kevin.tole@virginmedia.com
www.kevintole.com
Currently my work is focussed almost entirely on charcoal drawings of trees, commonly using hand-made charcoal from the tree in question. Because I like to feel the work and action coming from my arm and shoulder the drawings tend to be large. They are all begun in the field either as sketchbook work or actually on a drawing board, then finished in the studio with reference to the sketch work and any photos I have taken as an aide memoire. What I am always looking for is to capture the magnificence of the tree in its many aspects. To this end it is not any tree that will grab my attention. I need to feel that the tree has an outstanding quality which requires capturing to the best of my ability or that the location and general milieu of the tree draws my attention. After that it is down to me to bring the image to life. What other people see in the finished images I hope is the strength and power of these wonderful subjects. Gradually I have begun to incorporate different facets of location and aspect and ‘treeness’ for want of another word. The concept of what I am doing has become more relevant over time. Also I have seen a growing together between the painterly aspects and the graphic aspects of the work. Mark making is fundamental and I am very interested in how that changes, how we can transfer information, as scale changes.