PHOTOGRAPHY: BRIGHTON

I took a trip to the south coast last week. A bit of sea air is always welcome, but the weather was not great in Brighton (one of the reasons I decided to take a short detour to Eastbourne). When it is sunny, Brighton is lovely and very colourful. However, there are only so many photos you can take of dramatic grey skies.

BRIGHTON PIER

BRIGHTON PIER AND A VERY CLOUDY GREY SKY

WEST PIER, WHICH WAS DESTROYED BY FIRE. VERY EERIE

CAROUSEL ON BRIGHTON PIER. LOVE THE COLOURS

DECK CHAIRS ON BRIGHTON BEACH. NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL OPTIMISM

PHOTOGRAPHY: DIRTY DAWG

Letting a pure white dog play on muddy scrubland can only mean one thing... A very dirty dawg!

PHOTOGRAPHY: HAPPY

I'm so happy I could roll around in dirt all day... Let's face, we all would if we could!

PHOTOGRAPHY: HARD LIFE BEING A QPR FAN

It is a hard life being a Queens Park Rangers supporter... If you don't believe me, ask Charlie the French Bulldog.

PHOTOGRAPHY: GRAFFITI AND FRENCH BULLDOGS

Combining two of my favourite things; graffiti and French Bulldogs. Charlie has to be the edgiest hound in London.

CHARLIE AND NOUGHTS AND CROSSES (MR STYLES)

CHARLIE AND "FUCK U"

CHARLIE AND WOLFISH MINDS

CHARLIE AND CHRIMBO

CHARLIE AND SOD NOISE

PHOTOGRAPHY: CHARLIE

Another ridiculously cute French Bulldog... I had the pleasure of looking after this chap for three months. He looks a lot like The Brain (as in Pinkie and The Brain) and has more or less the same temperament, but even despite his naughtiness, I do miss the little scoundrel.

PHOTOGRAPHY: SMILE

Feel good Thursday... Here's a ridiculously adorable French Bulldog pup (who is not posing in any way for the camera) to brighten up your day!

SCREEN PRINTING: PÓG MO THÓIN

Single layer screen prints titled "Póg Mo Thóin" (Kiss My Arse). The hand-drawn St Patrick's Day themed stencil was printed using gold ink on black card. Other colour versions available on Flickr.

SEE IN OTHER COLOURS

You can view other colour versions of this screen print on Flickr. See links below.

• Gold ink on maroon card

SCREEN PRINTING: BEANNACHTAÍ NA FÉILE PÁDRAIG

Single layer screen prints titled "Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig" (Happy St Patrick's Day). The hand-drawn St Patrick's Day themed stencil was printed using white ink on dark green card. Other colour versions available on Flickr.

BEANNACHTAÍ NA FÉILE PÁDRAIG © GINGER NUT DESIGNS

SEE IN OTHER COLOURS

You can view other colour versions of this screen print on Flickr. See links below.

• White ink on maroon card 
• White ink on olive green card

SCREEN PRINTING: LA FALLERA

LA FALLERA © GINGER NUT DESIGNS

Single layer screen prints titled "La Fallera". This piece was inspired by the Fallas celebrations which are held in Valencia every March. The hand-drawn stencil shows a woman in typical "fallera" costume, and is based on an old photo of the mother of a good friend of mine. Printed using white ink on black card.

SCREEN PRINTING: BIRDIE

I have been doing a screen printing (serigraphy, if you prefer) course since the beginning of January at The Putney School of Art and Design in south-west London. It has been great fun and is highly addictive, although perhaps a little bit messy for my-OCD-self.

I won't go into detail about what screen printing involves, as I will be here all day. However, it is basically making an image using a series of stencils - in different colour layers - using any of several different techniques. I suppose you could say that it is a  bit like Photoshop but without the need for a computer.

This was one of the first prints I created. I was not very happy with it, but it is now starting to grow on me. However, if I were to repeat it, I would approach it in a very different way. But then again, we learn from our mistakes. The thing I do like very much about the process is that the prints that have not turned out particularly well can be transformed into something completely different using other media and techniques.

MIXED MEDIA: WATERCOLOURS, PROMARKERS AND BLACK PAINT PEN FOR LINE WORK 

MIXED MEDIA: WATERCOLOURS AND COLOURS ADJUSTED USING PHOTOSHOP

MIXED MEDIA SCREEN PRINT: WATERCOLOURS AND PROMARKERS

SCANNED SCREEN PRINT TRANSFORMED USING PHOTOSHOP

ILLUSTRATION: TEST CARD CHARLIE

ILLUSTRATION: TEST CARD CHARLIE © GINGER NUT DESIGNS

Illustration of a French bulldog titled "Test Card Charlie".  This A4 illustration was drawn with fine liner pen with colour added using promarkers.

ILLUSTRATION: CHARLIE BONES

ILLUSTRATION: CHARLIE BONES © GINGER NUT DESIGNS

Illustration of a French bulldog titled "Charlie Bones".  This A4 illustration was drawn with fine liner pen with colour added using promarkers.