Portraits by Wu-Wei

Anne Hathaway revisited

2022-10-25T10:21:00.000+01:00

A very patient client finally got this Catwoman sketchcover back, complete with Anne Hathaway's signature, nearly three years after I drew it!

And speaking of anniversaries, it's just over a year since I crawled out of hospital. I wasn't at all sure I'd last this long but thanks to some brilliant care from the NHS and help & support from friends & family (not to mention the power of pies!) I'm still here hoping that one day the chemotherapy-brainfog will lift sufficiently for me to get back to some decent drawing. You really wouldn't want to see my godawful attempts so far!

So I have nothing new to share but there's always my eclectic bunch of designs here on Redbubble to meander through if you're beginning to think about Christmas presents - there's 30% off everything at the moment.

You Rock Guitar software

2022-05-12T17:50:00.008+01:00

Very off-piste here but it's the best place I can think of to post this with pertinent tags!

Anyone who's bought a YouRockGuitar secondhand with no software will quickly discover their website has disappeared and the company has apparently collapsed. Without the PDF manual and the Windows Control Panel (to make adjustments easier), it's very hard to customise the settings and alot of internet links seem to have disappeared, so I've dug out the files I downloaded a few years back and put them here on my googledrive for anyone to download. It's version 1.565 of the Control Panel (and no, I don't know how to help update your firmware!).

Hopefully this'll help one or two folks out.

Deleted post from 18 Nov 2021

2022-05-12T15:21:00.000+01:00

I somehow managed to delete my Health Update post from last November, so here it is again, for anyone wondering why I'm an artist who hasn't created anything for 6 months or more...

Unfortunately, the health problems I've been suffering from this year have turned out to be far more serious than anyone realised. Rather than being the flare-up of my Ulcerative Colitis I'd been assuming, it was actually an aggressive bowel tumour forming. On October 11th I had to go into A&E and was then rushed into emergency surgery where they saved my life from the bowel perforation that had occurred as a result of the cancerous growth. There followed a couple of days in Intensive Care and ten days on a ward where the help, nursing and care I received from several different departments was quite simply brilliant - the people who work in our hospitals are frankly some of the best people you will meet in any walk of life; they're professional, hard-working, compassionate and self-sacrificing and in a nutshell, restore your faith in society.

I've since been recuperating at home for a few weeks, recovering from the operation. Like many others, I now have to face an ongoing battle against the cancer to fight it back as it has spread beyond the original site. As such my artwork is going on an indefinite hiatus I'm afraid, at least until my energy levels are back up to concentrating sufficiently long enough and deeply enough to produce anything decent. Chemotherapy isn't renowned for making you feel good, so it could take a while!

As a taoist, I am genuinely open to all outcomes so the following isn't meant to be a Big, Melodramatic Goodbye, but just on the offchance that things get a bit tricky a bit quickly, I'd like to say a big thankyou to everyone who's bought, commissioned, supported, encouraged and appreciated my art over the years. It adds an extra level of gratification to doing what I love and it's been great to get to know so many really nice people in so many different countries as a result (never let anyone tell you the internet is A Bad Thing!). I'll probably be back to bore you with some more work at some point, and I'll still be sharing random memes on Facebook occasionally I expect. In the meantime, be cool, and if you're British, please treasure the NHS for the true gem it remains, despite the incredible pressures it has to operate under.

Some signature covers

2022-05-12T14:53:00.002+01:00

Yep, still here! No new art yet I'm afraid, but some of my sketchcovers have found their way to the actors for signing, courtesy of a dedicated Star Wars fan and all-round gent, so I thought it about time I got round to sharing them. Click to enlarge.
With a bit of luck I might get back to some drawing soon.

Natalie Portman sketch cover

2021-10-06T12:16:00.002+01:00

I'm having to freeze my commissions lists for the moment as I've been experiencing some nasty health issues and am not up to doing much of anything for a while. If you're waiting for something and I haven't been in touch, please accept my apologies as my meds are making my thinking a bit scrambled too. Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible.
In the meantime, here's a recentish Natalie-Portman-as-Thor commission, after an original montage by some clever digital artist whose name I don't know.

Ghost Rider again

2021-09-13T14:22:00.005+01:00

Another commissioned Ghost Rider sketch cover, this one on a white blank and after an original by Maxx Lim. Click to enlarge.

Commander Cody sketch cover

2021-09-02T14:44:00.004+01:00

A commissioned sketch cover of Commander Cody, from Star Wars. Mixed traditional media on a Marvel blank variant. Click to enlarge.

