Where It All Begins

Where did it all begin for me? Well I first started doing portraits when I did my GCSE's. It was at this time that I was really starting to become a step ahead in school when it came down to art. Don't get me wrong I have always been with pencil or paintbrush in hand, but my 15th and 16th years really brought it out of me. I was thriving on this skill that I could easily be the best at and portraits being the most difficult subjects to capture, really started to enthrall me.

So from there on in portraits were my favoured subject. I started doing them all the time and was constantly striving to learn how to recreate a recognisable face on canvas or paper. Above is one attempt, an acrylic painting of Coldplay's Chris Martin. It was displayed in an exhibition I was lucky enough to have in Rennie's in St Helens last year and I gained positive comments from the public in the galleries book. These comments were greatly appreciated and spurred me on to work harder and create more. I am also proud of the early pictures, they are a personal symbol of me really becoming an artist.

Do you define an artist as someone who earns a living through their artwork? The answer is quite simply, no. An artist is someone who paints, draws or expresses themselves by creating in other ways.

I truly feel that at that point when I was fifteen years old and starting GCSE art, I became a real artist, and I am sure this is how others discover their love.