Artists & Illustrators - UK (2019-11)

DEVELOPING PHOTOS

I don’t like to paint

sharp edges... I like

things a little bit hazy

ABOVECadence,

acryliconpanel,

70x170cm

DISCERNINGEYEHOWANNEUSESCOMPLEXPHOTOSSELECTIVELY

Inherstudio,Annerevealshowa tiny,seeminglyinsignificant

elementofoneofherfavouritereferencephotoscanbeusedas

thebasisfora painting.Intheoldphoto(topleft),thefocusof

theoriginalcompositionis onthecentralfigurespickedoutby

sunlightorthepropellorplanesthemselves.However,Anne

spotteda pleasingarrangementoffiguresinthebottomleftof

thephoto(seecentreimage)thatsheis currentlydevelopinginto

a smallpanelpaintingforhernewshow(topright).

While Anne often has an immediate, emotional response

to a photograph, she has learnt to give herself time to

ruminate on it first. “I know that when I’ve come through

moments of extreme emotion, I’ve had to reign in sharing

that in my work,” she says. “You’ve got to hold back and

wait for things to resonate.”

To aid this process, she will often make drawings in

her sketchbook of favourite elements in a photo, the

importance of which is underlined in her description

of it as “an anchor from which I can come back to”.

From the solid foundation of her reference, she will

create multiple drawings in her sketchbooks, trialling

different subtle variations on a theme, like a classical

musician riffing on an established score. “I might

reference how the light is on the collar or the depth of

darkness on the coats and then I can use it. I’ll change it,

try a mirror image of it, and then move the head down and

play around with that feeling until I get a different mood.”

Paintings begin on canvas or board, with the Irish artist

feeling her way into the subject in a similar way. “When I

start, everything is abstract,” she says. “There’s just a

block of dark, a block of mid-tone, a block of light. It’s just

a case of moving things around until they sit happily.”

Once a pleasing arrangement is settled upon, the figures

will begin to emerge though Anne deliberately keeps them

simple and anonymous. “I don’t tend to have anything too

dynamic happening in the foreground – there are no

Artists & Illustrators 63