ABOUT ALAN
Alan McGowan was born in Glasgow in 1964. He studied at Edinburgh College of Art and returned there to teach, as well as hosting courses in many prestigious venues, including London’s Royal Academy of Arts, Leith School of Art and the Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh.
Alan was a semi-finalist on Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year 2014 and his work has featured in the BP Portrait Awards and the Scottish Portrait Awards. He teaches art online via regular courses and his new Patreon account. www.alanmcgowan.com
Back to basics
I’ve been teaching for a long time, working in art colleges and doing visiting lectures. All of that has changed in the pandemic. I started a Patreon account, but I didn’t just want to take what I was doing online already and charge people for it. So every month, I take a topic and make a video or two about it for my subscribers, mostly about working in oils and working with the figure. There are chances for people to ask me questions as well. Topics or themes might be colour palettes or glazing.
The next thing I’m discussing is transcription. It was a big part of art teaching for a while and then it became unfashionable. The slate was wiped clean by conceptual art and colleges moved away from things like anatomy, transcription and life drawing. When you return to these topics, there’s a freshness about them now.
This story is from the Winter 2021 edition of Artists & Illustrators.
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This story is from the Winter 2021 edition of Artists & Illustrators.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
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