Colouring up – the Artist Working in the Studio

Print description

Second print, part of a series of three, that describes how I work: from the concept to the creation of ink drawings and the addition of colour digitally.

In this design, my prints are displayed on the studio wall on long, see-through brackets, which allow me to curate different displays easily—a process I do often—featuring dragons, swifts flying over Glyndebourne, Brighton Seafront, Brunswick Place, and the Seven Sisters cliffs. I am sitting on a Marcel Breuer Habitat 1970s Cesca chair, a gift from my friend Michael, who sadly is no longer with us, but I think of him often. I’m busy colouring one of my monochrome ink architectural drawings of the Brighton Royal Pavilion on my computer. On the desk are my camera, a tripod, a little paper model I made last year featuring the font at St Nicholas Church, a reminder of my time living on Church Street—more books, and a very important cellophane dispenser, as my friend David calls me ‘Mr Cellophane’ due to the many hours I spend wrapping prints.

Next to me, you can see a gym bag with my swimming goggles and towel. I am passionate about swimming. When I was living in London in 2003, I joined the swimming club Out to Swim, where we trained for competitions in a welcoming LGBT atmosphere. I later joined the sister club in Brighton. I have only competed on a few occasions, my favourite being the Pier to Pier swim. Next to the bag, there is a paper basket with rolled drawings featuring a modernist John Craxton cat design. I have used this design often, most memorably as a life-size cut-out when I ran some life drawing sessions at Pallant House Gallery earlier this year.

Also on display around the bookshelf, filled with antique books, are Staffordshire figures, a mug featuring humorous hairy buttocks I made as a nod to Brighton Draws Men, the life drawing sessions I run every week at the nearby Sussex County Arts Club, and a Georgian cut-glass sherry glass—paying tribute to my Spanish upbringing and my love of small antique cut glass pieces.

Print details

To create this print, I start by crafting individual drawings in ink, which collectively form a collage comprising the final piece. I scan my drawings and digitally add colour. The original design solely exists in digital format, and I print it using archival inks and paper. I then release my design as a limited edition print, available in standard ‘A’ sizes, ranging from A0 (84.1 cm x 118.9 cm) to A4 (21 x 29.7 cm).

Domestic Interior and self expression

This work echoes many different sources, from Vuillard’s colourful depictions of the domestic patterned interior, many of which I saw at Pallant House Gallery in 2022, to the Alekos Fassianos Foundation, which I visited in Athens during the summer of 2023. Also in a mental periphery I can think of Ben Nicholson still lifes with his everyday objects; or Gwen John interiors, specially one exquisite painting ‘La chambre sur la cour’ that depicts an balcony

The human figure in a scene

I have been running life drawing sessions in Brighton for many years, and the depiction of the human form fascinates me. Through this piece, I aim to express both my personal experiences and the environment where I live. So the inclusion of a figure is very important, referencing one of my living art heroes, artist Louis Fratino, with his modernist cubic contemporary classics. It also draws inspiration from a recent exhibition at Studio Voltaire in London, that featured a pairing of works by Beryl Cook and Tom of Finland, held in the summer of 2024