JONATHAN SAINSBURY

All the pictures you will see are inspired by the Ladybird series of four books, ‘What to look for books in, Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter,’ they were originally illustrated by C.F.Tunnicliffe in 1960.

I have responded to these books with a collection of work that can be viewed in the works for sale tab under the title, Looking for the Seasons

Landscape painting works well for me with watercolour the light that is possible from allowing the white of the paper to shine through is hard to achieve with other more opaque paint.

LANDSCAPES FOR SALE

WILDLIFE ART FOR SALE

PRINTS FOR SALE

CARDS FOR SALE

The title of this block bemused me for a while but on reflection it is saying that painting is the act of defining the essential elements of your picture and letting the rest be implied with as little illustration as possible.

POSTCARDS FOR SALE

I began to paint pictures inspired by poems several years ago and knowing the difficulties in trying to encapsulate the whole poem in one painting I decided to begin with poets whose poems evoked easily paintable images of nature.

Traditionally wildlife artists would have used a landscape or portrait format but I wanted the challenge of using the square to see the various ways it could be used to emphasize what I wanted to say.

Multiple squares enables me to make several observations and put them alongside each other to tell a greater story.

I have long been a member of the World Pheasant Association which works to ensure there is a future for many of our endangered pheasant, partridges, grouse, jungle fowl, peacocks and old world quail. Being ground nesting birds the females have beautiful mottled plumage often in a range of ochres and browns in order to be camouflaged against the undergrowth when nesting whereas the males are often very colourful with flamboyant plumage. who wouldn’t want to paint them!

This series of pictures where the background is minimal or non existent is to emphasize the branches micro landscape in a world that is the only concern for a wren looking for insects.

Sometimes when I pick up a dead bird the most respectful and humble act I can do is to illustrate as accurately as possible to reflect it’s inherent beauty likewise for the foliage that helps tell the story. All these pictures can be done in the studio which allows for the time consuming act of illustating.

When I was a child I was made aware of the vanishing countryside and all it’s creatures. There was a small playing field in the village that was a carpet of cowslips in the spring that we would collect and give to a lady in the village who I imagine made wine, we also would gather a sea of dandelions that she would make into dandelion and burdock a wonderful drink that she would give to the village children one day the farmer sprayed the playing field with broadleaf herbicide and we never saw a cowslip again.

Globally so many plants, insects, birds, mammals, fish and sea life is in decline and the U.K is worse than many other countries. I feel the need to highlight certain creatures that are at the point of extinction in the hope that my picture speaks to someone that cares.

A while agoI took part in a miniatures exhibition when working on the pictures I used a magnifying glass which helped in making these intricate little images and they encouraged me to do many more small watercolours.

Oil paintings have the advantage that they can be any size whereas watercolour is restricted by it’s manufacturing process and has the disadvantage of being glazed which many people find reflection problematic especially opposite a large window.

For me oil has the advantage of size not limiting me and the paint staying wet for a longer time and therefore allows alterations.

Sometimes I start a picture like Titian with a red bole ( brown burgundy red) onto which I draw and then structure the tonal values with white egg tempera followed by a thin white glaze that creates a grisaille, this grey tonal picture can then be worked over with alternating tempera and coloured glazes to create a picture that satisfies with it’s bright highlights and deep shadows like in the starling picture.

I love charcoal drawing it allows me to work quickly make changes as i go along and the medium does not allow illustrative detail which is unnecessary when ideas and composition are foremost especially if time is an issue.

My original plan was to build an ark shaped exhibition space that I could take around Scotland highlighting the flora and fauna that needs conservation in the areas I would exhibit. Building a boat shaped ark proved to expensive so I hand built a travelling gallery that would dismantle and fit in a van.

I find working with the tonal qualities of sepia very satisfying sketching ideas in the formative stages doesn’t need colour and often the sepia can stand alone as a finished work.