 Doug Hyde Artist BiographyWinner: Best Selling Published Artist at the Fine Art Trade Guild Awards 2005
"The most popular living artist in the UK" - BBC TV National News
Born in Bristol in 1972, Doug Hyde became aware of his artistic talent at an early age. Throughout his school and college education, Doug Hyde concentrated on the technical side of drawing and painting, but after graduation he was in no doubt as to his chosen career, that of a professional artist.
Doug Hyde prefers to produce his distinctive artwork on a large scale, in order to achieve maximum impact with each piece. He also enjoys operating in plenty of space, thus allowing himself enough physical freedom to express the creative energy that is the key to his fresh, contemporary style. Hyde's unorthodox use of pastels applied with fingers and thumbs or even the side of a hand or wrist allows him to create highly communicative and engaging images that make an immediate and lasting impression on the viewer.
Recently named as the UK's official best selling artist, Doug Hyde has been featured on television both on the BBC national news and on Channel 4 as well as on local television and local and national radio describing his unique technique and talking about the people and events that inspire his heart-warming images. Inspired by his own emotional responses to life, Doug Hyde's intention is to provoke a positive response in others; his success in this aim can be seen not only by the huge impact his work has made on the British and international art scene, but also by the money he has raised for two important charities - "Look Good Feel Better" and Families for Children" - through the sale of his artwork. The extraordinary rise from virtual unknown to the most popular living artist in the UK has been meteoric, and his stunning original pastels have become genuine collectors' items.
"When I have an idea for a new work I tend to scribble down my thoughts at once, and in my studio I have a box overflowing with these messy scribblings on cards, paper napkins, bits of newspaper, anything that has space for a quick sketch to keep the idea in focus. When I come to start work on something new, I refer to my "ideas box", and then try to refine the image in my head until it is ready to be transferred to the drawing board. I take the initial idea and sketch out the painting, adding ideas to it as I go until it evolves into a picture that works for me, or the picture I imagined when it first popped into my head".
"In the past I preferred to use acrylics and watercolours, but over the last few years I have fallen in love with pastels! From the very first time I used pastels I knew that this was the medium that would best be able to achieve the effects I wanted to create - I love the contrast between the soft tones and the hard edges. It gives me much more freedom than any other medium and enables me to use an entirely individual technique. I am able to create the movement I like in a piece of art and the rich boldness of colour. Because I was initially experimenting with the medium, I have developed a very unorthodox style using my fingers and thumbs to create the work, which I find gives me ultimate control".
"Whatever I am doing my work is always there, tucked away in the corner of my mind. I am constantly thinking about it, whether it's the piece I am working on, thinking about the colours I will use or new ideas or new ways to produce my work. Even when I am relaxing it's always there! It truly is a 24 hour job. But I love it. It's my passion; it's my life".
View artwork by Doug Hyde |
