Some of my earliest and fondest memories are of drawing. I constantly drew monsters, video game characters and comic book heroes. I kept this up through my late teens until it dawned on me that art wa

The SAS (Special Air Service) make routine use of sleep-deprivation exercises in their selection process, and these often feature in later training. Hallucinations during such exercises are very commo

An old man lives at the bottom of my garden. His name is Robert Barkus, or Bakehouse, or Bagust. Nobody is quite sure. But I often sense him around when I’m gardening, and I’ve found out a fair bit ab

Encouraging the viewer to engage, Rebecca Holton prompts reflection on the way we live today and our rituals and routines. Frequently compared to Edward Hopper, her interpretation of light-dominated,

This month’s story, ‘The Surrogate’ by Tessa Hadley, is a study of two men through the eyes of one woman. The title suggests that one man is a surrogate for the other, but is it as simple as that? As

When painting from a reference photo, it’s fair to say that composition is already there for you. But when we paint in the great outdoors, it suddenly becomes very difficult. You have a wide periphera