Neil McChrystal : artist & illustrator
painting

drawing

exhibitions & sales

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"I'll play it first and tell you what it is later"
- Miles Davis

 

Living as I do in Scotland, it's impossible not to be amazed by the power of the landscape and constantly changing air to elicit emotion and atmosphere. I wanted to find a way of expressing this through my art, so in 2004 I started training in drawing and painting at the Glasgow School of Art, where I found myself moving into more abstract colour based work. It was there that I was able to develop a spontaneous yet emotive style of my own through which to capture the emotion and atmosphere of mountains and water and clouds and sunlight in both real and invented contexts.

 

My influences are many and varied; from the atmospheric light of my artistic hero JMW Turner, whose work has been a huge inspiration since childhood, through the late colourfield work of Mark Rothko, to the modern expressionistic landscapes of Scottish artist John Houston. I am also very influenced by music, where I try to convey mood, pace and theme through intuitive colour and texture choices. Like Klee and Kandinsky before, I constantly explore the ways in which these two apparently different artforms can be reconciled.

 

I have exhibited in Glasgow and in London and my work generates interest from lovers of contemporary and traditional styles alike which is something I am very passionate about. I believe that much of today's contemporary art is too preoccupied with asking questions, and demands effort, understanding and knowledge from the viewer whilst giving up very little in return, which makes a lot of abstract art very distant and inaccessible. Art for me is first and foremost about giving an insight to the viewer, and only asking for their insight in return in order to observe at a deeper, more personal level.

 

If you would like more information about me, my art or my methods; or to purchase a piece or talk about a commission, please do not hesitate to contact me by using my feedback and contact form here. You can also subscribe to my mailing list to receive information about new artworks, exhibitions and developments on the web site.

 

I have included a selection of internet links that inspire and influence me which you may find interesting:

A selection of works by JMW Turner / Turner at Tate
Mark Rothko at Tate
John Houston at the National Galleries of Scotland
Alison Watt - Phantom
A selection of works by Wassily Kandinsky

Brian James Waugh - Glasgow based artist working in a pre-raphaelite style
Martin McInally - Glasgow based artist and tutor
Cynthia Bowles - artist and tutor
Ben Merris - artist and tutor
Jill Ashforth - Edinburgh based artist

Stanley Bird - Glasgow based artist
Pahamuna - a talented collective of artists based in Tampere, Finland

Living in NZ - the photography of John Watt
TwistyFoldy.net - Photography by Michael Gallacher

The music of Marillion
The music of Steve Hackett
A selection of works by Claude Debussy
John Coltrane

Maryhill Art School
Glasgow School of Art

Wassily Kandinsky's seminal work Concerning the Spiritual in Art has had a huge impact on my art and ideas.
The MTH Sadler translation of the book is in the public domain, and can therefore be reproduced freely online:

HTML version / free eBook download

Photo by Ian Shewan

 

I maintain a 'sketchblog' here, where I post works in progress and sketches. It can be followed in your favourite reader via RSS by subscribing to this feed.

 
 
               
         
website v4.5  / all images © Neil McChrystal 1992 - 2012