Im very pleased to announce that the first of my t-shirts are now available through The Mountain [link]
This is the first of my designs to be released, there will be others in the future!

I would also like to wish all my watchers a very Happy holiday season

ive got some good news for you folks, this year my paintings 'Beauty Divine' 'Valentines Heart' and 'The Glade' will be appearing on t-shirts by The Mountain. these are the only company licensed to sell my  work on clothing, however they do a fantastic job. The versions they are using are not quite the same as the ones on Deviantart as i had to resize and rework some of them. I will provide a link when they are available

In other news this year i was shortlisted for the DSWF wildlife artist of the year competition and had two of my scratchboards on display in the Mall galleries in london and i also won the British Mammals catagory of BBC wildlife artist of the year. This is the second year in a row where i have won a catagory in that contest so im over the moon
At the National Exhibition of Wildlife Art i also picked up the Great Art catalogue award so its been a good year so far for me!

ok people, heres the deal. I spend weeks and months painting these things, i put them up for people to look at and enjoy.  This DOES NOT mean that it is now free for anyone to take and make copies of or use on horse rpg sites and it certainly does not mean that you can now put them on cross stitch patterns, t-shirts, cards or anything else and sell them! I have not given any permission for any of my work to be used in this manner and im getting pretty damn annoyed with the amount of it that keeps springing up.
Its seriously putting me off uploading any of my work online at all and what really REALLY annoys me is that art is my only form of income at the moment, it is my job, and it is a damn hard job to make any money in believe me. I do not just do this as a hobby, this is my living and every damn sale that these cheap horrible copies that are terrible quality is not only affecting my livelihood, but its also giving my name a bad reputation as you can sure as hell guarentee that these copies are nowhere near as good as the extremely high quality products i release myself. The only legitimate products i personally produce at the moment are very high quality limited edition giclee prints that are all signed with a certificate of authenticity. Anything else out there is an illegal copy of my work.
I even put my watermark on the damn things and people just take it off, im going to have to start plastering a watermark so big over everything i upload you can barely see the image. I do not want to have to do this so please, respect an artists intellectual property people. I, and just about every other artist out there is not a clipart generator.

well...its been a pretty hectic year, it started off pretty badly and theres been some times where ive just felt like nothing would ever go right again but in the last few months ive won the british birds catagory in BBC wildlife artist of the year, runner up in the Wildscape magasine award at the national exhibition of wildlife art and theres a new man in my life....also drasitcally updated my camera equipment so all in all, things are looking up i hope...
For those of you who are anywhere near the Wirral, some of my work is on display until the 31st of July at the National exhibition of wildlife art [link]

hi folks
well, some big news this time, i won my catagory in a pretty big national art contest this month so ive decided that its time i did a massive clearout of my gallery and a lot of it is going to be hidden. Im wanting to make my online prescence much more proffesional then it currently is and a lot of my work on here now is very sketchy and old. I will be keeping the best ones up though so dont worry, i wont be dissapearing from DA altogether, its just time to be more selective about what i put up

in other news life is as hectic, ive just got back from a trip to london for the judging and took nearly 16gb of photos so ive got those to go through too and ive been busy finishing a few pieces for the national exhibition of wildlife art this year.

i wish all my watchers a happy holidays, regardless of what they celebrate at this time of the year.
its a quiet christmas this year for us but im just happy that dad is better after his operation. My heart goes out to those who have sadly lost freinds and family at this time of the year.

This winter has been a hard one so spare a thought for the wild birds if you dont feed them already, this winter has taken a serious toll on them with the temperatures and the snow so even throwing out crumbs helps

well its been ages since i updated this so yes, i am still alive. I seem to be losing touch with a lot of things on the internet these days, very little seems to hold my interest anymore.
Life is...well...life, lots of drama and shiz and really ive been avoiding DA because of the inevitable art theft messages and crap like that.

The good side of this is that now im not going back to university i can concentrate on doing my own work which seems to have improved dramatically in standard over the last few years. its also taking about 10 x longer then it used to but having almost no inspiration to do anything at all doesnt help, the battle with depression rages on but im not giving up just yet.

