The White Swan Pub, Ladybarn, Manchester, M14 6TL

The White Swan is my local watering hole. I go here on my own for a late night pint of Guinness and a bag of nuts. It's a quiet, almost abandoned pub that doesn't even look like it's open. It reminds me of the Winchester from Shaun of the Dead, but without customers. It does have some customers though. My favourites are Pat. He is a lovely Irish man with a great, grey tash, who always refers to Manchester United as the "Red Machine". He drinks 2 pints of lager at the same time. Joe is also a smashing Irish chap whose shirt is always way too wide open revealing a large chest that has seen one too many bitters and whiskeys. Joe probably drinks too much. I like him. Then there is Mike. Mike is very skinny and he's not Irish. He likes United and a good chat about music, football and my dog (whom Mike always refers to as Scrappy Doo). Mike likes to "put his dukes up" to Ziggy as if to start a boxing match. Ziggy just likes the attention. He fights southpaw. 


I'm painting the Swan.

It's Part One in a series of paintings I am making called "This is where I am. This is where I was". Here is my first sketch upon canvas. It's important to get an accurate good frame down to lay the paint upon. As you can see I am having a battle with perspective and perspective is winning.