Believe it or not, the four pastel drawings featured in this post (which I drew around the age of ten) are not images from a disturbed little boy, contrary to what a great many people thought at the time.

I wasn’t a violent kid who beat up on his peers, worshiped satan and tortured animals in his spare time, I was actually a pacifist. I didn’t want to take part in violent games and clearly remember once sending a neighbour home after he ran over one of my toy plastic dinosaurs with my sister’s Barbie car. I wasn’t a damaged or bullied child screaming out for help either.

One of the skills the artists I looked up to displayed, was the ability to evoke strong emotions and thought. These were some of my early attempts at creating powerful and emotional art which made people think. Back then (and still now) I believed art was much more than just a showcase of amazing technique and draughtsmanship. I had seen a lot of expertly rendered images that just felt cold, left me feeling nothing.

On another note, there are a few recently finished drawings hanging around my studio at present. I might post a sample of one in the next week or so (we’ll see if I can drag the old scanner out). Could make for an interesting contrast.