Something New...

Eagle-eyed readers may have noticed that recently my art website has undergone a bit of a makeover. I've taken the opportunity to fix some strange quirks that had developed over the years (mostly things only I was aware of that no one else was remotely bothered by) and to give it a fresh lick of paint and a tidy up. Everything is a nice and white now, rather than black.

On top of that, (what's got better eyesight than an eagle?.. Erm...) Red-Tailed Hawk-eyed readers may also have spotted that I've removed the photo gallery from my art website...

The reason being, I’m delighted to announce the launch of my new wedding and events photography website, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter channels. Out with the old website and in with a new, fresh, clean, colourful one (- nothing borrowed or blue yet, other than the flowers in my photo gallery).
Visit www.lukebennettphotos.com for more details of my wedding and events photography services, where I provide beautiful, candid, colourful wedding photography in the photojournalist style.

If you're interested in booking me as your wedding or events photographer, I'm based in Solihull and cover all of the surrounding areas - Birmingham, Coventry, Warwickshire, the West Midlands and beyond. Please visit my site for more information and to make contact, I'll be very happy to hear from you and talk to you about your wedding photography requirements!

 As well as updating my new website with ongoing content, I plan on maintaining an active presence on social media too, with regular updates on what I'm doing, where I'm doing it and how I'm doing it, and of course lots of my photography - both professional and personal.
So please, visit Luke Bennett Photography to see plenty of my wedding photography as well as some of my own personal work.

Don't forget to follow me on social media, too, at all the usual places! -

Instagram: @luke_bennett_photos
Facebook: @LukeBennettPhotos/
Twitter: @LBennettPhotos
Blogger: lukebennettphotos.blogspot.com

Oh, and don't tell this Blog and about that blog ^

Wedding Portrait Art

I recently was asked to produce a painting as a wedding gift. The painting was commissioned by the brother of the groom who, in his own words, could not get excited by the standard items on the wedding gift list. So, although his gift was a little late for the wedding itself, it was hopefully one of the more original presents that the bride and groom received.

The painting was based on one of the wedding photographer's photos. The original photo had more going on in the background, with guests excitedly watching the couple's first dance. However, I thought it would make for a nicer painting if the only focus was the newly married couple - as if they were the only people in the world for that one special moment. 

Consequently, I kept things simple and went for a black background with the spotlight on the couple's warm embrace.

To commission your own portrait painting as a wedding gift, please get in touch here or through artbylukebennett.com

There and Back Again: An Artist's Blog, By Luke Baggins (Bennett)...

Whilst not quite the 13 months that Frodo was away from The Shire, it has been a fair while since I last enjoyed the comfort of my trusty old blog.

Whilst I'd love to claim that in all those months I've been off vanquishing the lands of evil and darkness and making a positive contribution to the world of men, all-the-while avoiding the subtle but determined advances of my chubby best friend, that would be a lie.

The truth is that, regretfully, I haven't had the time or energy to devote to painting and drawing that I would have liked. Regular 12 hour days at work certainly haven't helped. But, for the immediate future, I now have more time on my hands than I know what to do with. As such I've decided to start doing more of what I love doing, resolving to take more photos, do more drawings, and to generally nurture and regain some creativity in my life.

The drawing below is the first result of that resolve, and the first sketch I've attempted in about 11 months. 

An original hand drawn pencil sketch of every Tolkien fan's favourite villain, Gollum, as depicted by Andy Serkis in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings and Hobbit film trilogies.

I think in total it probably took between 5 and 8 hours, although I'm not totally sure as that was spread out over a number of evenings.

I approached it in a slightly more methodical way than I normally do, focusing on small areas at a time before moving onto another. Usually I have a habit of doing a bit of everything all at once in a slightly disorganised but arguably more artistic way.

I'm quite pleased with the results. Let me know what you think in the comments.

As always, more of my work can be seen/bought/commissioned at www.artbylukebennett.com

Reeeead Alllll Abouuuut It!

I managed to get myself into the local paper - The Solihull News - last week after suggesting a story about me seeking self employment as an artist, post redundancy. Given the media's obsession with these Harsh Economic Times™ and the country still In The Grip of Recession©, they gladly accepted my story. Which was nice.

The more exposure I can get, the better, and with any luck there will be plenty of new people in the Solihull area alerted to my services by the article. Those service being pet portraits, human portraits, original artwork, prints and more, in Solihull, Warwickshire, Birmingham and beyond. Ahem.