Fine art prints UK for walls with real character

Welcome to my blog, I am a professional cartoonist, illustrator, artist and writer. My site here is intended to promote a range of works that I think will look good on the wall. Included on my site is not just my own work, but some works by other artists whose work I love and hope to bring to a wider audience. I hope you enjoy your tour of my site and welcome any feedback. Prints are fulfilled by The Print Space for prints on paper, they are one of the UK's premier fine art print companies, and there is also the option of buying some images printed on to canvas, these are fulfilled by Printumo. All prints are available worldwide.

For people looking for fine art prints UK buyers can enjoy at home, the question is not whether a picture matches the cushions. It is whether it has enough life in it to hold your attention six months later. A good print gives a room a point of view. It can bring colour, quiet, humour, grit or a small sense of place to a wall that had been doing very little.

Fine art prints UK buyers can live with

There is no shortage of wall art about, but much of it feels designed to fill a gap rather than reward a second look. I prefer images with a bit of weather in them: a crooked shed, a big expanse of sky, the geometry of a sign, an old building that has earned its surface over decades. These are subjects with their own character before an artist has even started working on them.

The collection includes illustration, black and white drawing, digital colour work, photography, landscapes and urban scenes. The thread running through it is simple: each image needs to look good on the wall. That does not mean it has to be polite. Some pictures are bold and graphic; others are quieter and made to be noticed gradually, perhaps from the other end of the room with a cup of tea in hand.

Choosing art is personal, and it should be. A large statement piece can give a plain room a centre of gravity, while a smaller print can work brilliantly in a hallway, above a desk or as part of a group. The right choice depends on the wall, the light and how you want the room to feel. It also depends on whether you want the art to blend in or have its say.

The appeal of sheds, metalwork and working places

I have always been drawn to old industrial buildings, sheds, corrugated iron and industrial metalwork. There is beauty in their practical awkwardness: patched panels, faded paint, rust, hand-made repairs and odd angles that would never survive a modern design meeting. They have a visual history built into them.

A shed can be funny, lonely, solid or oddly grand, depending on the weather and where it sits. Corrugated iron catches light in a way that makes a simple wall surprisingly dramatic. Industrial sites beside the River Severn have their own mixture of utility and atmosphere, where brick, steel, water and open space meet. They offer strong shapes to work from, but they also suggest stories without spelling them out.

Much of my subject matter begins with photographs. When the weather turns bad, I paint from those observations, allowing the image to shift away from a straightforward record. Recent paintings and charcoal drawings are taking the work in another direction again. Charcoal is particularly good for pulling out texture, shadow and the weight of a structure, while paint can make a familiar building feel more graphic or more dreamlike.

The Gloucestershire countryside remains a major source of inspiration too. It is not all postcard views. I am interested in the places at the edges of the landscape: lanes, outbuildings, field boundaries, working yards and those small structures that become part of the view because they have always been there. They can be modest subjects, but modest does not mean dull.

A new collection of sheds

I will shortly be adding a new collection of shed images. It is a subject that keeps giving, partly because no two sheds are quite alike and partly because they seem to collect their surroundings. A shed in a field, a shed behind a workshop or a shed leaning into a hedge each has a different mood. They make satisfying pictures because they are familiar, but never generic.

There are new works on the way as well, including work by Steve Parker. I am pleased to be bringing other artists into the shop because it keeps the selection personal rather than turning it into a catalogue of interchangeable images. If I feature somebody's work, it is because I genuinely admire it and think it deserves a wider audience.

Los Angeles signs, photographed large

At the other end of the scale are images of large advertising signs in the Los Angeles area. These are wonderful bits of urban theatre: oversized lettering, ageing paint, bright colours and structures made to be seen at speed. A sign can be both completely direct and strangely mysterious once it is taken out of its original setting and put on a wall.

The Los Angeles photographs are available as photographic images and, for selected works, as canvas prints. Paper prints tend to suit detail, line and tonal subtlety beautifully. Canvas can give a larger image a more physical presence, particularly where bold colour, signage or strong architectural form is doing the work. Neither is automatically better. It is a matter of the image, the scale and the room you have in mind.

A canvas print can hold its own on a broad wall above a sofa or sideboard. A paper print, framed simply, can feel sharper and more intimate. If you are building a wall of several pictures, mixing formats can work, though it is usually best to keep some consistency in frame colour or spacing so the arrangement does not become too busy.

Buying prints for the wall you actually have

Before choosing a print, stand back from the wall and consider how it is seen from the room, not only up close. A picture over a fireplace or sofa often needs more scale than people expect. In a narrow hall, a vertical work can make better use of the space. In a kitchen or work area, a small, characterful image may be all that is needed.

Light matters as well. A sunlit wall can carry strong colour and contrast, while a darker corner may benefit from a lighter landscape or a print with plenty of open space. If you are drawn to black and white work, do not assume it is the quiet option. A strong charcoal drawing or graphic line image can be every bit as assertive as a colour piece.

Most importantly, choose something you want to keep looking at. A good piece of art does not need an elaborate explanation or a grand theme. It only needs to have a visual pull that feels right in your home. Whether that is a Gloucestershire shed, a weathered industrial building by the Severn, a landscape, a cartoon drawing or a towering Los Angeles sign, the best print is the one that continues to earn its place on your wall.