ANNA HARDING North Yorkshire, United Kingdom
I became a full-time Artist and Illustrator in 2012 after working for around 20 years in multimedia, E-learning and then corporate communications. Originally brought up on the East Yorkshire coast, I'm based in my home studio in the beautiful city of York now, working primarily in mixed media: painting, drawing and printmaking.
During the pandemic, I started experimenting with grinding pigments to make my own paints. Using this process, I have been able to develop colours for specific projects, including Zigzag (brown-grey granulating paint for my woodland series), Maniac red light, Maniac red dark, and Raven blue-black for paintings of my beautiful trio of cats - The Maniacs, also a seascape palette of colours inspired by the Yorkshire coastline.
Observational drawing is the core part of my practice; I collect information in the form of drawings, notes, photographs, sometimes completing a final piece en plein air, but my main pieces are completed back in my studio. I draw inspiration form the world around me: narratives, mood, personality, attitude capture my attention - trees with character, animals with attitude, mysterious paths, moody landscapes and their stories.
I have been drawing and painting animals, particularly cats, since forever: my own three cats (The Maniacs) form the basis for my ongoing series of artworks The Layabouts. Since 2017 I have paid regular visits to my local wood, working en plein air, recording through the seasons, particularly one tree (my Zig-zag tree) who features in several of my artworks such as Dance Like no one's watching.
Artwork
Blizzard cat or Winter is Coming, Acrylic paint on paper, 2018
Deep in thought, Hand-made watercolour on cotton rag paper, 2023
Rugged path to Chapel Porth beach, Collagraph with hand-made watecolour on Fabriano Unica printmaking paper, 2023
Dance like no one's watching, Collagraph print on Fabriano Unica paper, 2018
Upside down tree, Drypoint etching, 2023
Frida basking on the bed, Hand-made watercolour on Saunders Waterford watercolour paper, 2023
Four trees in the mist, Knavesmire Fields, York, Oil pastel and acrylic ink on Sennelier oil pastel card, 2023
A walk through long grasses, Bempton cliffs, Handmade watercolour underpainting and artists' pastels on Lux Archival sanded art paper, 2023