Not being able to go to my studio on a regular basis due to the Pandemic I started making portraits at home of people I either knew or appreciated if not admired. Mainly ‘hero’s’, family or friends.
I’m a great fan of Paula Rego and have tried to use her technique of using hard and soft pastels separated by a spray of fixer. It’s a good technique for building up tonal changes and blending without rubbing two areas of colour together which can often kill an image.
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Self portrait, pastel, 2020, 50 x 76cmGillian (RIP) and dogs, pastel, 2020, 50 x 76cmGillian, good neighbour, (RIP) pastel, 2020, 50 x 76cmRichard, oldest friend, 2020, pastel, 50 x 76cmSubhuti (Alex Kennedy) pastel, 2020, 50 x 76cmSubhuti (Alex Kennedy) mentor and friend June 2021, pastel, 50 x 76cmDhammarati (Ian Waddle) pastel, 2020, 50 x 76cmBhante Sangharashita (DP Lingwood) pastel, 2020, 50 x 76cmDr Bhimrao R. Ambedkar, Indian Law Minister, 2020,pastel 50 x 76cmSuryagupta, Chair of the London Buddhist Centre, 2020 pastel 50 x 76cmPriest and old woman by Goya and Danavira and me in apprehension. 2020, Pastel, xx x xxcm.Marlena, German film Goddess, early days. 2020, pastel, 50 x 76cmMarlena, Hollywood Goddess, 2020, pastel, 50 x 76cm
Dietrich, great German actress, 2020, pastel, 50 x 76cm
Dietrich triptych, 2020, pastel, each 50 x 76cm
Germaine Greer, author and academic. 2020, pastel, 50 x 76cm
Christopher Hitchens, author, raconteur, 2020 pastel, 50 x 76cmChristopher Hitchens, author, raconteur, dying of cancer. 2021 pastel, 50 x 76cmJ. G. Ballard, author of speculative fiction. May 2021, pastel, 50 x 76cmWill Self, author, lugubrious broadcaster. 2021, pastel, 50 x 76cmGeorge Orwell (Eric Blair), One of the best dystopian authors. Pastel, 2022, 50 x 76cm
Vanis Varoufakis, Greek Finance Minister and motorcycle rider, 2020, pastel, 50 x 76cm
Mahari Black, youngest Scottish politician in House if Commons 2020, 50 x 76 cm‘My Old Dutch’, Remembrance Day, 2020. Pastel, 50 x 76cmMariah Sowter, much loved Grandmother, 2021, pastel 50 x 76cmJames Henry Sowter Sr, Grandfather, lots of stories about WW1. 2021, pastel 50 x 76cmJames Henry Sowter Jr, Father, cool guy, smart dresser, jazz fan. 2021, pastel 50 x 76cm
Maria, daughter, waiting for a bus, 2019, Vietnam. 2020, pastel, 50 x 76cm
Maria at Phu Quoc beach at sunset. 2019. Pastel, 50 x 76cmAnne, Maria’s Mum, 2020, pastel 50 x 76cmHelen, partner, 2021. Pastel 50 x 76cm
Jinnah Mumtaz, best friend, 1947-1967 RIP, 2020, pastel 50 x 76cm
Joshua Wong, Hong Kong activist, 2020, pastel, 50 x 76cm
Yanis Varoufakis, Greek finance minister and occasional Marxist. 2020, pastel 50 x 76cm
Marc Carney, Rock and Roll Bank of England CEO, 2021, pastel, 50 x 76cm
Suvannavira, the Russian refuge, 2021,pastel, 50 x 76cm
Jenya, Russian girl, 2021. Pastel, 50 x 76cmCOVIDMAN, 2021, Pastel, 50 x 76cmMax Headroom, fictional artificial intelligence (AI) TV character, known for his wit, stuttering and pitch-shifting voice. Paster, 2021, 50 x 76cm. Covid Johnson, 2020, pastel 50 x 76cmAlan Turin, renowned computer scientist. 2021, pastel, 50 x 76cmEdward Snowden, American whistleblower. Pastel, 2021, 50 x 76cmIsidora Dolores Ibárruri Gómez aka la Pasionaria, 2021, pastel, 50 x 76cmLyse Doucet, BBC war correspondent, 2021 pastel, 50 x 76cmGreta gives a smile 2021, pastel, 50x76cmSonia Boyce. Black British artist- Narrative and Conceptual. 2021, pastel 50 x 76cm
Rembrandt van Rijn, a homage, 2021, pastel, 50 x 76cm
Paula Rego, Queen of the pastel portrait, 2021, pastel 50 x 76cm
Augustus Rodin, The Burghers, Kiss, Thinker. 2021, pastel 50 x 76cm
‘Mr Natural’ (Robert Crumb), 2021, Pen and Pastel, 50 c 76cm
TraceyEmin battles cancers, 2021, pastel 50 x 76cmJohn Berger, earnest art critic, 2021, pastel 50 x 76cm John Akomfrah, British artist and film-maker. 2021, pastel, 50 x 76cm. Voltaire, read ‘Candide’ 9 times so far. 2021 pastel, 50 x 76cmAlexander Pope, 18th century satirist. 2021, pastel, 50 x 76cm. Yuri Gagarin, USSR Cosmonaut, boyhood hero. Pastel, 2021, 50 x 76cmVasili Aleksandrovich Arkhipov, the Russian submarine commander who stopped the 3rd (Nuclear) world war. Pastel, 2022, 55 x 76cmMichael Sandel, soft spoken American philosopher. Pastel, 2021, 50 x 76cm. Robert Walton, Welsh poet and friend. Pastel, 50 x 76cm. 2022Mikhail Gorbachev. Russian President, Peacemaker, died at 91 RIP. Pastel, 50 x 76cm 2022
Graham Sowter 