Q. How long did your portrait take to make? Is there anything about the process you’d like to share?
The drawing took three or so hours. It was a study for a larger painting that is almost finished. I often work things out with a charcoal drawing before I move onto canvas. There’s something so immediate about it. Charcoal gives me an ability to really throw myself into the moment of drawing and to simply respond. I find it to be a vital part of discovering the character of the person i’m drawing because I can work intuitively, quickly and without thinking too much. That way it’s much more an emotional response, rather than an overly technical one.
Q. Is there anything about the sitter you’d like to share?
The sitter is the Landlord of the pub near my studio. I’m not much of a drinker but I enjoy being in pubs because you find amazing characters there. Rob is one of them. He’s a big guy and probably quite intimidating when you don’t know him. I’ve known Rob for a while and one night while ordering a drink I just couldn’t get the thought of painting him out of my head and so I asked. The process began there.
Q. What is your background with portraiture?
Back in around 2017 I was at Hampton Court Palace and saw Rembrandt’s painting of his mother. I was astounded by the way he was able not only to depict what his mother looked like but how he was able to somehow turn paint into her, to make paint become flesh and atmosphere and emotion. It felt like magic, like alchemy. And from that moment I began to draw and paint and knew that that was what I wanted to do with my life.
I draw and paint many things. In fact I would draw or paint anything if it caught my interest in the moment. But no matter how many landscapes or flowers I paint, i always find myself coming back to the human figure, and particularly the portrait. I find myself looking at people wherever I go. I’m always bewildered by the character, the emotion, the stories that can be told with an honest and engaged portrait painting.
Q. Where do you take inspiration from?
I take inspiration from life. That breathing, pulsing feeling of life and light and lives i sense all around me. It’s the people, spaces, atmosphere, stories and the fleeting, shimmering buzz of life that comes from experiencing the world as a conscious being, I guess.
Q. Do you have anything exciting coming up?
I’m mostly working on commissions at the moment, which is always exciting. But I have a few personal projects that I’m just about finished with that i hope to show at some future exhibitions, so watch this space.
