There is something remarkable that happens when an artist truly looks at the natural world. Not a quick glance, but a long, slow, devoted kind of looking. The sort of looking that notices the way light filters through a canopy of trees, or the intricate pattern on a butterfly’s wing, or the extraordinary architecture of a flower that most of us walk past without a second thought.
The four pieces you can see here are a celebration of that kind of looking. Four students, four different corners of the natural world, four completely different ways of capturing what they saw and felt.
A sweeping expressive oil painting of figures with horses in an open landscape, the sky alive with movement and the fields shimmering with colour. It has the feel of a warm afternoon, unhurried and full of life. A pastel woodland path drawing you gently forward into dappled light, the trees arching overhead like a natural cathedral, every mark alive with the particular energy of a spring day. A breathtakingly detailed coloured pencil study of a King Protea, its extraordinary sculptural form rendered with patience and precision, every spotted petal and radiating filament observed and recorded with the care it truly deserves. And a quietly beautiful watercolour of a butterfly resting on a flower head, the warm golden tones of the background giving the whole piece a sense of stillness and calm, as if time itself has paused for a moment.
Nature has inspired artists for as long as art has existed, and it is easy to understand why. It is endlessly varied, endlessly surprising and endlessly generous to those who take the time to look. Our students remind us of that every single day.
If the natural world calls to you and you would like to learn how to capture it, we would love to help you find your way. Visit us at www.londonartcollege.co.uk to explore our courses.
If you would like to receive a roundup of all of our blog posts once a week to keep you inspired in your inbox, why not sign up to our newsletter. You can access our sign up at the top of our page. If you are a London Art College student and you would like your artwork featured here, drop us a line at any time.
