The other artist I discovered in the last couple of days is Simon Palmer, who though a fine artist, rather than illustrator, has an illustrative style. I love his inclusion of road signs and road markings and the incidental (and often negative) intrusion of humans in landscapes, often purposely ignored to create pleasant scenes by others. His use of watercolor with gouache and pen and ink is also interesting, and strongly evokes the landscape he lives in. He won the Turner watercolour prize last year. It’s refreshing to see someone using watercolour on a grand scale and using colour strongly and strong darks as well. And there is nothin straightforward about his work, with odd things going on in many pictures and if not the image presages menace through the use of long shadows and murky corners.
Which artists influence me?
The list grows and changes all the time, but the durable ones are: Barbara Rae (whom I’ve had the privilege of meeting and interviewing), Ralph Steadman, Grayson Perry, David Hockney, David Gentleman, Edward Bawden, Lucian Freud, Quentin Blake, Degas, Marino Marini, Howard Hodgkin, Paula Rego, Brian Wildsmith, John Piper, Edward Gorey, Maggie Hamblin, Henry Moore, Manet, Chagall, Paul Klee, Eric Carle, Picasso, J G Posada, Clifford Harper, and Hoffmann (author of Der Struwwelpeter). There are probably loads more that I can’t think of right now. In addition to these long termers I’m fast adding new (to me) illustrators. These are the ones I’ve blogged about recently and a couple of others I’m familiar with from the Guardian. I am looking at these illustrators again and again… Oliver Jeffers, Benoit Jacques, Gary Panter and Psillos. Then there are those that I like at the moment like Jill Calder, Swoon and Charley Harper. I’ll add to this list over the next few months. Ones I want to take a closer look at are Saul Steinberg, Neasden Control Centre, Michael Sowa, Mr Bingo, and Alex Kanevsky.
