Posted on 07/24/2017 2:02:51 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Carl Bevan was the drummer in 60ft Dolls
He was once a member of much-loved Welsh rock band 60ft Dolls.
But now it’s more a case of 60ft Dogs for drummer-turned-artist Carl Bevan.
Carl, who works in IT for the Royal College of Nursing, spends his evenings and spare time creating incredibly detailed digital paintings of people’s pooches dressed in incredible outfits.
So whether you fancy your dog dressed up as Princess Leia or wondered how they would look like Liberace then Carl is most definitely your man for the job – just as he is welcome to take commissions for more straightforward paintings.
“The paintings are done with an Apple iPad Pro 2 and the Apple Pencil and although there are some great tools you can use to speed things up they are all done 100% freehand with a lot of patience,” he said. “Each piece takes around 30 hours to complete.”
Since launching Carl Bevan Dog Portraits at the tail end of last year he hasn’t looked back, with a constant flow of paintings for people who love his quirky style.
However his adventure in the world of art isn’t so much a new beginning but a reconnection with something he loved when he was growing up.
“When I was a kid I either wanted to be a taxidermist, a drummer or an artist,” said Carl. “I spent a lot of my teenage years listening to jazz and prog rock in my bedroom, painting water colours of wildlife and drawing cartoons in the style of my heroes Leo Baxendale – especially the Willy The Kid books and Mad magazine.
“After I mysteriously passed some A-levels I attempted to be sensible and opted to become an art teacher as I didn’t have the confidence for proper art school and the phrase ‘struggling artist’ put me off a bit as well.”
After a few years of teacher training it became quickly apparent that he was completely unemployable as as teacher and was told as much on a school work placement.
“I was hopeless and I realised quite quickly I hated kids,” he laughed.
“The headmaster at the school where I was on placement called me into his office and asked me why I was doing the course.
“I replied: ‘I want to be a teacher’ and he said: ‘You’ll never be a teacher, you are completely unemployable as a teacher. You need to have a think about this son’.”
Luckily for Carl rock ’n’ roll intervened in the form of the hell-raising Newport band renowned for their furious indie-punk anthems, who burned bright but briefly in the mid-90s Britpop boom.
“Fortunately for me right around that time my band 60ft Dolls started to generate a buzz in the weekly music papers and very soon were signed to major labels, touring the world, having top 40 records and playing Glastonbury.
“So I promptly dropped the paint brushes and picked up drumsticks to create mayhem, noise and chaos for the next eight years instead. It was much more fun that trying to be a teacher if I am honest and it was an amazing, exciting chapter of my life of which I will always be very proud.”
He added: “After 60ft Dolls imploded in a boozy heap in 1999 I got a proper job and became extremely miserable without music so I started doing studio-based stuff and eventually formed another band, The Lash, with some very talented beautiful young people.
“I was already knocking on a bit at this point, mind you, at 39 years old. The Lash was immense fun and a great creative outlet as I was writing songs and producing as well as being the old guy at the back on the drum kit.
“The day came where I eventually had to fire myself for being too ancient and round as I was only just getting away with it in the photos in the first place.”
And it was on that fateful occasion that art re-entered the former musician’s life.
“I always told myself that I would go back to art at some point when I was older and started tentatively doodling some cartoons and remembered how much I loved it all those years ago,” explained Carl, 44, who lives in Cardiff with his fiancé Bev and their Cavapoo Billy.
“I was pleasantly surprised as to what I could achieve with a fully-grown adult brain. The last time I did any serious art Princess Diana was still alive, Nirvana had just broken through, and John Major was PM.
“When I decided to start doing art again around Christmas 2016 I was frustrated there was no back button on my pencils and Rotring Isograph draftsman’s pen. Then a light went on in my head and I remembered the year was now 2017 and things have changed massively, the penny dropped, and I decided to go digital.
“After working with audio software and being in the IT trade for 17 years it totally made sense for me. It blows my mind what is possible with digital art and after a 25-year gap I am loving it.”
It’s evident the painting is proving much creative inspiration and reward.
“As much as I love getting immersed in the whole work itself the best part about the whole thing is when you show the customer the end result.
“I have had a woman who actually cried and another person said they and their family squealed when they were gathered around the computer waiting for a link to the painting to download. It’s the most satisfying thing because you can tell how much they love their dogs.”
For the future, avowed dog lover Carl is being kept busy with commissions and is now taking orders for Christmas.
He has also drawn six episodes of an animated TV series called The Sneebs, which centres around the madcap adventures of three canine mates.
“I’ve had this idea for quite a while, which is fully formed in my head – all the voices and all the characters are developed.
“Sneebs are dogs, sneebs are also tasty things to eat, sneebs are also nice people, it’s a universal word,” he said. “I did it to entertain myself initially but would love to get it made at some stage.”
His irreverent stories centre around three dog pals and their constant war between dogs and cats. And, on that score, if you’re thinking of asking Carl to paint your cat then think again.
“One of the most beautiful things on this planet is the unconditional loyalty and love of dogs for their owners,” he said.
“Dogs see no colour, status, age or have a concept of this strange thing we humans label as ‘beauty’. They do not judge us, they forgive easily and hold no grudges, they care for and protect us.
“Dogs are pure. We could all do with looking through the world through our dogs eyes more often and the world would be a better place. Also they are hysterically funny.
“As for cats – there is a war going on. Pick a side, man. Cats are the Tories of the animal kingdom!”
Find out more about Carl Bevan’s paintings at www.carlbevandogportraits.com and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/CarlBevanDogPortritArtist
That's exactly where you want to be!
Yeah, yeah, Bevan can paint...
Yes, I remember you said that last year.
There is no accounting for taste— I bought an oil of a labrador as an 18th century admiral about fifteen years ago— and love the Leia Pug. I remember the 60ft dolls, loved Catalonia (especially Cerys Matthews!!), and with their second album, the Sterephonics briefly supplanted the Manic Street Preachers as my favorite Welsh band. I’ve got a friend from near Swansea who hates them all. He’s a huge Springsteen fan— its pretty funny because neither of us can understand how the other can’t appreciate the music that was happening around them..
Well it’s better than the garbage that con artists like Pollock put out. What was that monstrosity posted here a few months back that sold for millions? Can’t remember but it looked like some 4 year old’s idea of a skull.
You mean the Basquiat?
Yeah. That was it. What a joke.
The real Bev Bivens, what a doll! We 5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbuzEjEHso0
Are you sure that’s what you meant to post. There is no drummer, and that band is from San Francisco.
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