The Artist
An example of my early realism approach to painting, later changed to the more stylised method i now favour
Having been brought up in a family passionate about cars it was only a
matter of time before I followed this trait and became interested in
motorsport old and new. Over the years my passion for cars and motorsport
has lead me to an array of motorsport events ranging from local car club
meetings for Scimitar owners through to events like the Goodwood Revival
and Festival of Speed meetings. I have also been lucky enough to attend
drag racing at Santa Pod, various rallying events and travelled to the
French, UK, USA and Canadian Grand Prix's.
As well as my families motoring interests there was also an artistic and
creative side to the family. I was always keen on drawing from an early age
but avoided any art classes throughout my education and instead concentrated
on graphic design. After showcasing my A-Level graphical communication
course work to various universities I was given a guaranteed acceptance into
my first choice 'The Surrey Institute of Art & Design University College' and
also allowed to bypass the foundation art course normally needed. Here I
studied design management, a slight variation on the graphic design route I
was initially going to follow. This did however give me a much better
understanding of design, as rather than simply designing, I was analysing as
well as learning about the history of design and art.
Throughout university my painting was put on hold and didn't start again
until I was working full time within the design, marketing and advertising
industry. I then took up painting once again and initially started to paint
motoring subjects in fine detail. Many paintings later I decided I needed to
create my own style, as I thought realism was not being 'creative enough'.
I then set about to develop a new style that would keep my interest in
painting alive.
After some failed attempts at some 'loose' painting I started drawing
contours to outline blocks of colour on images and so avoiding graduated
tints and fine detail. At last, I had found the style I was looking for!
This meant I could concentrate on an overall impression of an image. As well
as simplifying the image I also started to simplify the colour palette so
the colour of the car now dominates most of my paintings and in some cases
influences the entire image colour. This combined with some interesting
perspectives now forms the basis of my work and a style that can easily be
identified.
Being relatively new to the motoring art scene, I am now in the process of
building up a portfolio of paintings that will be added to this website once
competed. I also hope to exhibit some pieces of artwork in the next few years,
so please keep an eye on this website for further news!