Hi my name is Ben. I'm an Illustrator from Dublin, Ireland. I studied illustration at BCFE. Imaginative artwork has appealed to me for as long as I can remember. I like to work in different styles and with varied subject matter. I like to draw people and still life, however my favourite subject matter is animals and imaginary creatures. I like my work to be colourful and fun, and I love a challenge and learning from each new piece and project. When creating artwork I draw influence from a number of areas including film, T.V., books, music, comics, interesting locations, history and other artists and illustrators. The materials I use range from pencil, pen, ink, watercolour, digital(adobe illustrator and photoshop) and acrylic. However watercolour is my preferred media. I spend a lot of time working the idea out in my head weeding out the pieces that don't work. When I put pencil to paper I have a strong impression of where things should be, and what atmosphere will be present. The drawing stage is important to me, I do a lot of research from many different areas to get images that support my ideas. I like to watch movies or listen to audiobooks that relate to what I'm painting during the process. The Colours I choose are sometimes chosen to emulate a particular artist to reinforce the meaning of the painting, otherwise I have a selection of colours I like to work with. Some of the art shown is a passionate response to my enjoyment of other art. The obvious examples are the illustrations for Harry Potter, I enjoy the series and through reading it I was flooded with images that I wanted to realise in the form of paintings. Other pieces such as Rabbit Revolution are a response to what I'm thinking about at the time. I painted this piece during the 2011 Arab Spring because I though the world was about to change for the better. I love to become totally immersed in a project and I love that feeling of knowing I'm working on something special. |