The Making of an Angel: Part 2 Angels in White Space

Angels in White Space is a series of oil paintings depicting the angels in human form with wings. The white space in which they are posed has been built up from many layers to create a pristine purity which is essential to the image. This blank canvas is the space in which the colours of creation are blended to create experience. They remind us that our own minds are like a blank canvas and the colours of our thoughts are the tools with which we create our own unique experiences.

As in the City Angel series, preparatory drawings have contributed to some of the finished work.


Here is the charcoal drawing that preceded the Blue Angel painting.

And here is the finished painting.

I don't think angels will ever take a back seat in my work. Try as hard as I can, they refuse to be ignored. However, I have got some great oil paintinings on sheep coming soon and I have managed to keep them looking normal (without wings!)

Interested in buying one of these images? Click here to visit my gallery.

Short Story Extract

Well, I said I was a writer so perhaps I’d best post some of my writing. I thought I’d start with an extract from a short story.

If you’d like to read it all follow this link to my website where you’ll find some other short stories and a selection of poetry. Post a link to the stories if you think any friends, relatives or acquaintances may like a quick read on the way to the office or waiting in the dentist’s surgery – always assuming they have a laptop or similar with access to the internet.

I apologise for the restrictions of Blogger which won't allow the correct punctuation and page layout but it is correct on the website where you'll find paragraphs and speech indented.

Pock Stones Moor

Do you ever wonder what makes a man cross that line? I’d never had time to wonder, dangerous ground, best left undisturbed. And I’d never loitered too long under black clouds. When that first splodge of rain hustled in on unbroken sunshine that was my cue to pick up my towel and move to dry ground. That’s why I’m up here, looking out over the Thames from a triple glazed penthouse and thery are down there, those fools who sat around waiting for the weather to change.
I never looked back either. No point. There’s only now. That’s something I have in common with Sarah, apart from grey eyes and a passion for Springsteen. Sarah’s a very spiritual person, a people person. Me? I never worried what made a man tick unless it affected his work, like that time Ben pleaded with me to give Dave Hopkins a second chance,
‘Mike, you have to understand, He’s got a lot of problems at the moment-’
‘He’s not the only man to have problems Ben we’ve all got problems only some of us leave them at home where they belong. Either he’s on that plane in the morning or he’s out. I don’t give a shit what his wife says. I got rid of two wives who tried to tell me what to do, maybe he should do the same.’
‘It’s like mole hills, Mike. First one appears and then another and then - ’
‘Jesus, Ben, what do I care about bloody Molehills. Tell him he’s on that plane or he’s fired.’
But then I noticed I was spending more and more time thinking and less and less time moving on. Clouds were drifting in and blocking out the sunshine. Of course a psychologist would say the clouds had always been there, my unacknowledged shadow, whereas Sarah would probably put it down to a traumatic experience on a planet in another galaxy. Me? Well I never really bought into any of that ‘New Age’ crap or Freudian neuroses. My life has always been linear and logical and I liked it like that. When livelihoods depended on your signature there was no room for emotion. I’d seen too many buried under that gravestone. No, I’d had my share of problems and dealt with them until now. Suddenly I was being plagued with my own molehills only I preferred to call them clouds. If I’m honest I think it began with that phone call from Cissy ten days ago...

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The Making of Angels: Part 1 City Angels

A lot of my artwork is based on the figure, either as an individual subject or as a constituent part of an image within a landscape or setting.
Sometimes I draw from imagination, but mostly I base the figurative work on studies from a live model.

I have painted, drawn and illustrated angels in a variety of styles for many years and here is an article showing how some of those paintings have evolved.

Angels are instruments of creation. They are often portrayed with wings of varying size and styles because wings are symbolic of their power to transcend realms and act as messengers. Like many artists throughout the ages I also draw and paint them with wings most of the time.

However I also explore other aspects of these spiritual entities and our perception of them. Many people assert that man is himself an angel who has forgotten how to fly!

I am currently working on two angelic themes.

The first is called ‘City Angels’ which depicts the power and range of their protection without a wing in sight! It explores the unseen and unobserved forces that motivate, inspire and influence the creation of our cities – both public and private spaces.

The second theme is called ‘Angels in White Space’ where the angels may or may not have wings in evidence. The white space represents the blank canvas upon which they weave the colours of the spectrum, which become the visible world.

The images shown here and in the second part of this article, which I will publish at a later date, show the contribution of preparatory drawings and paintings to both winged and non winged angelic images.

These pictures also display the varying styles and media used in my work ranging from charcoal, oil, mixed media (watercolour, ink, and collage), pure watercolour, brush and palette knife.


The large oil on canvas, ‘City Angels: High 5’ is still in the process of being painted.

As you can see from these two similar photographs, I have toned down the colour of the angel riding on the inter-city express as it seemed to be too dominant but I now need to add a flash of light red to the subdued alternative in order to lift it and attract the focus of the viewer.

Red is a significant colour here as it is the colour of creative expression and represents the creative energies of the city – active even in the green shades of night. These angels have been inspired by imagination combined with direct painting from the model.

'City Angels' developed from a series of imaginative drawings and life paintings two of which are shown here:











The mixed media version of ‘City Angels: High 5’ (below right) shows another direction which interests me- namely the abstract use of shape and colour combined with a variety of media, particularly collage.

The preparatory drawings were necessary to establish the perspective and scale I wanted and were the foundation for the larger work in oils.

The small oil painting and the mixed media version are available for sale on my gallery

In part 2 of this article I will be reviewing the making of the 'Angels in White Space' .