Ireland's Favourite Painting

I was delighted to hear that Frederic William Burton’s "Hellelil and Hildebrand, the Meeting on the Turret Stairs" has been voted Ireland’s favourite painting in a nationwide poll.
I think that those type of polls are often a bit silly, but this one got it right in my opinion, so it is OK by me.
The painting is in the National Gallery of Ireland but, as it is a watercolour, it is only exhibited three times a week for an hour at a time. So check the NGI website before you go along to see it.
I have been very fond of this beautiful picture since I first saw it about twenty five years ago, and it has certainly influenced aspects of my illustration work.

"Fables and Fairy Tales in Irish Art" at the National Gallery of Ireland

The Study Morning on "Fables and Fairy Tales in Irish Art" at the National Gallery went really well.
It was a treat to spend a few hours discussing artists and writers who have fascinated me for so many years in the company of such experts as Dr Nicola Gordon Bowe, Dr. Jarlath Killeen, Dr. Roisin Kennedy, and Professor Kevin Whelan.
Many thanks to Dr Marie Bourke of the NGI for arranging such a great event and for inviting me to be part of the programme.


I used this picture "The Castle" in my presentation to show how a youngster can get totally lost in the fantasy world he might discover in a book.

Books '09 Festival

I was scheduled to be artist in residence for the Books '09 Festival at the National Gallery of Ireland.
Unfortunately, it looks as if that won't be happening.
I had been asked to do a large oil painting in the atrium of the gallery during the two days of the festival. It was a scary prospect, but I agreed to do it. Unfortunately, some of the "powers that be" at the National Gallery must have feared that I might go bonkers and start splattering oil paint all around me, so they stipulated that I was only to use dry media.
Whilst I was still happy to do what I had originally agreed to, alas I was not in the position to do a crash course in pastels, and I didn't think chalks would create the desired effect. So that residency is not going to happen this year.
It's a great shame as it would have been nice to create something in such august surroundings, and I think the pressure of working in public might have pushed me to do some good work.
I might yet do a talk of some sort with slides, and I will post details if we can arrange something.

Book Fest 2008 at the National Gallery of Ireland

Here are a few photos from last weekend's Sunday Independent Book Fest 2008.
My event took place in the Shaw room of the National Gallery of Ireland. I don't think I've ever done a presentation in quite such majestic surroundings.


Niamh Sharkey(above), did a brilliant presentation first, reading from her books, and showing the children how to draw Henry Hugglewug.
When it was my turn I got straight into the drawing and, because I'd done some important preparation, it went really well and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

The blurb on the poster had said that I would reveal the secrets of illustration, and I took that quite seriously. The key secret involved getting the children to draw on gray paper, using black wax crayons and then highlighting with white chalk. It is by far the quickest way to achieve a complete tonal range, but I don't think I learned this trick until I was about eighteen.

The kids and their parents seemed to enjoy it, and they did some great castle drawings, and afterwards Niamh and I got to meet people and sign books in the Gallery's bookshop.
Many thanks to Conor Hacket for the photos.

Sunday Independant's Books 2008 Festival

I'm doing a drawing session at the Sunday Independant's Books 2008 Festival on Saturday the 6th August at noon.
It's taking place in the Shaw room of the National Gallery of Ireland.
I've only got a half hour slot so I won't have time to talk much about my work, I'll just say hello and start drawing.
I'm not sure what I'll draw.
When I do these events there is always a very clear gender split. The boys want to draw gross, violent stuff that I also enjoy drawing, and most of the girls want to draw fairies and princesses.
Maybe I'll try a gross, violent princess this time.

There will be a "PJ Lynch" evening event for adults at the National Library of Ireland in early December . The Library will be mounting an exhibition of my work that they have in their Prints and Drawings section.


Here's one of my ink drawings from the Library's collection.
I'm very excited about that event. I'll post more details closer to the date.