Maddy Swan
I
was born in the Netherlands and moved to England as a teenager where I
studied graphic illustration and fine art in Rochester, Kent where I
also met (husband) Brian.
Although
experimenting with all kinds of media since I was small I have always
loved coloured pencils and have a preference for Prismalo Caran d'Ache,
which are quite hard and perfect for my portraits.
As
far as portraits are concerned I suppose I am mostly self-taught as
drawing portraits is quite different to my college work. Once I had
left college I actually dropped all art for quite a long time after not
succeeding at making a career out of art, and I only picked up my
pencils again in 1996 after working up enough courage to try my hand at
portraits by offering my services at a local village "Auction of
Promises". I remembered I always had a bit of an aptitude with
portraits of getting quite good likenesses of people when I used to
draw as a child so it seemed worth having another try. It took me a
while to work up enough confidence again but I was pleasantly surprised
to find that I hadn't lost it at all, it was still there!
We
had just settled in our new house in beautiful Kent (where we live now)
after a spell abroad, living in Maastricht in the Netherlands, when I
felt more at peace with myself, and this seemed the ideal time to start
drawing again. Well I haven't stopped since. I have been taking on many
local commissions and took up art classes and now am also starting to
get noticed through my website, which is at www.maddy.freeuk.com. Apart
from pencils I also love using watercolours and although I still
struggle a little with the medium, I'm working hard at improving my
technique. I did lose out quite a lot by dropping art for so long, but
I am happy now to catch up in my own time with all media.
Apart
from my own projects I also spend quite a lot of my time promoting my
14 year old son on- and offline, who is musically gifted: he made his
first CD aged 13 and we are currently negotiating a possible record
deal which keeps us all very excited.
Contact
Details:
Website: www.maddyswan.com
E-mail: maddy.swan[at]freeuk.com
