Introducing raw talent from England
I have been following the art works created by Chris of Kent for some time and I thought you would all like to come with me to the coal face and see an artist at work in the real world. I will let Chris tell you about his journey who has so generously let you into his thought processes. My comments will continue to be highlighted in yellow.
Here is another of Chris' ventures into the cartoonist's world with Oo de Lally! a watercolour painting from his favourite Disney film.
Eventually I tried creating some bike art but then I met my wife who runs an art studio (mostly pottery, painting). From this I really kicked into gear getting my art back, front and centre.
Here are some more of the abstract works he was creating back in 2016. This shows the first painting for the year and the last.
Then from this I moved into figurative landscape work. Here is an industrial landscape of Rugeley Power Station showing the process Chris has taken towards the end result. And below we can share some of his thoughts.
Rugeley power station at night. This needs a bit more detail adding when the main part has dried. Wanted to share it now because it's shaping up pretty well. Just you know, now not to ruin it! I've wanted to paint Rugeley power station for ages. Whenever I visit my parents I don't feel like I'm home until I see the station. The sad thing is there are plans to demolish it next year. I understand progress etc but it's still gutting to think of such a part of my childhood's landscape will no longer exist in a few months.
I particularly like the landscape shown below and Chris’ comment is so pithy: Started off trying a Bob Ross technique, I think I ended up channeling William Blake.
Bob Ross is an on-line artist you can follow through his YouTube videos. William Blake was an C18th English poet and painter.
This is another painting by Chris that is a favourite of mine.
And below is the winner! This image exemplifies how important it is to control line and colour for an effective result!
In the St. Christopher image I have tried to include the feeling of the weight of the Christ child, the struggle against the tide but also include touches like turning the bag he is carrying into a globe to symoblise (quite literally) the weight of the world on his back. In most of my images of Christ he is not only blessing and exalting but also in a suspiciously cruciform pose. The images below show the drawing from rough sketch to larger blow up sketch through final image and then framing.
To emphasise the extent of his talent Chris also makes pottery pieces some of which I will showcase soon.
If you would like to follow Chris Gibson on Instagram you will find him as leapinggazelleart
His Twitter handle is @gibsonc85
Thank your Chris for allowing me to share some of your artistic journey with the blog subscribers. Your style is so vibrant, so individualistic. It will be exciting to watch to see which of your many styles emerges as your signature view of the world.