34 Watercolor artist | APRIL 2020
Forsey’sparents,meanwhile, may
nothavehadbackgrounds in the cre-
ativearts,buttheydidappreciate his
interestandparticipated, too.
“Drawing,”Forseyreminisces, “kept
meoccupiedwhenmumwas busy.
I remembersometimeson Sunday
evenings,aftermybathtime, we’d all
takeit inturnstodraw.Dad’s draw-
ingswerequitegood,mum’s not so
much,andminewereso-so. I always
chosetodrawcowboyguns, and I
guessdad’sgunrenditions might have
beenmoreaccuratethanmum’s.”ART SCHOOLED
Forsey’sinterestinartgrew as he
movedintosecondaryschool, where
histeachertookhimunder her wing
andintroducedhimtodiff erent art
movements,suchasImpressionism
andFauvism.Itwasduring this time
thattheartistwona prize at school
andchoseashisrewarda book on
FrenchImpressionists.Impressionism
hasturnedouttobethebiggest
influenceonhiswork,along with
J.M.W.Turner.
Forseylookedforward to art
lessonsandeventuallywas asked to
painta muralona longdisplay board.
“Ichoserockmusicasmy subject,”
hesays,“andcoveredthe board with
imagesofguitars,drumkits and por-
traitsofmyrockheroes:Eric Clapton,
JimiHendrixandthelike,” he says.
Afterhegraduated,Forsey spent
threeyearsworkingwhat he calls
“dead-endjobs.”The low-pressure jobs
gavehimtimetodevoteto his music
whilewaitingforhisband to be dis-
covered.Whentherecord companies
didn’tcomethroughwith any con-
tracts,hedecidedtotake up graphic
designatBristol.
Forseyhonedhisillustration skills
forallthegraphicsprojects in college,
andlearneda littleabout typography,
layout,designandbookjackets along
theway.Thisknowledgeproved useful
inhisartisticcareer.“Design was very
importanttome,”hesays.TOP
Rivulets and Low Water
(watercolor and acrylic
on paper, 12x16)BOTTOM
Wall and Cliff Cottages
(watercolor, acrylic ink
and wax candle on paper, 14x14)“The enjoyment of drawing
and sketching outside and
then putting that into
a painting is enormous.”