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About the Artist
Beside a tributary of the Fraser River in Canada
At the start of his career Andrew produced mostly illustration work, drawing birds and animals for journals, magazines and books (most notably as principal illustrator for ‘The Birds of Oxfordshire’ for which he produced the colour plate for the dust-jacket and 87 of the 147 ink drawings in the book). A self-taught artist, until recently he has worked mainly in graphite pencil and acrylics to complete his originals. He has produced several commissions for the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds), of which he has been a member for over twenty years. He is a keen naturalist and has travelled in both this country and abroad in search of wildlife. His artwork has also travelled widely, with examples of his art in collections in the UK, Europe,Kenya, Canada and USA.
On route to Vancouver Island
His work has been displayed at many British venues including Nature in Art at Gloucester (where he participates in their ‘Artist in Residence’ programme and runs drawing workshops), The Mall Galleries, Christies, Sotheby’s, The Artist and Illustrator’s Show at Olympia and Galleries at WWT Slimbridge, Arundel and The London Wetland Centre.
Andrew draws his inspiration from a multitude of sources, either through direct experience of a species or it’s surroundings, or from the indirect influence of his own sketches and photos. The use of a limited palette (i.e. a small range of colours) can produce both subtle and dramatic effects and by switching to the use of graphite pencil for the majority of his art Andrew has taken this process to it’s ultimate extreme. The absence of colour means that he must search for other aspects (e.g. pattern and shape) to give his work life and interest. Working on textured watercolour paper and using a full range of twenty different grades of pencil, the versatility of this medium provides Andrew with the means to achieve his desire to depict animals and birds in detail .** However, in a new departure, Andrew has recently begun working in Pastel. This has given him the opportunity to work in colour whilst still using his tried & tested pencil techniques. For this work he uses Velour paper which has a smooth, velvet-like surface and lends itself to working in this soft medium. The versatility of pastel pencils ensures that it is still possible to create highly detailed work and is particularly suited to depicting fur (See Dogs).
Repose-Snow Leopards
All images on this site are copyright. © Andrew Forkner BACK TO TOP OF PAGE
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