Artist Spotlight - Douglas Lyell
Biography
"How to paint" videos.
I thought that I might write down some of my thoughts concerning art to help me paint. Recently I have seen some "how to paint" videos on Facebook. I would really like to know what goes on in art departments nowadays. I might see if I can visit some because all I think of when I see these videos is that the perpetrators of them are merely contributors to the fascist suppression of art. Is this a purely English tendency? I think that it might be. I realise that the perpetrators want to demonstrate virtuoso technical ability. But surely they must realise that there is more to art than mere technical skill. Ideology plays a part too and all manner of philosophical considerations. For example, consider The Third Reich. Hitler himself complained about "expressionism" and a ilack of "realism". This is what the ill -educated arbiters of taste in this country say too.
Bob Dylan, 2024, pencil and watercolour on paper, 28cm x 19cm
When one begins a painting, there are an almost infinite number of possibilities open to the artist thanks to the researches in art of the last century. It seems to me that in this century people are intent on narrowing down the options for the artist until his or her life is made nearly impossible. Art is more than a commodity; for some it is a way of life, for others it gives release from the stresses of the everyday or offers a form of therapy. Are we to deprive the mentally ill of their only solace? Harshness and a mean hard heartedness seem to be the order of the day; this is why people from non English backgrounds are considering leaving the country. It all begins with the suppression of art. I have gained the impression, mainly from Facebook, that the only kind of art that is wanted is anonymous banal, thoughtless, commercial art, in other words, kitsch.
Bob Dylan 2, 2024, pencil and watercolour on paper, 28cm x 19cm
I remember having this outlook when I was twelve or thirteen, when I imagined that I might get a job as a comic artist. When I was sixteen or so I realised, mainly from watching BBC programmes and listening to The Lively Arts that the possibilities of art are virtually limitless. Now I watch very little broadcast television; I find radio more interesting. I'm sure there is nothing on now, to compare with what was on during the nineteen seventies and early eighties. It was around nineteen eighty four to five that the war against any kind of radical working class thought really started, and it has continued to this day until what we now have is pure fascism. It has gradually got harder and harder to express oneself freely until we have the ludicrous spectacle of an artists original work being stolen and violated before completion, in case it might be a "threat to the state".
Bob Marley, 2024, pencil and watercolour on paper, 28cm x 19cm
In the early nineties I studied the situationist movement. The leader of the European faction, Guy Debord, was an obsession of mine then; he was all for the suppression of art, or so he said, whilst at the same time he and his followers produced art themselves. I think he was in favour of the suppression of art because he knew that it causes chaos and leads almost inevitably towards fascism and possible civil war in Europe, followed by a Soviet invasion which I now believe he really wanted. This was what it was all about in the nineteen sixties. Now the "situation" is different. Instead of free expression being encouraged by the State, it is ruthlessly suppressed, as are all kinds of "Jewish thought" concerning the subconscious mind and Marxism. The more one tries to eliminate the subconscious the more it appears to manifest.
King Tubby, 2024, oil on canvas, 80cm x 60cm
Before the end of the Cold War there was a nuclear free movement in Europe promoted by CND and all of it's branches in Europe. Nowadays many say this was also a Soviet/East German scheme; the plan was not to leave Europe defenceless, but to eliminate nuclear weapons from all of Europe, which was a good idea then and even more so now. Let the superpowers aim their weapons of mass destruction at eachother, instead of Europe, that's the idea. Europeans can come up with their own means of self defense. There are many more ways now than during the nineteen eighties. Nuclear weapons are obsolete remnants of the Cold War. Let rational military men with far more expertise than I decide what is best for Europe without the constant threat of nuclear annihilation. The policy of ceaseless warfare is not what anyone wants apart from the Top Brass of the Military Industrial Complex. Do you realise that the whole of society is geared up for never ending warfare?
Max Romeo, 2019, acrylic on canvas, 80cm x 60cm
When I was at University I read in the NUS paper that 20% of courses are funded by the Ministry of Defence. I have been, the victim of a directed energy weapon myself for the last thirty- five years at least, even though I have done nothing wrong; what they are doing to their own citizens amounts to torture. I believe that the "reason" in my case was a "love letter" sent to the wrong person, my erratic behaviour since then was down to microwave torture and my pre- existing schizophrenic traits; to put it bluntly the UK military are using technology against their own people that ought to be used against the enemy. All of the hierarchies of society, the government, the police, the judiciary are run along military lines. It saddens me to reflect on how much has been forgotten by society at large and how much has been buried beneath mounds of misinformation deliberate lies and manufactured ignorance. Let us take responsibility for preserving our wonderful and varied cultures instead of letting the superpowers steamroller us!
Marcus, 2024, oil on board, 40cm x 30cm
There Is no "left" in this country, just a group of people with a fetisch for Soviet regalia who do their best to recreate the KGB or the STASI. They use exclusionary practices just to make sure everyone is right wing, at the behest of the police. They are anti- Semitic, in favour of a war on the Eastern front, they are for re- armament they are against the disabled and black people's organisations, they think of the working class as "them" and they refuse to mix with the " undeserving poor". They are so clean that they look as if they have been dipped in bleach, I find them weird, they are like a cult or a religion more than a political party. They are all obsessed by domination and they get a thrill from torturing their "enemies" with microwaves whilst they remain anonymously behind the scenes. I have absolutely no doubt that what they are engaged in is torture.
