30 Artists&Illustrators
Andrew
Gifford
ABOVE Chapel of
St Xenia, Through
the Trees in
Heavy Snow,
oil on canvas,
135x137cmT
o saythatAndrewGiffordhasa restlessspiritmay
be one of the world’s greatest understatements.
Over the course of more than three hours in his
Brighton studio, he doesn’t sit down once, preferring
instead to hop around the room, pulling out paintings for
his gallery assistant to take away for his next exhibition
and regaling us with endless stories, theories and
unfulfilled ambitions. Like the time he caught a bat with
his bare hands in a French chateau. Or his theory that the
great Renaissance artists weren’t really interested inreligion,theyjusthappenedtobecommissionedby
religious people. Or how he hopes to make a life-size
painting of the huge tree opposite his studio, if only he can
find a company willing to make a canvas large enough.
However, Artists & Illustrators is here to talk about his
painting techniques and, refreshingly for someone so
successful both in commercial and artistic terms, he isn’t
about to hold back there either. “I don’t mind ‘fessing up
my processes,” he says with a mischievous grin. “Some
people are really secretive but I don’t give a shit.”TALKING TECHNIQUESFamed for his vivid paintings of far-flung landscapes, the Middlesbrough artist shares
his advice on colour mixing, capturing light effects and more with STEVE PILL