The job situation around here is dire so at the moment im looking for something part time whilst painting to try and build up some stock of good work and getting things scanned for limited edition prints, the trouble is that all takes money that i dont have unless i get a job. You need to spend money to make money and ive got bugger all at the moment.
ive sold two drawings this year, though looking at the stuff in the exhibtions ive realised ive only finished two paintings since i left university which is shockingly bad, i really need to increase my output. Admittedly i had severe iron deficient anaemia which really didnt help but even so ive got to improve on working more and actually get myself a shedule of sleep, work and excercise, which so far isnt happening but i am trying

im thinking of giving my gallery a total overhaul and i seriously need to get some web design software to redo my homepage, can anyone suggest anything thats good and cheap/free?

oh boy, another laptop broken, this time the plastic panels on both sides of the screen snapped for no apparent reason, although the screen on this one is really badly designed. its currently held together with bulldog clips so lets hope it lasts as my other one doesnt have a working touchpad and theres dead pixel lines. Me and electronics really dont seem to mix well, especially portable ones. now im not going back to uni i think a proper computer is in order.

Had an awesome time this last week when one of my DA freinds came to stay with me which was great though im in such a bad mood today because of a misunderstanding with being picked up from the bus when i had to wait so long i got sunburned and ive also been up since 5:15 am after only going to bed at 2am so im extremely cranky, but looking through the photos from this last week cheers me up. got to see the devils horsemen stunt group, a gorgeous fresian stallion and i flew a bald eagle as well as having an awesome time with my freind going to the highland wildlife park and i have an awesome idea of a picture involving a llama i saw...

also saw Shrek forever after today, had to go on my own but still, it was really good, the best of the 4 in my opinion.

oh well, fun time is over, time to start looking for a job properly now ive got over the severe anemia and the sciatica i had last week. probably wont be on much, i really do keep forgetting about DA a lot these days, too much drama and im really not in the mood for people at the moment.

someone alerted me to my work being used in a youtube video, which i left a comment on saying that it wasnt credited to me and my permission hadnt been sought for using them, then someone left a really sarky comment about if i upload stuff to the internet im automatically submitting it so that people can use it for personal use

Ok there are so many reasons how this person is wrong, i have no problem with people putting my work in unicorn collections or whatever online providing that it is none profit, i am given due credit for it and they ask permission first. I dont care if people use my work for personal wallpapers or anything, but the point of the matter is as the creator of the work it remains under my copyright until 50 years after i die, or if i sell the copyright. That means no re-distribution without permission from the artist, and correct me if im wrong but showing my images in a video classes as redistribution, especially as it had over 100,000 veiws and none of those veiwers knew whos work was actually in the damn video. i wasnt actually that annoyed about it until i got the comment, but i know damn well taht half the pictures on that video were mine and there was no credit for artists anywhere on it, that includes artists like losmious. God forbid i ever end up like Sue Dawe whos unicorn work is everywhere but never credited at all and stolen all the time.

you dont put your work in a real gallery and expect people to take photos and print them off to sell so why should it be different online.

It is the same with the polish blog sites and the horse rpg sites, no it is not ok for you to just take someones images without asking to put on there and especially alter them or try and remove the copyright watermark, its there for a purpose and that means no stealing. Artists spend A LOT of time on these images, cant you understand why they get so annoyed about people stealing them? Beauty Divine took me 7 months, i didnt spend all that time for someone to go leaving a big smudge down the centre of it where theyve blurred out the copyright and go claiming it as their own.

Also whilst im at it, artists do a skilled job, in no other proffesion would someone doing skilled labour get offered $20 for something that took them 50 hours to do. Actually think about the time and skill level involved when you ask about the price of something please.

anyway end rant, i apologise, i just think it needed to be said.

its always an encouraging sign when the doctor says she doesnt know how you are still standing up.

