wellintechnicaldrawing,”hesays,
“butit wasn’tforme.Mydadwasa
mechanic,and,givenallthathehad
taughtme,I’dhavethoughtI’dbe
a littlebitmoreinterested—butno,
notintheslightest.”
Lifepost-universityproveda
struggle.Armedwithhisdegree,he
triedinvaintofinda job.Eventually,
hisluck—andhiscareertrajectory—
changed.“Igotaninvitetojoina rockband, and I became a pop star,” he says. “It was perfect.
I played piano and was into rock music, so I didn’t even
think twice. It was like: ‘Yes, please.’ I was in.”
After five years of touring with the band, Darlow
decided it was time to “grow up” and get a real job,
starting as a cartographer at an advertising agency.
Fascinated by how others in the firm were using com-
puters to create artwork and design—he used paint
as his medium—he taught himself graphic design on
his lunch hours. Digital design hadn’t been an option
when he was at university in the late ’70s.CLOCKWISE
FROM LEFT
Light, Energy
and Movement
(pastel, 18¾x23½)
Skyscape (pastel
and calligraphy
inks, 13x23½)
Trough of
Bowland
(pastel, 7¾x18¾)32 Pastel Journal OCTOBER 2019