Artists & Illustrators — June 2017

12 Artists & Illustrators

IAN ROBINSON

This London-based photorealist artist uses paint to chart

his obsessions. And since he first painted his record stack

as a private musical memento to take with him when he

moved to London, Ian’s work has grown to encompass

other people’s passion projects, too. Today, he creates still

lifes of book collections, such as Horniman Anthropology.

Moving to study at University of the Arts London and,

later, Wimbledon College of Art, he “began to make a

connection with museum collections in study rooms.” This

painting is a personal response to the subject; an attempt

to capture the spirit of the books and the person who

collected them. “A lot of preparation goes into layout and

composition,” says Ian. He studied them at the Horniman

Museum, the former home of the eponymous collector. “I

made an appointment and discussed the collection.

Historical anthropology and travel books are a large part,

due to Frederick Horniman’s occupation as a trader.”

He made a handful of small drawings and took photos,

spending a day handling the books. “My goal was to

experiment with colour and lighting, and capture a handful

of options on camera. The challenge was the balance

between foreground, background and bookstack detail.”

Back in his studio, Horniman’s Anthropology was worked

on two days a week and completed in a month. “I work over

various underpainting layers as I go,” says Ian. “I begin with

still life drawing and, using photographic reference, transfer

the drawing to canvas. I like to map the work out in

monochrome, sometimes with acrylic colours.” He painted

the background blend before adding each book in turn,

working quickly with small rigger sign-writing brushes,

wet-on-wet. “A mahl stick keeps my hands out of the paint

and I even use it to paint lines. I like Old Holland oil paint

neutral tint or sepia extra rather than black, usually.”

And with his meticulous approach, Ian builds an image

that connects us to the physical history of his subject – the

painting is almost an invite to reach in and flick through the

books’ crumpled pages, just as their previous owner did.

Horniman’s Anthropology is available as a limited edition giclee

print. http://www.ianrobinsonartist.com

ABOVE Horniman

Anthropology,

oil on wood panel,

44x60cm >

INSPIRING NEW ARTWORKS, STRAIGHT OFF THE EASEL

12 Fresh Paint.indd 12 06/04/2017 12: