There Paint Nobody Like Grandad

If you’ve ever wished to learn to draw but felt terror at the thought of attending an art class, I can relate. I adore painting, just as I adore sketching the deep valleys and wild moors of my home in West Yorkshire, the problem comes with the finished product. My drawings have often been placed with pride by my husband on the fridge, the first time he did this I was under the impression it was a sweet gesture to encourage me, I later learned he thought it was our child’s drawing. I never did correct, to try and shape the blurs of my pencil strokes into the beautiful countryside I see around me, I’m well aware I need some help.

Tony Hogan is a professional artist originally from Bradford who has taught art holiday courses for over 30 years. Tony has broken down his beautiful work into a step-by-step guide, so that artists of all abilities can hone their skills without having to embarrass themselves in front of the class. Before you visit Tony’s wonderful guide, discover more about this northern artist who captures the beautiful landscapes of England.

“Learn your techniques intuitively and let inspiration be your guide.”

For Tony, being an artist was not a choice or drawn from an urgent need to capture the beauty of his surroundings, instead it was just something to do. “I was the youngest of a large family.” Tony explains. “I was only seven years old when my father passed away. We lived in a council house in Hirst Wood, near to Saltaire, in a lovely place with lovely people but we had no money whatsoever. My mum worked two jobs at least to keep us alive and floating and so we didn’t have a television or anything to do and mum used to buy a lot of art supplies from places like jumble sales –pencils and crayons. So that’s what we always did, the whole family. I don’t know anything else really apart from painting and drawing.”

Tony’s natural talent which had been honed by his family and from years of painting and drawing at the kitchen table earned him a place a Bradford Art College at the age of 15.

“Mr Widdop at Bingley County Secondary Modern & Technical School called me into his office when I was 14 and asked me what my plans were for the future. Well, I thought my life was about playing cricket and doing sport and painting pictures! I had no visions of anything else, so he recommended art college. I started when I was 15 years. I think I was one of the youngest to get in at that time.”

“My granddaughter asked me would I paint her wedding dress”

Tony has pursued an art career ever since, first as a commercial artist in advertising with Wrangler Jeans, before moving on to become an independent artist, he is also ambassador for many leading art manufacturers and suppliers. Recently, however, Tony took on the most nerve-wracking commission of his career.

“My granddaughter asked me would I paint her wedding dress,” he explains.“There was tremendous fear on both sides. She had great belief in me as she’d always seen me as an artist, I used to have a big gallery but this was something new and something you can’t get wrong. The wedding dress had to be made first and then I had to paint the material, I had to find the right paint, the right technique and the right style. It was very slow work as each individual flower on that dress is hand painted individually and each took around 30 minutes.

It took over a month to complete.” Luckily, Tony’s granddaughter loved the dress and so did Tony. “I was absolutely blown away by it,” Tony beams. After completing this amazing project, you could forgive Tony if he wanted to hang up his paint brush and paints, but he shows no signs of stopping, in fact he’s even taking on new projects. “A good friend of mine, a fellow artist said to me a few years ago ‘why don’t you teach? You have knowledge that should be shared and I think it’s important to pass it on’.”

Tony acted on his friend’s advice and now runs art holidays in Devon, Cornwall and Scarborough and is keen to teach Northern Life readers a few tips on drawing. “Learn your techniques intuitively and let inspiration be your guide. It’s one of my favourite sayings. There is no short cut to being a professional artist that’s constantly evolving and developing and putting all the hours in,” Tony explains.“I don’t think there’s anything such as a perfect picture, I’ve never seen one.

I went to the National Gallery with a very good friend of mine -a very famous artist. He had a distinctive Yorkshire accent and we looked at the first painting and he started pulling it apart from a technical point of view. People were listening and I was trying to hide! But he was quite right it is impossible to achieve perfection in art.” So, give Tony’s step by step a try, it doesn’t matter if it’s not perfect! Just try not to end up on the fridge…

Tony is a professional artist, tutor and demonstrator. Painting holidays with him are available in Scarborough, Cornwall and Devon. Visit www.hoganart.co.uk; E mail; admin@hoganart.co.uk Call 01208 895 088 or 0788 8852 503 for details.

NorthernLife Sept/Oct 22