Psychedelic John Lennon for Sale

Finally, 40 years after first having the idea, I have completed a painting of John Lennon based on the psychedelic poster issued in 1967.

It's only thanks to Google Images that I have been able to fulfil this ambition, as the posters sold out on the day of issue, and I didn't have anything for reference. However I was able to download a jpeg photo via Google, and used this as the basis for my canvas.

John Lennon is my favourite Beatle and because of that I was actually quite scared to commit any paint to canvas. If I was going to paint Lennon it had to be good, and I wasn't sure how it woud turn out.

In my head it was brilliant, I knew how I wanted it to look, but I wasn't sure I could do it. The colours are different to the poster, but I think they work and I'm very happy with the way it has turned out. I think I have done Lennon justice, and I'm proud to have this hanging on my wall.

My current pricing policy is to sell paintings at a low cost comparable to a print. However I think this Lennon painting is good, and I won't therefore sell it for less than £97. It was completed in oils on a stretched canvas over a wooden frame measuring 15.5" x 19.5".

I'm not worried whether I sell this or not, because after 40 years of dreaming I'm just glad to have it hanging on my wall.

John McNally

Clockwork Orange for sale

http://www.popartoilpaintings.com/Films.html

My first completed painting is an opening scene from the film Clockwork Orange by Stanley Kubrick. Alex and his 'Droogs' are out looking for trouble, and unfortunately find a tramp sleeping in the subway. I won't describe what happens next, but those of you who have seen the film know.

I've always thought this to be a powerful image, with Kubrick filming from inside the subway looking out. This produces the extended shadows and contrast between dark and light.

I'm quite pleased with the way the painting has turned out. I used different colours to those originally intended, but orange being the dominant colour is appropriate and effective. The painting measures 20" x 16" and has been completed in oils,on canvas stretched over a wooden frame.

Many artists have switched to acrylic paints as they dry quicker. However I prefer using traditional oils as they offer deeper colours and are more permanent. I am setting up a website to accept payments, and once this is ready I will include links to it. I intended to offer my original paintings at prices comparable to prints, so Clockwork Orange will be for sale at £47.

John McNally

Pink Floyd Album Cover

http://www.popartoilpaintings.com/Music.html

Atom Heart Mother has always been my favourite Pink Floyd album, even though the members of the band are rather embarrassed by the pomposity of it. Atom Heart Mother however is a modern classic; although it has been overshadowed in many ways by other acclaimed Pink Floyd albums.

The title track is a 25-minute opus of avant garde rock...(Here is a 7 minute section, combined with the 'stargate' sequence at the end of 2001 A Space Odyssey). httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfK4HoZYDEQ

from stirring strings, to grunting engines...marching brass...Gilmour throwing in some slide guitar and, at the other end of the spectrum, some pounding drums from Nick Mason. This really is an epic track.

.........At the core of the album are three very delightful songs - the touching 'If', Gilmour's idyllic 'Fat Old Sun' (great solo at the end...), and Wright's 'Summer '68', which contains some great uplifting piano work and melancholic brass!

It's not just the music that inspires, I also like the powerful simplicity of the cover. It has no words to identify the band. Just a photo of a cow in a field, looking at the camera lense. Storm Thorgerson who designed the cover said he simply went into fields near Potters Bar, and photographed the first cow he saw.

I've always thought that this would make a good Pop Art image, and here is my first attempt using oils on canvas. Hope you like it!

John McNally

The Silver Surfer

http://www.popartoilpaintings.com/Comics.html

Galactus and Silver Surfer - Re imagined
(oils on canvas) by John McNally

Most male artists have a beautiful woman as their inspiration, but my muse was Marvel Comics and especially the Silver Surfer. In my teenage years when I wasn't planning to be the next Lennon & McCartney, I decided to become a great artist. I hadn't a clue how to paint, but I went to my local artists shop and got myself an easel, some oil paints and brushes.

I wanted to take comic book images and turn them into oil paintings. I knew that Roy Lichtenstein was doing the same thing, and making a lot of money, so the market was there. However, whereas the successful Liechtenstein was emphasising the origins of his images by even painting the comic printers colour dots. I wanted to make the 2 dimensional drawings as 'real' as possible - (the characters WERE real to me)!

Luckily copying from comics became respectable in the 1960's with the Pop Art movement taking images from mass culture and changing their context. Andy Warhol's 'Campbells Soup Can' and Marilyn Monroe multiple images are famous examples. Marvel Comics were keen to be associated with such a high profile art movement, and even changed their name to 'Marvel Pop Art Productions' for a short time in the sixties.

Looking at the paintings now there is one aspect preserved from the comics. None of the characters have any eyes! Comic printing at the time was not sophisticated enough to show small details such as eyes, and without any artistic training I didn't dare fill in the gaps!

John McNally