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Biography
I've been painting people's faces since I could hold a
paintbrush. I encountered my first patron when I was
about 17 years old. He was a local disco DJ (this was
around 1970/71) and commissioned portraits of rock
and pop stars painted with fluorescent poster paint.
I discovered oils around the same time and since then
it has always been my preferred medium.
My maternal grandfather was artistic in his own way and supplemented his pension by
painting posters advertising the up and coming "turns" at the local working men's club.
He also decorated hard boiled eggs every Easter using enamel paint. I therefore had
plenty of encouragement in terms of developing my creative skills but it was never
considered something of which one could make a career.
Consequently, I never made it to Art College, and was persuaded against my better
judgement to aspire to a career in teaching. Unfortunately, because no one in my family
before me had ever stayed at school beyond the age of fifteen, no one (including me)
was aware that in order to teach art, rather than adopt the role of primary or middle
school teacher, one needed to have at least a diploma to prove you were an artist.
It took me three years at a teacher's training college and an extra term of teaching
practice to find out that I wasn't destined to be a teacher (I was a slow learner in those
days).
Choosing Art as my main subject at the teachers' training college did give me the
opportunity to extend my knowledge of contemporary art as well as giving me a bit more
insight into the history of art.
My A Level course was run by a former student of Henry Moore who was an avid fan of
the Impressionists. He couldn't understand my obsession with the Pre-Raphaelites and
Salvador Dali's surrealism. Some of his love for impressionism did rub off and there was
a time when my paintings vaguely resembled those of Matisse and Cezanne.
The exhibition that has probably influenced me the most however, was by a school that
called themselves Spanish Super-Realists (you must remember that this was thirty years
ago so the name may not be accurate but that's as close as I can remember).
Their work was not just photographic but almost three dimensional in appearance; I
remember looking at one of the paintings from the side to reassure myself that I was
looking at a flat surface. Since then I have always attempted to reach the same level of
detail in order to give whatever I produce that three dimensional quality. This is a
technique that can't be applied to live sittings; so under those circumstances I usually
revert to my impressionist roots and get as close a likeness as possible.
After flunking teachers training, I attempted to make a living out of painting portraits and
managed to get a few commissions through friends of friends, but I had no idea of what
my work was worth and needed to find a full time job in order to get a half decent
income. At the age of twenty five I joined the Civil Service and twenty six years later I'm
still a civil servant.
I carried on painting, however, and my department runs an annual craft show that
included art categories. After showing a few pieces of work, I've managed to secure
quite a few commissions for portraits through colleagues.
Last October I completed a portrait of my daughter. It was painted from life because she
insisted on my abandonment of photographs as models and thought I should get back
to a freer style of painting. Unfortunately she was unable to sit for very long and I can't
help but think the completed painting looks a little unfinished. I'm also working on a copy
of an old Victorian masterpiece that I started some years ago (just to keep on practising
and seeing how good I can be at working to a deadline - something that I really need to
work on), which found a buyer when only only half finished.
I also painted another self portrait while taking leave over the mid-winter festive season.
It took me about ten sittings of two to four hours. My latest commission was also a live
sitting that involved six sessions ranging from two to four hours. The result can be seen
by clicking here. The sitter for this portrait has provided a testimonial. You can read it by
clicking here.
Mother and Daughter was produced using a combination of live sittings and a number of
photographs. It took seven months worth of evenings and weekends (and a week's
leave) to complete.
My daughter is now an accomplished artist with her own web site. You can see samples
of her work by visiting www.genajobbins.co.uk
I've been painting people's faces since I could hold a
paintbrush. I encountered my first patron when I was
about 17 years old. He was a local disco DJ (this was
around 1970/71) and commissioned portraits of rock
and pop stars painted with fluorescent poster paint.
I discovered oils around the same time and since then
it has always been my preferred medium.
My maternal grandfather was artistic in his own way and supplemented his pension by
painting posters advertising the up and coming "turns" at the local working men's club.
He also decorated hard boiled eggs every Easter using enamel paint. I therefore had
plenty of encouragement in terms of developing my creative skills but it was never
considered something of which one could make a career.
Consequently, I never made it to Art College, and was persuaded against my better
judgement to aspire to a career in teaching. Unfortunately, because no one in my family
before me had ever stayed at school beyond the age of fifteen, no one (including me)
was aware that in order to teach art, rather than adopt the role of primary or middle
school teacher, one needed to have at least a diploma to prove you were an artist.
It took me three years at a teacher's training college and an extra term of teaching
practice to find out that I wasn't destined to be a teacher (I was a slow learner in those
days).
Choosing Art as my main subject at the teachers' training college did give me the
opportunity to extend my knowledge of contemporary art as well as giving me a bit more
insight into the history of art.
My A Level course was run by a former student of Henry Moore who was an avid fan of
the Impressionists. He couldn't understand my obsession with the Pre-Raphaelites and
Salvador Dali's surrealism. Some of his love for impressionism did rub off and there was
a time when my paintings vaguely resembled those of Matisse and Cezanne.
The exhibition that has probably influenced me the most however, was by a school that
called themselves Spanish Super-Realists (you must remember that this was thirty years
ago so the name may not be accurate but that's as close as I can remember).
Their work was not just photographic but almost three dimensional in appearance; I
remember looking at one of the paintings from the side to reassure myself that I was
looking at a flat surface. Since then I have always attempted to reach the same level of
detail in order to give whatever I produce that three dimensional quality. This is a
technique that can't be applied to live sittings; so under those circumstances I usually
revert to my impressionist roots and get as close a likeness as possible.
After flunking teachers training, I attempted to make a living out of painting portraits and
managed to get a few commissions through friends of friends, but I had no idea of what
my work was worth and needed to find a full time job in order to get a half decent
income. At the age of twenty five I joined the Civil Service and twenty six years later I'm
still a civil servant.
I carried on painting, however, and my department runs an annual craft show that
included art categories. After showing a few pieces of work, I've managed to secure
quite a few commissions for portraits through colleagues.
Last October I completed a portrait of my daughter. It was painted from life because she
insisted on my abandonment of photographs as models and thought I should get back
to a freer style of painting. Unfortunately she was unable to sit for very long and I can't
help but think the completed painting looks a little unfinished. I'm also working on a copy
of an old Victorian masterpiece that I started some years ago (just to keep on practising
and seeing how good I can be at working to a deadline - something that I really need to
work on), which found a buyer when only only half finished.
I also painted another self portrait while taking leave over the mid-winter festive season.
It took me about ten sittings of two to four hours. My latest commission was also a live
sitting that involved six sessions ranging from two to four hours. The result can be seen
by clicking here. The sitter for this portrait has provided a testimonial. You can read it by
clicking here.
Mother and Daughter was produced using a combination of live sittings and a number of
photographs. It took seven months worth of evenings and weekends (and a week's
leave) to complete.
My daughter is now an accomplished artist with her own web site. You can see samples
of her work by visiting www.genajobbins.co.uk
| Portraits by Eric Jobbins www.ericjobbinsportraits.com |
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| Portraits by Eric Jobbins |
| Biography |
