"Swirl" - first full-colour piece from December 2005
The original idea behind it was to put a bit of colour from each of the pens I had onto the paper just to see how they would look, but then it started looking like a nice piece of art so I ended up filling the page, signing it, and then claiming it as my first piece!
It’s quite interesting looking back at this piece because to me it looks like a lot of coiled-up energy and creative potential waiting to explode and turn into the 30 or so pieces that followed shortly after (a bit like the inside of a seed before it grows into a tree or a plant).
"Painted Kites" - First Piece with a Black and Gold Border...
The next piece I created I called “Painted Kites” (above) and it was named after a line from the song “Summer Wind” by Frank Sinatra (whose music I was particularly into at that time…):
This was also the first piece to feature a black and gold border, which I went on to use as a border for many other pieces and also became a bit of a trademark over the years.
I then had quite a creative spurt over the following few months and ended up creating more than 30 or so pieces in a similar style:
"Molecule"
"Boiling"
"Saffron Sun"
"Freemasonic Floor"
"Prussian"
Of course this is just a few pieces from that original collection, but I’ve put a link at the end of this post to a page where you can see them all... ;)
First Exhibition...
In summer 2007 I had my first exhibition at the RISC Global Cafe in my hometown of Reading:
Of course this is just a few pieces from that original collection, but I’ve put a link at the end of this post to a page where you can see them all... ;)
First Exhibition...
In summer 2007 I had my first exhibition at the RISC Global Cafe in my hometown of Reading:
First Exhibition at RISC Global Cafe in Reading
The exhibition was a success and I also sold quite a few of photographic prints that I’d made of my work which encouraged and inspired me to do more creations and exhibit more…
So I went back to my drawing table (I did a lot of my pieces on a rickety old card table that I’d inherited from my grandparents!) and created some more.
In the next batch of pieces my style refined itself somewhat and I also started doing more pieces on larger pieces of paper (in my original collection a lot of the pieces were A5 in size - around the size of my sketchbooks - I then started using up A2 size paper and including a lot more detail):
"Pebbles Together"
"A Scream and a Tear"
"Diamond in the Dirt"
One of larger more detailed pieces was called “Pyramids” and it was a development of a smaller version of a similar image from my original collection:
"Pyramids"
This was also my entry into the Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition - the theme for the exhibition that year was “Light” and I was bold enough to think I might stand a chance of winning because the piece had, I thought, a very interesting interplay and contrast between darkness and light…
This was also my entry into the Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition - the theme for the exhibition that year was “Light” and I was bold enough to think I might stand a chance of winning because the piece had, I thought, a very interesting interplay and contrast between darkness and light…
Entries to 2007 Royal Academy of Art Summer Exhibition
Unfortunately, I didn’t even get past the first round :(
…but it did give me the impetus finish the piece, which I probably wouldn’t have done otherwise as the piece was so intricate and detailed, and took a lot of time and effort to create.
Although I didn’t win the prize at the exhibition, won in another way in that this piece went on to be one of my most popular and recognisable pieces in my body of work - which is in itself a wonderful prize I think :)
…but it did give me the impetus finish the piece, which I probably wouldn’t have done otherwise as the piece was so intricate and detailed, and took a lot of time and effort to create.
Although I didn’t win the prize at the exhibition, won in another way in that this piece went on to be one of my most popular and recognisable pieces in my body of work - which is in itself a wonderful prize I think :)
Craft Fairs and Online Shop
As well as creating new pieces I was also exhibiting my work locally, and going to local markets and craft fairs where I was selling small photographic prints of my work which you can see below (by the way please excuse the poor photo quality, this was before the the days of iPhones and this was just a quick snap on my ancient Nokia phone :D)
First Sale at a Local Church Fete
As well as selling at markets I also set up an eBay shop to sell my prints and originals - which was a lot of fun, and I was so happy when I got my first sale!
"Opening" - First Original Piece to Sell From my eBay Shop
The first pieces I sold was called “Opening” (above), and I sold it for £80 to a buyer in Ireland :D
The first pieces I sold was called “Opening” (above), and I sold it for £80 to a buyer in Ireland :D
Solo Show in London
In Spring 2008 I randomly met someone in and art shop in London and we started talking about art…
I didn’t know at the time, but he turned out to be a gallery owner and very kindly offered to put on solo show of my work at his gallery in London.
Problem was he wanted quite large pieces for the show, and up until then most of my work had been quite small.
So I tried my hand doing a similar style of work on canvas with paint, instead of pen on paper, and although the paintings had an interesting character to them, I really wanted to exhibit some of the earlier pieces I’d created and include them in the show in London...
So, I thought, what do I want? I want these images, on canvas, and quite large… I wondered, how would they look if I got them printed professionally onto the canvas, would that still work, would they still look good…
So I found a company that made such things and gave it go, and I was very pleased with the result…
When they prints came back the colours were bold and the original energy and detail of the pieces was captured very nicely I thought:
I didn’t know at the time, but he turned out to be a gallery owner and very kindly offered to put on solo show of my work at his gallery in London.
Problem was he wanted quite large pieces for the show, and up until then most of my work had been quite small.
So I tried my hand doing a similar style of work on canvas with paint, instead of pen on paper, and although the paintings had an interesting character to them, I really wanted to exhibit some of the earlier pieces I’d created and include them in the show in London...
So, I thought, what do I want? I want these images, on canvas, and quite large… I wondered, how would they look if I got them printed professionally onto the canvas, would that still work, would they still look good…
So I found a company that made such things and gave it go, and I was very pleased with the result…
When they prints came back the colours were bold and the original energy and detail of the pieces was captured very nicely I thought:
"Residue Gone" - Giclee Print on Framed Canvas
Details of the piece well captured by the print...
Bold and faithful colours from the Giclee printing process...
I’d never heard of giclee printing before but now I had and I loved it because now I could turn the volume up on my work by printing them large - it was like my original little photo prints, which were very small and cute, had suddenly been given a new turbo-charged lease of life!
The exhibition went ahead and was held in London in August 2008, about a year after my first exhibition in Reading, and it was well-received again, which I was very pleased about :)
First Solo Show in London's East End
It was also held in London at the same time as all the art school graduation shows, so although I didn’t go to art school myself, and don’t have an on-paper qualification for my art (apart from my GCSE in 2D Art at school), it did still feel like my Coloured-in-Doodles and I had somehow graduated in our own way that day which was a very satisfying feeling :)
After the exhibition, my life went in a bit of a different direction, and although I was still creating, I wasn’t focusing quite as much attention on creating art - although I did come back to creating much more a few years later which I will soon write about in another post…
After the exhibition, my life went in a bit of a different direction, and although I was still creating, I wasn’t focusing quite as much attention on creating art - although I did come back to creating much more a few years later which I will soon write about in another post…
More Pieces Coming Soon...
At the time of writing this post (Jan 2025) I’m currently planning to create a new collection of such pieces, and to exhibit them both online and offline in various locations...
New Work in Progress...
If you’d like to follow the progress of the new pieces and would like to receive an email when the new collection is ready then click below subscribe to the newsletter and I’ll keep you up-to-date:
Click for New Collection Updates
Hope you’ve enjoyed this post!
Speak soon,
Michael :)
See More "Coloured-In Doodles"
If you’d like to see more of the pieces I mentioned above then check out the "Drawings" Gallery…
"Phantasmagoria"
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