Colin Brown [Biography]

After completing a four year course at Canterbury College Of Art, I embarked on a career for 24 years as an illustrator- visualizer based in the West Country. As a freelance I was able to work for diverse range of Advertising, Design and 3D companies in Bath, Bristol as well as London and Europe. I had the opportunity to work on many campaigns for many different companies Hasbro, Mattel, Cadbury's, Saga, Corgi Toys to name just a few. In many cases I worked closely with the designers producing visuals and taking the project right through to the finished illustration stages. I latter went on to illustrate for publishing, on teaching books, magazines, posters as well as being commissioned by The Guinness Book Of Records.

I now am a fine artist producing mainly one subject, being street scenes of the world. I like to evoke a sense of atmosphere and the feeling of being their through a loose style taking my influence from the Impressionists and Fauvism, using my visualising ways to produce the work. I take on commissions and along side this I also teach workshops and give live demonstrations.

My work is mostly influenced from the Impressionists, although I like all forms of painting. I love to paint in a way that is free and loose, not being constrained by detail. I want to convey a sense of atmosphere and as if the painting was a fleeting moment in time. I concentrate on the light as being the most important thing within the painting and only adding the detail to knit the scene together, when needed.

Having been as a Visualiser in the past as well as an Illustrator, it is from the visualising that I draw a lot of my technique today. I have the one style and like to try different things within it. I love all forms of art, but one of my biggest inspirations is Monet and the way he used paint and the single strokes of applied colour. I also like to make every stroke count and to be seen. This can give a great sense of movement.