Mary Archibald – Unique Fine Art
About
The inspiration for my drawing comes from a lifelong love of animals. Living in the beautiful Scottish countryside and growing up with horses, dogs and cats I developed an appreciation of their musculature and bone structure which is reflected in my art.
In 2017 my drawing developed in earnest, inspired by my wonderful dog Yogi, I initially began sketching graphite drawings of him which led to drawing other animals. I was delighted with how this gift developed so quickly over a few months, as I was self-taught. Discovering pastel pencils allowed me to bring so much more colour and greater dimension to my work.
My focus while drawing is to capture the unique character, spirit and beauty of the animal and I particularly enjoy bringing out the many textures and colours of their coats and the light and expression in their eyes, which is often said to be the window to the soul.
Recent Work
More recently my award-winning artwork has featured in exhibitions both in the UK and Internationally, receiving awards from Spotlight on Art, Paris and Circle Art, New York.
My art is striking due to the composition of the pieces, the blend of pastel colours and the contrasting black background used to create each piece. All works are created on archival Pastel paper usually either in A2/A1 in size and drawn with lightfast Pastel pencils. They are very detailed works which, with my ability to capture the animals’ character from a photograph, allows me to draw a broad range of wild and domestic animals without the need to sit live to create the drawings.
Groups and Associations
I also work with the following associations and groups