In this blog I hope to share my interests in all aspects of the arts and design; be it: painting, the graphic arts, the applied arts, pattern design, a love of letter forms or garden design. I dabble in all these things to varying degrees, more often than not, for the sheer pleasure of it, though my main activity is as a painter – welcome to my studio.
My sketchbooks form an important part of my working life as an artist. They come in all shapes and sizes and are filled with everything and anything that catches my eye or interest. They are a source of reference material, an archive, a data base. In many instances they form the basis of paintings though I always find it difficult to capture the spontaneity of the original sketch. There is a freedom that comes from the urgency of the moment and the knowledge that if it all goes wrong I can simply turn the page over and start again.
As this is my first post I decided to start with a series of wildlife sketches made several years ago. I am not a wildlife artist but I do like to work from life and when I look back at these sketches they have the feel of Japanese one-stroke brush paintings which pleases me. It comes from the urgency to capture something that will not stand still. The key to sketching animals is to start two or three sketches at the same time. Animals do not like to be stared at and will very quickly begin to display distraction traits. Being able to switch from one sketch to another and back again solves this problem.
As with all my paintings I work with a very limited palette which helps me get the subject down quickly as I am very familiar with which colours to mix to achieve the one I want. This leaves me free to concentrate on getting an accurate representation of the subject. This is a topic I hope to return to at some time in the future.
Above: a montage of sketches from several sketchbooks, some very detailed, some not so. Below: I make most of my sketches using a small palette that fits in the palm of my hand together with two collapsible sable brushes. The equipment might be very small but it is of good quality.
Above: Three Gift Wrap designs derived from Tom’s paintings and designs.
Above: Three Steps to a Blue Gate, my latest Greeting Card, taken from one of my oil paintings.
Above: Garden Collection Pochette containing ten Greetings Cards featuring images of my garden paintings.