The Railway Magazine – August 2019

‘Making UpTime’,

byPhilipDHawkins

attach huge importance to ‘getting it right’.

Not only canacommission toaleading artist

set aclient back several thousand pounds

these days, but it’s in no-one’s interests to

invitereputation-damaging criticism of the

finished item.

“I sometimes spend almost as long

researchingascene asIdopainting it,”reveals

Philip. “It’s not sufficient just to check in

books either;afield trip to the location–even

if it’s since been obliterated byredevelopment

–iso ften necessarytoget a‘feel’ for the area
and to gauge the angle of the sun at the time
of day the client has specified.
“That’s moresignificant than might
at first be imagined as it dictates wherethe
all-important shadows will fall in the painting.”
It’s mainly through the medium of books,
magazine articles, calendars and greetings
cards that the majority of enthusiasts have seen
and appreciated theresults of guild members’
efforts over the years.
The first compilation appeared in
1985 under the title of The GreatWestern
Collection and similar lavish ‘coffee-table’
albums have since been published, including
To the Seaside (1990),ACenturyofRailways

(in association withThe Railway Magazine,

in 1996), Along Artistic Lines (2003) and

Emotions of Railway Art(2011).

Those books areinaddition to volumes

dedicated to the work of individual members,

Malcolm Root, Philip Hawkins, Alan Fearnley,

Don Breckon and John Austin being among

those fortunate enough to have had such

prestigious tributes published.

In its 40 years, morethan 300 artists have

belonged to the guild, either as Fellows, Full

Members or Associate Members. Only five

men have been elected Fellows, two being the

late Terence Cuneo OBE and the late David

ShepherdOBE. Fairly unusually foraspecialist

society,the guild took the decision some years

ago to admit non-artists as Friends of the

Guild, and this much-appreciated gesturehas

since boosted membership by morethan 100.

As with all organisations, thereisa

constant need to look to the future, so it

is proposed to offer an annual bursarytoa

young railway artist under the age of 25.

The applicant considered by the

guild council to have produced the most

outstanding work of arteach year willreceive

a£250 voucher for materials and he or she,

along with threerunners-up, will alsoreceive

associate membership for three years.

Application forms will be available at the

Railart2019 exhibition in Kidderminster

(open from August 17 to September 29) or

from membership secretaryWynne Jones

([email protected])

Such initiatives arevital if the guild is to

reflect thetastes of the next generation of

railfans,but at the moment, the popularity of

BR scenes shows no signofabating.

“I’m not aloneinhavin gexpected the

interest in 1950s and ’60s scenes to have

dwindledover the last 10 or so years,but

if anything the opposite seems to have

happened,” adds Philip.

Achallenging phase nevertheless lies

ahead as the guildheads towards its golden

jubilee. Not only will theeffects ofanno

dominibegin to accelerate but the mass

introduction of new passenger fleets on the

UK’s main lines is boundtohave an influence

on younger enthusiasts. Artists may have

to gradually shifttheirstyle toreflect these

changes.

After all, up-to-the-minutetrends aren’t

described as ‘state of the art’ for nothing! ■

RAILWAYARTISTRY

46 •TheRailway Magazine•August2019