This is my art

Having stated that I’ve no time for arty BS I’m now going to indulge in some because otherwise I’ve no idea how to describe my art...so here goes.

I started painting again two years ago after 18 years without indulging in any art whatsoever. In my naivety I thought I could choose my own direction and style of painting, slightly painterly photorealism, big landscapes and architecture was what it was going to be. I soon found out that I was dead wrong, to paint like that was to trying to force oneself into clothes that don’t fit, initially difficult and ultimately impossible. The only thing I got right was my choice of medium, soft pastels.

This is Monty, his portrait is quite typical of how my art has developed, you'll notice that it's also the source of the header image of my site.

In everything else I had to let my art develop in the way it wanted, dark subjects, extreme close ups, bold colours and extravagant pastel strokes with minimal or no blending. I got hooked on portraiture very early on, a subject I’d never touch in a million years or so I thought. Now it’s easily my favourite subject, I’ll paint anything that inspires me though, landscapes, architecture, wildlife, a piece of rusty metal, the surface of a stone and so on...however... I live in the Falkland Islands, as with anywhere some iconic things are painted to death, here it is penguins, I try to avoid painting pictures of penguins if possible.

As far as other mediums go...I’ve yet to get bored with my pastels, with every painting I do I find out more I want to work on, with every idea I have the mediums potential expands to fit it and more. My journey with pastels is far from over, I doubt it ever will be.