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Inspiration from Artists Wk 99: John Yardley and Nathan Fowkes.

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Hang on Studio Wall

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Jenny Harris

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Posted 3 Months Ago

NATHAN FOWKES, born in New York, is an American concept artist for feature animated films - he has worked for Disney, Dreamworks and Blue Sky Studios among others. He is also a teacher and fine artist who works with gouache, oil and acrylic, with a focus on colour. He grew up in a small town in central California and attended the Art Center College of Design, intending to become an illustrator. However, after accepting a job offer from Dreamworks he re-routed his career towards animation, working for that company for 15 years before becoming an independent artist. As well as storytelling through colour scripts, he enjoys traditional media and is the author of several books including How to Draw Portraits in Charcoal, and How to Paint Landscapes in Watercolour and Gouache. He also teaches art and is well known for his tuition on colour, light, design and traditional drawing and painting. He paints regularly en plein air, using a combination of gouache and watercolour. The majority of his work is on grey toned paper, providing a neutral starting point from which to build lights and darks, using a big brush for as long as possible, which forces him to consider the bigger picture. He also emphasises the importance of reflected light and using greys.

Russell Edwards

Forum Expert
Last active: 2 hours ago
Posts: 244

Posted 3 Months Ago

I really like his work. I thought at first glance they might be digital paintings as some of the colours are so bright and the backgrounds are I think, somewhat similar to Eric Marioneaux's work. An exciting artist.

Marjorie Firth

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Posted 3 Months Ago

I think, after reading he worked in animation, it explains somewhat the link to digital style or colour. I like them to look at but it’s not a style I’d hang on my walls. Interesting artist though.

With Sarah, Phil, Ellen, Rose the dentist, and the granddaughter whose name I forget.

Robert Jones, NAPA

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Posted 3 Months Ago

I can see why this work might be confused (on screens anyway) with digital art - except there's not so much polish, for want of a better word, as you can get with digital painting; fewer ends tied up, perhaps..... Less completeness, which is what I like about it - you can see the rough edges (you can with a lot of digital art, too, but it presents a different aspect - anyway, that's off the point). The influence of animation and illustration on his work is as clear as it is with a much older artist, Norman Rockwell, and that style often manages to divide opinion; but - I like it; it's certainly different, and the grey paper (or any toned paper) can certainly help with tones: what's interesting, among many other things, is that his equipment is very similar to that used by Rowland Hilder - but you couldn't easily get more different artists.