Chris David

In October 2021 I had a picture exhibited at the OXO Bargehouse Gallery on the Southbank in London, as part of the UK Coloured Pencil Society’s 20th Anniversary Gala Exhibition. Although not the first picture I’ve exhibited it was exciting to show something at such a prestigious event and location, and to travel down to view it and the other exhibits. The coloured pencil picture is Childhood and is based on a photograph I took in the Red Fort at Agra, India. I was sitting down at the time and so the picture is viewed from a child’s level. I think it has an enigmatic feel as we can’t see what she is looking at and we can’t see the adults’ faces.

Weeping Angel

I’ve produced drawings, paintings and marquetry pictures since I was a child, but it is in more recent times that I’ve focussed specifically on drawings. I lean towards detail and I find drawings enable me to achieve more satisfactory results than when I paint. As well as coloured pencils I enjoy drawing with graphite pencils. The other two drawings below are of local St Anne’s statues. The Weeping Angel is in the churchyard of the Parish Church. I noticed it one day over the wall and spent a long time deciding how to draw it best. Out of interest there is a tenuous link to the Weeping Angels theme in Dr Who, in that Russell T Davies, its creator, also spotted such a statue over the wall of a churchyard he used to walk past. This picture got a Highly Commended in The Artist and Leisure Painter (TALP) Annual Competition 2020.

Unknown Soldier

The second statue picture, Unknown Soldier, is of the statue on the Northwest side of the War Memorial in Ashton Gardens. I needed to photograph it to base the drawing on, and wanted to be as level with it as possible. I had to fit my camera to a mono-pod, set the timer and then hold it as high as I could to get numerous photos, much to the interest of people sitting on the benches around the memorial. This drawing got a highly Commended at TALP 2022.

I find my local surroundings as well as travel locations a constant source of inspiration and intend to keep on drawing.