This was a painting inspired by Francisco Goya. I love the dark and the gothic and this was no exception. I am crediting the centre of the picture to Goya with the man sleeping at the table and the surrounding creatures seen as half owl, half bat. The other paintings are my original work taken from another picture and adapted. I sketched several pictures from photos downloaded from the internet and re-created them in four different colours of acrylic. Paynes gray, yellow ochre, titanium white and cadmium red. I found the Paynes gray beautiful to work with.

In the top left corner of the picture is a dream I frequently have of being swept away in a tsunami wave. Somehow in the dream I manage to survive. To the far right corner at the top is a spiral staircase which eventually falls away so that when you get to the top you fall off or you fall off on the way up. Another of my recurring nightmares. Below that is a vampire bat on top of a gravestone. This depicts Highgate Cemetery where some of my ancestors are buried. Next to that is a black cat which I had to add to represent my own cat called Wellington. He is sitting above some ruins. I have added my interpretation of a vampire bat with the plague doctor mask beside it. There are two pairs of eyes beneath the table in the darkness.

Finally I have added some crows, a strange bird and another bat for good measure. I thoroughly enjoyed this narrative art and there will be more on the way.