Chris Forsey RI

Cottage Cluster Port Isaac - 20" x 16" - Mixed Media

I began painting in watercolour as an antidote to the rigours of being an illustrator, a career that I fell into when offered a chance to “give it try “when I left art college. My style was tight and detailed and I have spent 30 years trying to escape that discipline, to create work that is loose , well composed, expressive, but with an underlying component of sound draughtsmanship.

End of the Afternoon - 16" x 16" - Mixed Media

My technique has evolved from straight forward watercolour into something of a hybrid, using some mixed media, ink, pastel, crayon and acrylic paint applied to a paper support, sometimes partly covered in gesso. I apply acrylic ink or acrylic paint in transparent washes over a largely tonal, expressive underpainting, then increasingly opaque acrylic paint in richer colours followed by more form and lights in thicker body colour, final detail sometimes added with very loose ink mark-making, scratching out and body colour highlights to draw the eye to a defined focal point.

St Ives Light - 16" x 16" - Mixed Media

Landscape subjects are my favourite inspiration, I enjoy structured compositions, townscapes, cliffs and coastline, treescapes, and harbours, always using the weather and lighting to try to create mood and atmosphere in the work.

Tools of my trade include broad, flat brushes, card and palette knife, dip pen, stick and finger nail, toothbrush and pipette. I enjoy the uncontrolled, the unexpected and the accident…therein lies my creative excitement.

Web: www.chrisforsey.com
Images and text © Chris Forsey 2011