Ghost Rider sketch cover

2021-08-25T15:01:00.003+01:00

Another commissioned Ghost Rider cover re-creation, this one originally by Leo Colapietro. Acrylics on a black blank variant. Click to enlarge.

Gina Carano sketch cover

2021-08-17T14:22:00.001+01:00

A commissioned sketch cover of Gina Carano as Cara Dune, from tv series The Mandalorian. Coloured pencils on a Star Wars: Bounty Hunters blank variant. Click to enlarge.

Ghost Rider sketch cover

2021-08-05T15:13:00.002+01:00

A commissioned re-creation of a Ghost Rider cover by the peerless Clayton Crain. Acrylics on a black blank variant. Click to enlarge.

Felicity Jones sketch cover

2021-07-30T14:41:00.001+01:00

A commissioned Jyn Erso/Rogue One sketch cover, currently on its way to SWAU to be signed by Felicity Jones. My usual mixed traditional media on a nice thick Star Wars blank. Click to enlarge.

Margot Robbie revisited

2021-07-22T14:51:00.003+01:00

Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn revisited for a commission, this time in acylics & metallic paints. (Thankfully not done this week else the paint would have dried on the brush.) Click to enlarge.

Heath Ledger sketch cover

2021-07-15T14:13:00.003+01:00

Another Joker sketch-cover commission, of the Heath Ledger variety this time. My usual mix of traditional media on a DC blank. Click to enlarge.

Hit-Girl commissions

2021-07-08T14:51:00.003+01:00

Another batch of Hit-Girl commissions, after work by various artists including Arian Noveir, Jack Woodhams, Corbyn Kern and Paul Petro. My usual mix of traditional media. Click to enlarge.

Joaquin Phoenix sketch cover

2021-07-01T14:05:00.003+01:00

Joaquin Phoenix as Joker from the 2019 film. Acrylic paints on a DC green-toned blank variant. Click to enlarge.

Another Batman commission

2021-06-21T14:24:00.005+01:00

Happy Solstice to everyone - feels more like a winter one here than summer, and Batman doesn't seem too happy about it. My usual mix of traditional media on a DC grey-toned blank variant (after an original design by Rocksteady Studios). Click to enlarge.

Batman sketch-cover

2021-06-08T15:21:00.002+01:00

Another commissioned Batman sketch-cover, this time in my more usual mix of traditional media. Click to enlarge.

Vampirella sketch cover

2021-06-01T14:05:00.007+01:00

A Vampirella sketch-cover, actually up for general sale on Ebay for a change. Mostly graphite, with a little marker and a fair bit of blood (or it might be red acrylic). Available here on Ebay https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/miniartz/m.html Click to enlarge.

Hit-Girl sketch-covers

2021-05-26T14:19:00.005+01:00

Four very specific Hit-Girl sketch cover commissions, with credit due to original artists Greg Williams, Patrick-Anthony Abando & Mark Henry Bustamante for three of them. Click to enlarge.

Batman sketch cover

2021-05-18T14:34:00.005+01:00

A Batman sketch cover commission, painted in acrylics on a DC blank variant. Click to enlarge.

Chloe Grace Moretz sketch-cover

2021-05-11T13:56:00.002+01:00

Another Hit-Girl sketch cover commission, on another of these not-entirely-artist-friendly blanks. One day I'll go back to drawing on bristol and it will seem such a luxury! Click to enlarge.

Harley Quinn sketchcover

2021-04-29T14:47:00.003+01:00

An all-acrylics painted Harley Quinn cover this time, as these pink blanks did not like my usual mix of pencils, markers and watercolours at all. Click to enlarge.

Chloë Grace Moretz sketchcover

2021-04-20T14:59:00.003+01:00

Commission of Chloë Grace Moretz as Mindy McCready, in my usual mixed traditional media on a Hit-Girl blank variant. Click to enlarge.

Adam Driver sketchcover

2021-04-14T14:34:00.000+01:00

My latest Star Wars commission, Adam Driver as Kylo Ren, out in the snow but apparently not much interested in building snowmen. My usual mixed traditional media on a Star Wars blank variant. Click to enlarge.

Rosario Dawson sketch cover

2021-04-06T14:46:00.002+01:00

Rosario Dawson as Ahsoka Tano, in a stance derived from the animated version. My usual mixed traditional media on a Star Wars:Bounty Hunters blank variant. Click to enlarge.