Feedback "It was a pleasure for my wife and I to attend the preview
"The gentle, gentleman that Hideyuki Sobue is, meant
of Hideyuki Sobue's 'Conversation with Ruskin' exhibition,
that his talk at Brantwood about his “Conversation with
at Brantwood. Seeing the exhibits touch on Ruskin's love
Ruskin� indicated his genuine absorption with his subject.
of nature and attention to deep inquiry we were greatly
His presentation was thoughtful, spiritual and sensitive
struck by Hideyuki's large central portrait - a double, even
showing his great respect for the character of Ruskin.
triple portrait in one. It not only conveyed to us, Ruskin's
Hideyuki combined his admiration & skills in his brilliantly
deeply complex nature, his analytical mind and attention
unique and beautiful por trait of Ruskin. He fur ther
to detail but also the visionary and seer. The Patriarch. Plus,
demonstrated his individual style and depth of observation
the inner spiritual aspect was revealed too - saddened by
with a few of his own paintings including some of The
the world's indifference to his high ideals.... In this portrait
Lakes that Ruskin so loved. It was a joy & privilege to meet
we feel that Hideyuki has taken his own artistic practice
Hideyuki."
to new heights and achieved a striking and monumental
--- DEE Diana Cosford (Artist)
image of a national icon..." --- Kevin Chester (Artist/ President of the Lake Artists
"Your portraits of Ruskin are superb. I really feel that you
Society)
have come to know the man and that you can explain him to us. And wonderful to see the actual work not just the illustrations in your book, excellent though they are. The
"I thoroughly enjoyed Hideyuki's workshop at Brantwood.
exhibition as a whole looked and felt terrific and I hope you
I attended as I was intrigued how Hideyuki creates such
are justly proud of yourself."
finely detailed and beautiful work and really wanted
--- Annabel Hunt (Friend)
to learn about his line hatching technique. During the workshop Hideyuki initially talked us through the technique and showed us an animation of how he created
"Hideyuki demonstrates a deep insight in ar t history
his beautiful Ruskin portrait, it was very interesting to
by incorporating references to the great masters in
have the opportunity to see the process. He then took us
his work such as Da Vinci's Mona Lisa as well as a well
through it step by step as we attempted the same approach
thought through application of the Fibonnaci principle.
to create our own pictures of leaves gathered from the
His work combines these references in a fine balance
grounds of Brantwood. Working in such a detailed way
with contemporary references such as the launch of the
was quite a change from my usual approach, but I really
Apollo 11 last year. Given that I was part of this artist's
enjoyed it and feel that I learnt a skill that I can develop in
demonstration of the technique of cross-hatching, I was
my own artwork. The workshop was informative, inspiring
able to experience for myself how only gentle hands can
as well as great fun and I would be keen to attend further
master the technique as Hideyuki does. It only made my
workshops run by Hideyuki if the opportunity arose."
appreciation for his art grow deeper. I will stay on the look
--- Ally Keogh (Artist)
out for future works of art Hideyuki will create!" --- Kelsey Lindsey Pinna (Student, Lancaster University)
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