Richard Young, Wokingham
Member Since August 2020
Artist Statement Biography:
I am a self-taught, full time professional Artist, born in Yorkshire, in 1961, and now based in Wokingham, Berkshire, UK where I have my office and studio.
Though I have always had a flair for art, I graduated in engineering in 1983 and with a passion to travel, I initially pursued a career as an engineering and design consultant, holding various managerial roles with international design consulting companies, residing primarily in the Middle East. Nevertheless, an artisan at heart, I returned to Commercial Art in 2003, initially as a semi-professional artist.
My engineering and project management background has certainly helped me in the technical, administrative and organisational aspects of my art practice and there is also a noticeable influence in my composition and creativity.
Artist’s Statement:
I have extensively developed my own personal style and technique throughout my career and I create all oil paintings entirely using a knife, often in a limited colour palette and mixing only on the canvas.
I define my artwork style as being contemporary realism and the technique I employ is a form of segmented alla prima, completed in three wet on wet layers during each painting session: The dark shadows and undertones, the mid tones and then the highlights and light glaze effects. For compositions having a high chiaroscuro effect, I complete the underpainting layer in a lean black paint allowing the sweeping knife application textures to remain and effect the main subject in the second layer which transition into the deep shadows in a drybrush technique by scraping back.
My figurative compositions are influenced and inspired by the realism and romanticism of my favourite post renaissance classical Masters and their timeless, romantic masterpieces. William Bouguereau in particular. They predominantly entail high contrast, dramatic lighting and shading, as I simply adore light and am fascinated with its arguably undue influence on any subject. With the subjects, I aim to capture a carefully composed aloof anonymity in a moody atmosphere with the drama, passion and emotion in a frozen realism, rather than characteristic individual representation of a traditional portrait.
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