John A Birch's Page

Name

John

Artistic Medium

Mainly pastel but I also work in acrylic, oil pastel, coloured pencil and watercolour

Birthplace

Kingston upon Hull, England

Influences

Many and varied no one artist, no one thing

How it all began...

It began in earnist, 5 years ago when my wife bought me a set of watercolour pencils,

About me in general...

I feel what I paint and I paint what I see.

Living in the beautiful North Yorkshire Moors, with rocky coastline to complement the rugged splendour of the Moorland, subject matter is of the very best.

I like to paint expressively and see things from a slightly unusual angle. I have recently been pushing the limits of Oil Pastel, as a medium, for creating drama and emotion in my paintings

I tend to paint what appeals to me, in a way that I see the subject.

I paint because I love to paint; my greatest enjoyment is seeing others enjoy my work. If someone can see, even just for a moment, what I have seen my art has come through. I have had several commissioned portraits, animal portraits and landscapes. I am a member of ‘The Oil Pastel Society’, ‘Whitby Art Society’ and a member of 'The Eskvale Painting Group'

By background is mainly military serving as a Royal Marines Commando for several years. During that Time I managed to develop an ability to look at and, most importantly, to see detail and both frontally and laterally. The importance in identifying and relating peripheral detail proved a very useful tool in reconnaissance and now in viewing a subject for interpretation on a canvas or paper.

Though I enjoy working in pastels, I also work in acrylic, watercolour and mixed media. I am mostly self taught, though in saying that, I love to attend art classes and art groups to share and learn new techniques and approaches.

Check out my website

http://www.john-birch.co.uk