At the age of ten, I was given a box of water colour for a birthday present and much to my mothers horror, set about painting directly on to my bedroom walls the scenes I could see from my bedroom window, I was hooked. Art collage was not an option for me, as my father being an engineer insisted on a qualified trade, so it was electronics, specialising in complex circuitry, which in those days all had to be hand drawn. In free time I found myself drawing architecture and as time went on it drew me in closer, so it was back to school and I took architecture, which again was pre computer, so all hand drawing.
These two early career disciplines required accuracy which became the basis for my art with fine detail, painting up the work using layers of oil to provide that smooth, tight finish. Then I found the modern acrylics with their vibrant colours which are perfect for modern loose work.
I always refer to the style of my are as loose realism and have been asked many times for an explanation. When setting out to create a work, I start from the point of final viewing distance of around 2 meters to play a little trick on the eyes. If a work is tight (fine detail) the more you stand back from the work, the more photographic it will appear and the painterly effect is lost. To overcome this I open up the brushwork making it loose, so the painterly effect is not lost when viewing, a trick introduced to the world by the impressionists. I do feel that art should look like a creation of brushwork which can be lost or found by the eye rather than a photographic likeness. Over the years I have been commissioned and undertaken portraits for rock icons and famous faces by their friends and families.
Brian Tones joined Pixels.com Licensing on March 30th, 2011.
