Artist Adam Riches uses pen and ink to create frenetic portraits of brooding anonymous figures. The monochrome illustrations emerge out of blank backgrounds, with broad, gestural lines skittering and looping across the paper. Often, pen drawings fall into two stylistic categories: contour drawings that capture the outlines and edges of their subject, or super-smooth ones that seem to defy the fine point of the pen with layered hatch marks. In forging his own style, Riches uses highly varied density in his mark-making to create volume and suggest shadows, while also utilizing each line as a distinctive shape. In a recent video interview with BBC, the artist explains, “the drawings are quite intuitive and are done spontaneously. They reveal themselves as I’m making them.”
Riches will be showing his work at PULSE Art Fair in Miami Beach in December, 2019, and his artwork is available for purchase through Nadia Arnold. See more of the artist’s scribbled portraits as well as his work in charcoal on Instagram and Facebook.
Art Basel is known as one of the premier events in the art world, bringing…
Sharon Walters: Seeing OurselvesSolo exhibition at HackelBury Fine Art, London9th May – 4th July 2024…
The Whitney Biennial is a highly anticipated event in the art world, showcasing the most…
'Anyone who looks at Vassil Khmeluk' s paintings perceives them as a miraculous balm that…
Venturing into unknown territory, artists Katrin Fridriks and Jan Kaláb took a chance on one…
Pushing the boundaries of artistic expression, visionary artist Melissa Herrington’s large-scale, abstract paintings blur the boundaries between mediums,…