Toby Ward NEAC

For still-life and portraits Toby works from life. He works together with the sitter for up to 12 two-hour sittings, depending on the size of the portrait. He uses oil paints and canvas or gessoed board for paintings and usually conte chalks on buff coloured paper for drawings. Less frequently, he uses watercolours over pencil drawings for my portraiture studies. When working outside the studio to record an event at a particular time and place, Toby almost always starts with pencil on paper, to which he adds watercolour. He starts of with a sketch in a soft pencil, and then add details using a harder one. Watercolour washes are applied as he draws. Sometimes Toby uses conte chalks for this kind of work. He draws on paper pinned to a plywood board, which is stiff but light enough for him to stand and hold. Toby finds a large belt buckle useful for resting the bottom edge of a drawing board on, when working in the studying position. When he is working in the studio, with little reference or composed pictures, he generally uses oil paints on canvas or board, applied with brushes or a palette knife. Much of the source material for these images is in little sketchbooks which ge always carries with him. As there is never a clear end in sight for these paintings, they take a long time with much working. Toby works on a number of these type of images at any one time, many of which are commissioned works. Working with patrons on commissioned paintings fascinates him, He always finds it stimulating and a valuable experience.