An ex Durham miner in a green cap. by Michael Mcmanus

You do these so well, Michael. Love the dog. His pose is that of an elderly dog, which I suspect you intended.

Casual simplicity yet a great result. Nice work Michael.

Thanks Seth. The dog's definitely overweight. I didn't intentionally want it to be old. It's my own sketch adapted from an image I saw this morning on Pinterest by the artist Des Brophy. I'm sure he was influenced by the Durham Pitmen Painters, e.g. Norman Cornish. There's very little really original work in any discipline, perhaps the natural sciences.

Thanks Jim. I definitely do simple better than detail.

Simple but very effective Michael.

Thanks John.

Great shape figure and I love the dog Michael :)

Thanks Carole.

Impressive Michael, you make figure "work" seem so casual as said.

Thanks Richard.

I've been reading through the comments...you don't have to, or need to, do detail. You get the natural poses so right, we fill in the details without thinking about it. I've been watching a documentary about shipbuilding on the Clyde...your miner could be one of the ship workers. They all wore flat caps and old three piece suits. Your paintings in this vein are marvelously evocative of another time. Great.

Thanks Lewis. My dad was a miner, his dad was a miner and his father was a first generation Irish immigrant who came to Durham from County Roscommon to work all his life as a Coke Drawer at the coke works. So, I have the working class culture deep inside me Lewis. Then, in the 70s and 80's I policed mining communities and strikes and final redundancies - not a pleasant matter for me of course. Thanks for your inspiration always.

Love that little doggie Michael, good colour and washes.

Thanks Linda.

Love this.

Thanks Gudrun.