ive been having a few blood tests recently due to various health problems, turns out my iron count is 1.2, when normally its between 7 and 150, if it gets any lower then ill have to have a transfusion. it explains my total lack of energy this last few months, i have to wonder if its affected my performance at uni.
im on iron tablets now, though i do have a good diet anyway but ill have to just cram it with iron filled stuff

anyway i have a new studio shed built in the garden now so hopefully when thats all finished i can begin painting again, its an awesome shed. its 12ft by 12ft and its really a summerhouse with 3 windows in and my neighbour gave me some kitchen units for it as shes just had a new kitchen installed and was throwing out the old one so im happy with that, it just needs the flooring and insulation on the walls first

i have also discovered how delightful apoxie sculpt is to work with so pictures of my latest custom will come soon

well, as of 9 minutes ago im 24, whoot. Pheasant chick is growing like a weed too and ive finally finished my unpacking. time to go play pokemon ruby on the gameboy like an adult  and drink cider
>.>
<.<

i currently have a pheasant chick i believe is about 3 days old that we rescued as he was half dead from hypothermia after his mother had been attacked by something and gone off with half her tail missing, we managed to round up the others and the mother took them into the gorse bushes but by the time we managed to bring this little one round they had gone.
He really was on deaths door when we found him poor thing but he seems to be doing well now in his little makeshift brooder box.

does anyone know how to sex a ringnecked pheasant chick? id just like to know what he(or she) is

well...i passed. with two marks off an E, so i do have a degree at least (even though its a crap one, two D's in my degree year x___x) but the lecturers dont want me to come back for my honours year as they think that i really dont have any interest in the contemporary and it would be a waste of my time, which i agree with, id rather have done an illustration course. There are courses for illustration but id have to move away and i wont get funding for it as a student loan.
So...it leaves me with the question of where to go now with my life. im moving back to live with my parents. i guess finishing to learn to drive will help.i need to shed the weight i gained at uni.
In some ways i feel more free, i get to do what i want to do now, in other ways it means going back home to the hamlet of 9 people without being to drive and almost total social isolation. i really need to learn to drive, i hate having to rely on my parents to give me a lift to places and i really want to get back to the horse shows this year that i couldnt get to last year with y gran breaking her leg.

when ive had a bit of a rest ill open commisions again soon, ill need to get money to start paying off my student loan, that means looking for a job too though around where my parents live thats easier said then done.
so we shall see what happens, life is a bit of an open book at the moment


there is no fate but what we make

so life is once again trying to f*ck my head up but im hanging in there. way too much stress and uncertainty at the moment. failed my second driving test and have a sneaking suspicion im going to fail my assessment too. ah well, we shall see. ive still got until thursday, lots of work to be done. really not enjoyed this semester at all, i just seem to get so lost this year with all the crap thats been happening and lack of inspiration. i may have to resit the semester, joy x__x

shit happens, deal with it. if you make mistakes then deal with the consequences and dont try to blame them on other people, there are two sides to every story. If you make yourself unbearable or mess peoples heads around too much then dont blame people for not wanting to be around you. that is all.

also, its the general election in the UK and the bloody polititians are all the same, backstabbing and jeering at each other like kids in a playground. i have no idea who to vote for, i dont have faith in any of them, especially not to rule the country, this country is going down the pan anyway.
im so tempted to create the P.O.P party (Pissed Off People) XD.

i have an essay due on wednesday, my second driving test and my assessment in two weeks, i am a stressed out bunny. i also dont have enough money to pay off my rent so im going to have to borrow some off my parents (who are on a restricted budget with dad having a broken shoulder) which means i will no longer have any money for food for two weeks *thumbs up*. The crap just keeps on piling up.
i wont be around on DA much, especially as DA lags like hell on my comp, however after assessment i will be opening commisions.

been a while since i updated. life has been its usual confusing heap of crap, including my dad having a head on collision in my car that he had just spent weeks doing up so that it was roadworthy for me. im not really bothered about the car as a car can be replaced and it was only a cheap one but dad broke his collarbone in the accident and is now off work sick. im just glad hes alive. just the usual bitter irony that he had just spent all that time and effort on it, including putting a new clutch plate in it the weekend before.

