Three 5" x 3.5" Postcards to help Childhood First Charity

I was recently contacted to paint 3 postcards to help raise some funds for Childhood First, A registered charity that delivers exceptional, cost-effective outcomes in the care, education and treatment of traumatised children and young people. Many other artists ans some celebrities were also involved in this Fund-raising event that took place at The Savoy in London.

Since the guidelines were left up to the artist, with the only emphasis placed on them being bright and eye catching, I decided to experiment with some faces and mixed media-mainly in water based media.

These are my three postcards.



"blazeandshade" 5" x 3.5", mixed media on card.

Here I played around with acrylics, watercolour, pens, gouache, and coloured pencils. I applied a light coat of transparent gesso on the card first. It's my son Joshua, but I have also taken some liberties to go wild with different mark making to add an abstract quality to the piece.




"The girl behind the window" 5" x 3.5", mixed media on card.

Here, I have played with the same materials as the one above. It's of a fashion shop mannequin. I really get inspired by these shop mannequins because of the play of light across their structures-they almost assume a life like quality.





"The sunshine she brings" 5" x 3.5", mixed media on card.

Here I played around with watercolour, gouache and coloured pencils. Again I went a bit wild with the strokes as if I was drawing.

Special Quote

"What people subconsciously are interested in is the expression of beauty, something that helps them through the humdrum day, something that shocks them out of themselves and something that makes them believe in the beauty and the glory of human existence.
The painter will never achieve this by merely painting pictures. The only way he can appeal to humanity is in the guise of the high priest. He must show people more--more than they already see, and he must show them with so much human sympathy and understanding that they will recognize it as if they themselves had seen the beauty and glory. Here is where the artist comes in." Hawthorne on Painting