Bobby Seale, 2024 pencil and watercolour on paper, 28cm x 19cm
"They" like to pretend that what they are engaged in is mere surveillance or that they are just "Looking in on people"; nothing could be further from the truth. If this were the case no- one would be claiming that they are torture victims. The truth is that they are transmitting a focussed beam of microwaves to the human cerebral cortex which locks on to your electromagnetic brain frequencies, projecting commands to the subconscious mind that are distinguishable from thoughts only by their strangeness. These commands which are like clinical post- hypnotic commands cannot be defied or disobeyed. If you think you are disobeying them, this is just another aspect of the hypnotic command, it is a bit like "reverse psychology" where the controller tells you to do one thing, knowing that the subject will probably do the reverse.
Nelson Mandela, 2024, acrylic on canvas, 45cm x 36cm
Usually the superficial command is given audibly whereas the real command contradicting the superficial command is sub- audible or just below the audible threshold, of sufficient strength to reinforce the "rebellion". Don't forget that long before the torture begins one's character and personality are thoroughly profiled by the authorities. People who instinctively rebel every time they receive a command are easier to control than others whose reactions are less predictable. What we have is a totalitarian command and control system where free will is all but abolished. What I have just outlined is the technique used for thorough going rebels. At the other polarity is the straightforward audible command which becomes irresistible when reinforced by the sub- audible command. This works for the majority.
Bob Dylan 3, 2024, sand and acrylic on canvas, 80cm x 60cm
I kicked their ball away, when I was ten years old and then because I had been raped, I began to act strangely, unti I was twenty three years old when I committed the most heinous crime imaginable; I upset a white woman by sending her a letter of frustration. I was hopelessly in love with her then and didn't really know what I was doing. She had some powerful friends who seemed to link up, to make my life unbearable. All of this time I have been depressed and self- medicating with alcohol and cannabis without being fully aware of why I needed these intoxicants. Now I have insight into my position regarding the reasons for my abnormal behaviour, thanks to the Church and my wife who achieved in a few weeks what the mental health doctors couldn't, no matter how medicated I was, in twenty eight years.
Lemmy, 2024, acrylic on board, 40cm x 30cm
I am astounded that I only had contact with the mental health service when I was thirty- five, I think the plan was to have me suicided and out of the way permanently. I am also amazed that I do not have a PTSD. diagnosis, such has been the trauma I have received. At times the microwave beam is literally like a death ray. Therefore I know from personal experience what this kind of torture is like. The way they torture you depends on your life history, your personality and your character. It is a bespoke psychological method; the details of which depend on the individual. So when one begins a painting there are other things to consider than "will it sell". I am in favour of radical political change, in a free liberal direction rather than squabbling over who has control of The System.
Cristiano Ronaldo, 2021, acrylic and sand on canvas, 80cm x 60cm
My thoughts and philosophy are reflected in my work and in my methods. I work layer by layer, often obliterating what I painted the previous day. This is because I have that kind of psyche. I need art to help me recover from all the trauma I have suffered throughout my life. Perhaps you find my work unpleasant or grotesque because it is the product of a damaged individual. I don't care about that because I know there are people who like my work and who can see beauty in the grotesque. I believe that English cultures also need changing in a more liberal direction. Rather than constantly emphasising the mercantile value of the work and encouraging savage and unfair competition in an oppressive kind of way we need to step back and think objectively about the role of art and culture in our society. Surely art is more than a mere object of trade!
Nik Turner, 2024, acrylic on canvas, 80cm x 60cm
Artist Statement
My main influences are contemporary culture, my life's history and the music of the nineteen seventies and eighties. I feel that I have to take account of contemporary sensibilities when I paint, even though at times I'd rather not. I am aware of the "feminist discourse" for example and I have been since I was a student in the nineteen eighties. There are many aspects of it to which I disagree; they are making it impossible to model a figure in three dimensions graphically because they say the mark making is equivalent to beating someone up. They seem to be placing hurdles and making up impossible rules all the time, some of them quite absurd. You cannot paint a lovely woodland glade because this could be a "rape scene". They make everyone miserable with their false accusations and don't mind ruining the lives of men with these untruths.
Self- Portrait, 2020, acrylic on canvas, 42cm x 60cm
Most of these feminist pundits have no experience of art and are jealous of the influence it can bring to artists. Art is never an assault although it can be quite violently executed at times. Most of the time it is a gentle loving therapeutic experience. I paint from an inner necessity that his difficult to explain but it has to do with the way I grew up and various traumas in my childhood and youth. I need art as a kind of therapeutic practise to bring relief from the continual flashbacks I experience. It is not the wicked ruling class that need art; most of them are quite barbarous, but it is the victims and the downtrodden of society who need art the most.
Self- Portrait Looking In, 2021, acrylic on canvas, 60cm x 42cm.
As a youth I was estranged from the church, again because of trauma, and my brother and I called Bob Dylan "God" which is a sin. Now I hear him as a great poet, not just a song writer. It is King Tubby who I listen to most whilst I am painting because of the downbeat nature of his astounding music. I find it has a calming, slowing influence on my work which I like. As a teenager I was also a fanatical Hawkwind follower which just goes to show that I had little discrimination then; this was also because of trauma, I liked Hawkwinds music because it made me forget. I wasn't traumatised because of Hawkwind!
Self- Portrait 3, 2023, oil and acrylic on canvas 60cm x 42cm.