unfortunately the people driving the SUV he hit were not so forgiving and started accusing dad of running into them deliberately. oh yes, im sure someone driving a peugot 306 with only 3rd party fire and theft insurance is going to deliberately crash head on with a BMW SUV, theres no prizes for guessing which car came off worst. their car can be repaired, ours is totalled. all that happened was the car hit a slippery bit on the road and started to weave, by the time the weave was recovered from it was on the other side of the road and unfortunately so was the SUV. heres hoping they wont try and sue us for it, it was just an accident caused by how bad the road surfaces are after last winter, even the police were nice about it and said that dad was just unlucky that someone was coming the other way.

so yes, usual life crap. doing better with my stuff at uni, not so good with the inspiration to actually go in. aaanyway


APOCALYPTIC SIGNS

i need your help guys, what sort of things do you accociate with signs for the end of the world...for example my tutor said he accociates flocks of starlings flying in formation as an ominous sign, my personal one is dark rolling clouds. id appreciate some input on this as its research for my current uni project

thought id better get rid of the old journal, life is ok at the moment. ive learned how to make a stew turn purple, totally by accident. red cabbage is a good dye for purple apparently.

other lessons learned:

university tutors like my work more when im not trying as hard

mixing different types of alcohol is baaad especially when other people are buying you drinks.

healthy diets are expensive

theres an amber flashing light outside one of the schools in a town near me which means on a school day its 20mph not a 30mph zone...which is the ONLY reason i failed my driving test, because i didnt see it x____x only 7 minor faults out of an allowed 15 too, and two of those were for hesitation on a really busy junction. oh well only the first time i took the test. now i just have to get used to my own car as my driving instructor isnt doing lessons anymore.
Hopefully with the new clutch plate it wont be quite so jumpy in the lower gears as the clutch pedal kept sticking a little last time i drove it but i like my little green car.

me and headphones are a terrible combination, ive just broken the first set of the year

in the last two days ive been woken up early by my flatmates shouting at each other, dropped a brand new ceramic oven dish in the car park of a supermarket and cut my hand on it, had a knife drop on my foot, burned the backs of my fingers quite badly on one of the ceramic rings on the oven after a flatmate accidentally put a plastic bag on one of the hobs and i was trying to scrape melting plastic off it with a knife before it set on fire. then i had a bad allergic reaction to something on my hands. whilst i was at the shop someone set the fire alarm off in my flat and the firemen left my lights on when they checked my room which has made my ailing extractor fan above my shower totally die. i finally got to sleep, woke up ridiculously late this morning and was getting ready when my glasses fell apart and i lost the screw down the sink so i was late going to the cinema which i had organised with one of my freinds, then felt so ill just after the film finished that i went into a pub nearest the cinema to be near the bathroom as i was feeling too ill to catch the bus though i did run into someone i haevnt seen for nearly a year so even though i was feeling crap it was nice to see her again.

x___x what a couple of days. im wondering what else will go wrong. ironically it was losing the screw for my glasses that annoyed me the most as without them i am pretty much blind.

oh well. its back to uni for semester 2 this week and i need to remember this term that they dont want people to show skill, they want people to make an informed decision not to paint perfectly because apparently skill in painting hasnt got any worth these days -__-. oh well. gives me an excuse to be half assed at what im painting at uni. i put in a lot of effort last semester and got a D so maybe if i dont try much this semester i might do better. im getting so tired of this.

ok as ive just realised that when my rent goes out im going to be something like £750 overdrawn and i have no job im just looking to see if anyone would be interested in cheap character sketches by me and what sort of price youd be willing to pay for them. please bear in mind that i use british pounds so exchange rates are not very forgiving.
This isnt accepting them just yet im just seeing if anyone is interested at the moment,ill post another journal with a list when i decide on a price but ill have to limit it to 10 i think to start with.

its not a particularly pleasant thing to realise how much the rent is going to be when i just got a D in assessment today too even though the work ive done this year has been pretty good. must think contemporary x___x. how ironic, my work is getting better and my grades are going down. at least its a pass

a big thank you to *Amaris--Miakoda who bought me a subscription *glomps her*

My Assessment for the first semester is on wednesday and ive got so much to do before then its not even funny, but as long as i pass i dont care. i just ahve to finish the HUGE painting at uni and do two of the drawing days. should be do-able i hope.
One of my Final pieces is 2x2.75 metres and im having to paint it stapled to the wall.
All else is on hold until after my assessment