David Hockney and me

The heading of this post may give you the false impression that I had some sort of connection with David Hockney - maybe that we shared studio space, or he was a drinking buddy - but no, we never met and he certainly had never heard of me, whereas I, of course, had heard of him. It would be virtually impossible to think of a list of the highly creative individuals that blessed the 1960s and not have him in their number: The Beatles, Twiggy, Terence Stamp, David Bailey, Mary Quant, David Hockney… they all slip off the tongue with ease and without so much as a need to think about it because they were all so iconic of that era - and continue to be so, so strong are their legacies. ‘A Bigger Splash’ and ‘Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy’ are just two of his paintings that will be familiar to many and just as redolent of the brightness and freedom of the 1960s as is ‘Sgt. Pepper’ and the mini-skirt. If I’m being honest, I’m not old enough to fully appreciate what was going on at this time - I can remember it but, being only eight during the summer of love of 1967, could not understand it for what it was - a cultural time bomb. Yesterday, at the age of 88 years old, David Hockney passed away.

I was an art student in the mid-to-late 1970s, studying graphic design, and did turn my hand to illustration now and again, but being more of a designer than an artist always fell back on the graphic image without ever letting my inner ‘fine artist’ off the leash. And so, after leaving art college in 1980 I packed away my paints and brushes, maybe never to be used again.

Enter David Hockney.

In April 2012, at the instigation of my wife Katrina, we visited the Royal Academy in London to view the David Hockney 'A Bigger Picture' exhibition which showcased a series of enormous landscapes together with a series of i-pad paintings - it captivated and inspired me. His bold use of colour and the freedom of execution encouraged me to give painting another go. I knew that I wanted to use trees and landscapes as my themes. It was daunting to retrieve my paintbrushes from the cupboard that they had been hiding in for so many years, but all of them seemed to be in good order, more than could be said for the tubes of gouache paint that had hardened beyond the point of rescue. New paints were purchased. Gouache had been my medium of choice as a student and one that I was at ease with, so to return to them was comforting.

I had taken photographs of Birch trees on Headley Heath in Surrey to use for reference in this maiden work. I started the piece without a real sense of where I was going with it. My attempts at illustration as a student had always been graphic in style, mainly as an excuse to not be seen as attempting anything that could be construed as 'fine art'. My lack of confidence at this time was being hidden behind flat colours and graphic shapes, as creating shade and light with paint I found difficult, although I could do so competently with pencil. This 'formula' had worked to a point but sorely lacked any soul. I knew that I wanted to free up this ‘style’ that I once exhibited. To start with, in my first baby steps of 2012, I crudely sketched out the basic areas of the composition in pencil, and laid down a general wash of colour to use as a base. It was a case of placing further colour on top of this, to try and create a mood as much as a depth. It was at this point that I realised that I could not kick my earlier reliance on graphic shape. A look back at Hockney's work that had motivated me to start up again which suggested that it was more than alright to do so - so I did!

Once I started to use these graphic elements I felt that I was developing a style. The freedom that was generated within me by placing lines and swirls of colour was truly liberating. When I made an error (that in the past would have felt irretrievable) this resulted in me overlaying more colour and pattern, which often led to my corrections having a better result than what I had been originally trying to achieve. Within a fortnight ‘Bracken and Birch’ was completed.

Since then I have created more than a dozen paintings - as can be gauged that is not prolific! However, when I have settled down to work on a painting it has been an enjoyable and all consuming experience. They feature landscape as a common theme - plus a single seascape! And all of this thanks to Mr. Hockney. He will never know that his later work inspired this not-so-young ‘former artist’ into removing the word ‘former’ from that description. So thank you David - you have helped to pump a bit of creativity back into my life. Rest easy.

The photographs above are of some of my post-Hockney inspired art works. Below is that first effort - 'Bracken and Birch' - which I offer in tribute of the great man.