JENNY WHITE chats to the Wiltshire-based artist ahead of a major career retrospective to find out how he brings his portrait paintings to life
Royals, celebrities, judges, clergymen, leading academics and fellow artists – the latest monograph of David Cobley’s artwork, All By Myself, is a compendium of faces, each one a vivid, powerful presence. Portraits are not the only thing the Wiltshirebased artist paints, but it has been a staple part of his work throughout his career and remains so today.
It’s clear that each painting is far more than a snapshot. Portrait painting is an intimate process, one in which the sitter often opens up about their life and thoughts – and David’s paintings reflect his knack for striking up a rapport with his subjects. “People have always fascinated me, the way we think and behave and so on, and that’s one of the reasons I took up portrait painting,” he says. “I’m quite a shy person and, looking back, being with someone and talking used to be something I found quite difficult, but chatting and drawing gave me a way in – and I could chat more comfortably because I had something to do; it meant I didn’t feel as self-conscious. Painting portraits gave me a way of meeting and talking with people, finding out more about them and what made them tick.
“I want to spend time with my subjects to find out what gets them up in the morning, what motivates them. I’ve had some amazing conversations with some amazing people,” he says, with past sitters including HRH The Princess Royal, the late comedian Ken Dodd OBE and ground-breaking stem cell researcher Sir Martin Evans.
Bu hikaye Artists & Illustrators dergisinin September 2019 sayısından alınmıştır.
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Bu hikaye Artists & Illustrators dergisinin September 2019 sayısından alınmıştır.
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