Carl Thompson – Featured Artist

Carl is an award winning artist from Shropshire with a portfolio of work extending from still life to portraiture to wildlife. His passion and gift for art was evident from an early age to the extent that there were plans for Carl to attend art school from 11 years old. Leaving school in 1980 at 16 Carl studied as an engineer, however his passion for art was key in his life and therefore continued to paint and develop his technique whenever possible. As work colleagues and acquaintances alike discovered his ‘hidden' talent commission requests grew. Finally after almost 28 years as an engineer, he decided to concentrate solely on his art and became a full time artist. Since then Carl has been nurturing his growing reputation for his style and versatility.

Dedication and hard work has already resulted in Carl winning the 2009 TWASI David Shepherd Award and becoming a finalist in the 2009 BBC Wildlife Artist of the year. Carl has successfully exhibited with a number of wildlife art societies including NEWA Chester, MIWAS Marwell wildlife park and TWASI in Gloucester and Birmingham plus various local, national galleries and art events. He has also just completed a very busy but rewarding week as Artist in Residence at Nature in Art Gloucester.

Carl's work

Carl uses Galeria Acrylics and uses Winsor & Newton because "their product range, quality and value for money go hand in hand with creativity that has value and meaning, to last a lifetime."

Morning Song

Tea and Biscuits for Two

Although Carl does use various painting techniques the ‘tool' of the trade he is best known for is the airbrush used in partnership with conventional paintbrush work. Almost 30 years after spraying his first tentative ‘wobbly' line "I'm still amazed at the airbrush's versatility and its ability to create effects of shading, tonal and hue variation almost impossible by other means. Although the airbrush has been available for over 100 years it's still shrouded in mystery, through my demonstrations I try to dispel this myth and show it as another tool in the artist's arsenal."

Eternal Spectrum

Zee

Although Carl's work ranges from still life to portraiture, it's the natural world that has been his greatest inspiration. "I strive to be faithful to my wildlife subjects. This does not necessarily mean I will add every single hair or feather, but what I aim to represent is its character and essence in a realistic manner." Carl is continually looking at new ways he can depict wildlife in all its glory, which is just that ‘little bit different'. He is currently working on a series of British bird studies to be exhibited throughout 2010.

Charlie

Digby Fairweather

Find out more about Carl and his work or contact him directly; carl@airartbycarl.co.uk

You can also view some of Carl's work on http://www.birdingart.com/