The wonderful illustrator on her passion for painting the natural world and bestselling new book.
When did you know you wanted to be an artist?
When I was six, I watched my dad drawing a bird. I knew then that it was what I wanted to do. I didn’t know the word ‘artist’. I wanted to be able to make a bird land on a page in the same way. I still have the drawing. Later I learned there were people called artists. I wanted to become one but was told it wouldn’t be possible. But the hunger to create was bigger than the wall society tried to put in front of me.
Did you study illustration? If so, where?
I went to art college, first in Hereford and then Exeter, where I realised I had chosen the wrong course. Then I went to Bath Academy where I began to learn to draw and tried to learn the craft of illustration. I’ve been learning ever since. I began painting with watercolour 30 or so years ago. It’s been like learning a language. It takes time.
Your illustrations seem deeply rooted in a love of nature. What sparked this passion?
Denne historien er fra March 2018-utgaven av Artists & Illustrators.
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Denne historien er fra March 2018-utgaven av Artists & Illustrators.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Still life IN 3 HOURS
Former BP Portrait Award runner-up FELICIA FORTE guides you through a simple, structured approach to painting alla prima that tackles dark, average and light colours in turn
Movement in composition
Through an analysis of three masterworks, landscape painter and noted author MITCHELL ALBALA shows how you can animate landscape composition with movement
Shane Berkery
The Irish-Japanese artist talks to REBECCA BRADBURY about the innovative concepts and original colour combinations he brings to his figurative oil paintings from his Dublin garden studio
The Working Artist
Something old, something new... Our columnist LAURA BOSWELL has expert advice for balancing fresh ideas with completing half-finished work
Washes AND GLAZES
Art Academy’s ROB PEPPER introduces an in-depth guide to incorporating various techniques into your next masterpiece. Artwork by STAN MILLER, CHRIS ROBINSON and MICHELE ILLING
Hands
LAURA SMITH continues her new four-part series, which encourages you to draw elements of old master paintings, and this month’s focus is on capturing hands
Vincent van Gogh
To celebrate The Courtauld’s forthcoming landmark display of the troubled Dutch master’s self-portraits, STEVE PILL looks at the stories behind 10 of the most dramatic works on display
BRING THE drama
Join international watercolour maestro ALVARO CASTAGNET in London’s West End to paint a dramatic street scene
Serena Rowe
The Scottish painter tells STEVE PILL why time is precious, why emotional responses to colour are useful, and how she finds focus every day with the help of her studio wall
Bill Jacklin
Chatting over Zoom as he recovers from appendicitis, the Royal Academician tells STEVE PILL about classic scrapes in New York and his recent experiments with illustration
