Mark Grieves
Ask any creative person and they will tell you that inspiration is
everywhere. The skill is being able to filter out the juicy bits! Without a
doubt I am attracted to interesting shapes and shadows, light and contrast. I am
a huge fan of comic book artists and the way that they create huge fantasy
cities and structures that consume the comic book pages.
To create an image, where the viewer can immerse themselves fully into the picture, enabling them to imagine being there is immensely satisfying. The ability to remember dreams which go as far back as my childhood also plays a big influence in my art. It's like a slideshow reference library that I can call upon at any time.
These days I am not a prolific preliminary sketcher. It seems I have gone full circle! As a child all I would do was sketch and scribble anything and everything. Nowadays I tend to create the image directly onto the canvas. Due to working exclusively in oils the whole process is extremely time consuming. Initially I will lay the canvas out onto the floor and 'go at it' for hours, filling the canvas with geometrical lines and shapes, working out where shadows will fall and experimenting with random colour tests. Once I am happy with the layout, I start building up layers of colour and improving areas that aren't quite working in harmony.
I always leave painting the figures until the very end as they ultimately bring the painting to life. Next I will hang the painting up somewhere I can view it frequently, enabling me to decide if any adjustments are necessary. Only then will I be satisfied to let it go. Quite often the initial idea and the finished article are a million miles removed from each other. To say I am a non-conformist when it comes to the text book artist is an understatement! I paint in oils with watercolour brushes which I don't look after, meaning they get ruined quickly. I leave paint tubes lying on the floor without their caps on, inevitably leading to me standing on them and having paint shoot up my leg. The calamity list is endless - I should never be approached for advice on painting!
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