CRAIG DAVISON HISTORY & BACKGROUND
Craifg Davison was born in 1965 in Sheffield and enjoyed drawing for as long as he could remember. Art was his favourite subject at school, but once he left he took it no further. In the late 80’s he managed to get a job as a cartoonist, working on pre-school comics. He drew comic strips of a variety of characters including The Shoe People, The Wombles, Huxley Pig and Bangers and Mash.
Drawing every day improved his skills and after a few years he moved on to work at a computer games company as an animator and games designer. During this period he worked on a wide portfolio of games, including Zorro, The Hulk and The Hurricanes, as well as the game concept and characters for Johnny Bazookatone.
It was there that he began sculpting reference figures for 3D animation, which he loved. This ultimately led to becoming a freelance sculptor, sculpting dragons to teddies, animals to action figures for ranges such as Me To You, Enchantica, Harr...
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y Potter and Doctor Who.
Years passed and sculpting work was getting harder to come by. But something else was around the corner: in late 2007 he noticed a contest in which Washington Green hoped to find Alexander Millar an apprentice. Craig Davison had always wanted to try his hand at painting, but had never got around to it; here was his opportunity. He quickly painted and entered a picture, and, to his surprise, he finished in the last three! That was it, the life of an artist beckoned.
He began to paint seriously from that point and local galleries started to sell his work. Now he can’t imagine doing anything else.
CRAIG DAVISON IDEAS & INSPIRATIONS
Craig says 'Ideas come from everything and anything. Everywhere I look images and ideas are lining up to be used. I stockpile these inside my head where they fight to be used. Once I start one painting, I’m already planning the next.
Many artists inspire me. Amongst them are the comic book artist Mike Mignola, the simplistic still characters of Yoshitomo Nara, the energy of Goya and the superb illustrations of N.C. Wyeth. For the paintings I’m currently producing with Washington Green, the inspiration is obvious; my childhood! I try to capture the endless summer holidays spent out on my bike with friends, rescuing Mexican villages from bandits!'
CRAIG DAVISON...FROM PALETTE TO PICTURE
'I would love to say that each painting begins with a set of detailed sketches and colour studies, but for me that isn’t the case. As soon as I have a rough doodle, I want to start - I can’t wait to get stuck into the painting.'
He begins by getting rid of the white canvas, painting the surface with a wash, usually a brown or orange. Then, with a rag, he sketchs into the paint, and once he is happy with that he will block out the shapes and shadows in a dark brown. He usually starts this process again with another picture until he has five or six paintings ready for the next stage.
He makes any changes that are needed and adds colour and definition. When this is dry he adds glazes of colour over the whole canvas and then paint over the figures again to “loosen” them up.
He likes the finished paintings to have a slightly naive, grubby look with lots of energy – which, when he thinks about it, sums up his childhood!
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF…CRAIG DAVISON
Craig says 'I live in the beautiful countryside of County Durham so walking the dogs each morning is never a chore. Then it’s off to my studio, which luckily for me is a walk over the road.
I arrive for 9.00am, turn on my music and start work. I have an hour for lunch, and finish between 5.00pm and 6.00pm, Monday to Friday - just like any other working week. On the weekend, the local pub is always welcoming, and I enjoy seeing as much live music as possible.'
