Steve started by explaining how a nagging feeling led to him having a go at cubism. He started by drawing his coffee cup, decided it was rubbish but persisted nevertheless. 

Tonight’s demonstration was a first for Steve.  His usual style of hard black lines and colour, familiar from his previous demo and workshop, tonight he was employing a softer style. He shared three recent images done in a similar way.  

Working with 300gsm (140lb) cold pressed watercolour paper and graphite pencils, Steve started with a basic sketch of a person playing a guitar. He told us not to worry about the quality of the sketch as it is just a starting point for the manipulation. We could already see the harder angles starting to appear and most of the softer curves disappearing as Steve worked. 

Once he was happy with the sketch, Steve started with lines dissecting the image. This time instead of putting them straight through he moved the line where it intersected parts of the drawing. The lines serve to move the eye around the finished image and as a focal point. Steve warned us to avoid the train track (parallel lines - leading the eye straight off the picture) and dart board (where all lines intersect at the same point). He told us that the negative spaces are as important as the subject matter. 

Once the lines were in, Steve reverted to his ‘normal technique’ and started to move and remove some of the lines. Most were moved by a tiny amount, such as a millimetre or two.  Some of the through lines will go beyond the image, but not right to the edge of the page, as Steve’s intention is for the image to be centred on the page rather than filling it. Steve tends to jump about the image as he is seeking to have a sense of balance, which is his ultimate aim. 

From the sketch and line stage, Steve moved to using a 5B pencil to draw and blend using a blending stump. Steve wanted to create an illusion of form, but not by using light shade and highlights. Working from the centre of the artwork, each shape was shaded, the darker areas concentrated in the corners. An electric eraser enables Steve to define the blank lines between each block of shading. 

When asked about influences from other artists, Steve said that the cubists were a strong influence, but other than that, he goes through phases of reading about a particular artist and they will influence his work at the time. For example, Mondrian led to Steve using a lot of primary colours in artwork produced during that period. 

Steve told us that the first iteration of cubism, known as Analytic Cubism, instigated by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, used a lot of muted colours. Steve’s latest work is more reminiscent of that style. 

Steve has been a full-time artist since 2021. He is proud to have had one of his paintings next to a Turner in the Rose Patterson gallery. He invited us to a private view of the Walsall Society of Artists annual exhibition on 4 July in the Rose Patterson Gallery. 

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