The Clash – Large

I’m an Edinburgh based artist, born and bred in Hampshire. I was first introduced to watercolours by my aunt when I was 21, but was too impatient for the traditional method of painting so I developed my own unique style; applying the paint first in a loose expressive manner and then drawing the fine details afterwards in pen. This lively painting style enables me to express the life and vitality of my chosen subject, with the pen strokes working to contradict the chaos of the paint, anchoring the piece together. It’s great fun watching the splodges of paint slowly turn into an animal. The inspiration for my style of artwork has many sources. A love of fashion illustration introduced me to the idea of combining pen and wash, whilst an interest in the works of artists such as Jackson Pollock and Ralph Steadman helped me embrace the art of the paint splat. The love affair with the fine liner pen comes from my time at college where I studied Graphic Design and Illustration. I managed to develop my skills as a painter in between my studies at University where I earned a First Class Honours Degree in Creative Advertising. Within a year of leaving university I’d left my advertising dreams behind, and managed to turn my painting passion into a career and began to fully establish myself as a working artist, exhibiting in many galleries including the prestigious Mall Galleries in Pall Mall, London, where I was short-listed for the international ‘David Shepherd Wildlife Artist of the Year’ competition.