I am a first year history student at Durham. From a young age I have loved to draw and paint; capturing the human form, particularly in portraiture, has been my main interest.
My work is mainly inspired by 19th and 20th century realists like Sargent, Zorn and Freud. I am in awe of their ability to capture the sitter with what appears to be such effortless (but in reality, painstaking) brushwork. By attempting to replicate their respective approaches I am able to learn and improve enormously. I am fascinated by the deeply personal aspect of portraiture which allows one to capture an individual in a way that no photograph can; the hope of achieving this makes me want to keep improving.
After leaving school, I wanted to focus on more classical methods like drawing from life and using limited colour pallets for my paintings. During my gap year, I studied on a short course with the Edinburgh Atelier of Fine Art which helped to formally become familiar some of these techniques.
