Art as therapy - Paul Brown's story

Born in the North East of England but spending most of his formative school years in Yorkshire, Paul always had an interest in drawing and painting. After finishing his A-levels he went on to study Graphic Design at Liverpool Polytechnic, where he specialised in Film and Animation, and to Saint Martins in London to complete a postgraduate diploma in Illustration.

Just as his career as an illustrator was beginning to take root, he became seriously ill for a number of years, leaving him with the lasting legacy of an acquired brain injury and putting an end to his ability to cope with the pressures involved in commercial work. In the years following recovery, he has found a way to free himself from the constraints of briefs and deadlines and produce the abstract work that he is comfortable with.

Gone, limited Edition Print

THE START: It wasn’t until after the brain injury put a stop to my illustration career that I concentrated on more abstract image making again. I’d always kept sketchbooks full of line and colour work, laden with paint and ink with still wet pages often stuck together. After finding I could create the work I was happy with through digital means, it’s been a case of trying to get the work visible to an appreciative audience. I’ve been fortunate to be taken on by Riseart and feel a bit awestruck at sharing gallery space with the likes of Bruce Mclean and Sir Peter Blake who I’ve admired for years.

Using art as therapy post brain injury really gave me the boost in confidence I needed to start putting my work on show online and at art fairs and in public spaces through art loan schemes. It’s slowly raising my profile and finding people who love what I’m doing and choose to follow my work on social media.

THE PROCESS AND STYLE: Having to work from home meant either being very careful with my materials or find a way to produce the images I wanted without the paint spillage. I researched drawing and painting apps and eventually found Procreate, which has fit in perfectly with my way of working and still gives me that direct contact with the image and a huge range of variation in the types and sizes of brush and line marks I can make. I start with a blank canvas and make initial marks, block in areas of colour and take it from there, adding layers and swapping them around, rubbing out, altering colours with no plan in mind. The image builds and develops and instinctively choices are made that steer the direction it takes. The pressure of the pencil on the screen varies the thickness of the stroke and I can vary the transparency to allow layers below to subtly show through. There’s always the option to go back to ink mark making and get that scanned in and added to the work in progress, adding another element to the work’s development, finding how and where it sits well within the image.

Coping

BEST ADVICE: Be patient, very patient. It takes time to find the space to show your work and for the people who will love what you do to find it. Don’t tire too quickly because you never know what might be about to happen.

FUTURE: It’s hard to allow myself to look that far forward given the almost farcical state of affairs politically in some areas of the world today. In terms of the artwork, it would be great to have found an audience that really appreciates the work I create and chooses to introduce pieces into their lives.

FAVOURITE CREATIVES: I enjoy include Francis Bacon, Peter Lanyon, R. B. Kitaj, and Jean Michel Basquiat. There are also sculptors like Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth. Movies/plays: Film wise I do enjoy my scary movies like The Shining, Alien, Psycho and Scream but balance that with Wim Wenders “Wings of Desire”, Bertrand Taverniers “Round Midnight”, Alexander Sokurovs “Russian Ark” and the comedy of Pedro Almodovar’s “Women on The Verge of a Nervous Breakdown”. Musicians: Again a bit of a mix because I’m a pop tart at heart with Duran Duran, A-ha, Kylie and the various incarnations of ABC always in favour but there’s also David Sylvian and Japan, Billie Holiday, Erik Satie, and Herbie Hancock too, especially for “Berengere’s Nightmare” from the previously mentioned film “Round Midnight”.