Welcome to my site.I am Joan Batty, a 'spare time' pencil artist, living in a Yorkshire
village called Queensbury set high on a hill between Halifax and Bradford.
I have lived in Queensbury for almost
forty years. Although I have never had any formal training, drawing has been a major interest of mine throughout my life.
Love of buildings has been the mainstay of my work and
they have featured in the majority of my work. Even when I digress into landscape work, I only seem to be happy if there is
some stone there.
In 1999, two other interests, the creation of maps and local
history combined in the devising of a 'Queensbury Map' followed in 2004 by the 'Halifax Map'. This refreshed my initial
interest in buildings and drove me to produce a collection of drawings based on street scenes in Halifax and a subsequent
one of similar work centred round Bradford.
It is the ever changing pattern created by light and
shade on these buildings which holds an abiding fascination for me. I have made attempts to recreate these patterns with a
pencil. The satisfaction felt as a drawing emerges from the paper, is immense.
I use a variety of grades of pencil to get my results,
none of them expensive, indeed Rexel 'Office Pencils' are ideal for certain tones. I generally draw on to white mountboard
but occasionally use a smooth cartridge paper.
People often ask me how long
it takes to complete a picture. The answer is, I don't know. A lot depends on the amount of detail involved, the colour blends
required and, most important of all, my enthusiasm! Only once or twice have I struggled to summon up the excitement of creating
a new picture when commissioned. I try to remember at such times that the particular view or building asked for, means something
special to my client. Normally, though, when I embark on a new project, I am eager to get started.
Feel free to browse my pages and
please use the box below to get in touch and send me your comments. I would
love to hear from you .
|
