Peter Howson - The guy that did the Live "Throwing Copper" cover

 I love this guys work. herewith a few of his paintings and a short bio on him thanks to http://www.peterhowson.net/:


Peter Howson has established a formidable reputation as one of his
generation's leading figurative painters. Many of his paintings derive
inspiration from the streets of Glasgow, where he was brought up. He is
renowned for his penetrating insight into the human condition, and his
heroic portrayals of the mighty and meek. His art is described by Robert
Heller as "founded in Humanity, especially the human face"
Howson was born in London in 1958. He studied at Glasgow School of Art
from 1975 – 1977, and returned in 1979 to complete a Masters degree . In
1985 he was made the Artist in Residence at the University of St Andrews
and also a part-time tutor at Glasgow School of Art. In 1992 he was
commissioned by the Imperial War Museum to record the conflict in the
former Yugoslavia . He was appointed official British war artist for Bosnia in
1993 and a few years later in 1996 was awarded Doctor of Letters Honoras
Causa, University of Strathclyde. Peter Howson has exhibited with Flowers
since the 1980s. His work has been shown in major shows around the world
including the ‘Eye on Europe’ exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, New
York, and ‘The Naked Portrait' exhibition in the Scottish National Portrait
Gallery in 2007 .

Prior to converting to Christianity in 2000 , Howson responded to pain by
pursuing hedonism. His experiences of abuse – whether self-inflicted and
substance-related or the traumatic events of his childhood - have afforded him
an affinity with those individuals who are classed as somehow 'on the edge'.

His work has caught the attention of a number of prominent cultural figures,
celebrities and creatives as well as striking a chord with prisoners, a voiceless
demographic from whom Howson receives many letters of support. His ability
to speak to the peripheries – to both the exclusive echelons living ‘the highlife’
and the socially alienated outsiders labelled 'low lives' – is proof of his
enduring skill at capturing the maverick, excessive and non-conformist, while
also seeking spiritual change.

Howson recently completed a dramatic rendering of the martyrdom of St
John Ogilvie for the renovated St Andrew’s Cathedral in Glasgow. The
process of working on the commission has been the subject of a BBC
documentary recorded over the past two years.

Howson was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the
2009 Birthday Honours for sevices to the visual arts.