insideKENT Magazine Issue 83 - February 2019 | Page 29

What is the most unusual, daring, or
interesting commission you’ve ever received?
I work mainly for my own enjoyment but take on
the occasional commission as time allows. These
have always been for images drawn from life. Whilst
I often receive requests to draw from a photo where
people live some miles away, I am reluctant to accept
since photos are no substitute to drawing from life.
I spend time getting to know my model and deciding
together the result we aim to achieve. You cannot
build a creative partnership with a photo! Also,
drawing from life allows me to spend as much time
as necessary ensuring the studio lighting is positioned
to best effect. Effective lighting is everything!
Why charcoal and pastel?
Charcoal and pastel are so wonderfully simple, yet
so exciting to use! They also lend themselves perfectly
to my preferred style of drawing, chiaroscuro, a
technique which relies upon the use of strong contrasts
to achieve depth and volume.
I use a range of charcoals – compressed, willow and
pencil. Whilst charcoal pencil, curiously, comes not
only in black but also in white, I prefer white pastel
since it is much softer and easier to manipulate on
the paper.
Charcoal and pastel allow me to concentrate on key
areas of shadow, light and dark rather than describe
an image in line form. Using a large piece of charcoal,
a putty rubber, a chamois and various fingers and
thumbs, it is hard to describe the satisfying feeling
as the image slowly takes shape.
Does Kent inspire your work in any way?
Kent is a brilliant place! Unparalleled seascapes and
landscapes offer a continually changing canvas for
plein air artists. But artists of all kinds are well
provided for. There are, for example, many excellent
life drawing groups across the county, including the
Deal Life Drawing Group of which I have long been
a member. In East Kent, we are proud of Folkestone’s
Creative Quarter and of the growing number of
opportunities offered by each of our main towns for
local artists to exhibit work – for example, the Fishslab
Gallery and the Horsebridge Centre in Whitstable
and Creek Creative in Faversham. Even outside of
our main towns there are some very exciting
exhibiting opportunities. Barfrestone’s Annual Art
Exhibition is one of many which attracts huge interest.
Do you have any artistic heroes?
All artists with a passion for chiaroscuro will forever
be in awe of great masters such as Rembrandt,
Caravaggio, Leonardo da Vinci and Ingres. However,
of our contemporary artists, my heros are Alyona
Nickelsen, William Maughan, Giovannie Civardi –
and so many others!
In recent years, I have fallen very firmly under the
spell of the impressionist, Degas. Degas, I would
suggest, is one of history’s most prolific and
accomplished painters of the female form. His many
hundreds of ballet and nude drawings and paintings
continue to enthuse all who aspire to draw the female
form and who aim to capture the grace and elegance
of dance.
Despite his accomplishments, Degas reminds us that
art is a continuous process of learning and
development. We can never hope to reach perfection
but seek constantly to improve.
“We must have a high opinion, not of what we do,
but of what we can do one day; without which it is
not worth working”.
Edgar Degas
Where can we see your work?
Examples of my work can be seen on my website
where there are also details of any forthcoming
exhibitions. My next exhibition will be at the
Fishslab Gallery, Whitstable from 30th January –
5th February 2019 (www.fishslabgallery.co.uk).
www.reallifeart.co.uk
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