Featured Artist Tara Roskell

After rediscovering a love of drawing, artist Tara Roskell developed a quirky, whimsical style that captures the personality of each subject. Enjoy more by visiting her website.

 

 

If you had told me a few years ago that I would love painting and drawing again I would have told you, “No, that ship has sailed.”

 

 

From childhood until my early twenties, I loved to draw and constantly had a pencil in hand. I went to college for art, but not knowing what direction to take, decided to study graphic design. After working as a graphic designer for over twenty-five years and creating digitally, my passion for drawing had gone.

 

 

I connected with another artist online through a podcast I hosted at the time. We hit it off and started setting creative challenges for each other.

 

 

One of those was a very unscientific challenge to test if alcohol made you more creative. A task was to draw a wine bottle before and after drinking three units of alcohol. It was so long since I had drawn and shaded in pencil that it felt alien to me. It was through that challenge, however, that my love for drawing by hand was reignited.

 

 

Seeing the power that creative challenges could bring, we decided to start a podcast and website called Kick in the Creatives. The aim was to encourage others to take part in creative challenges.

 

 

Of course, you can’t encourage others without creating more yourself.

 

 

I discovered I enjoyed creating faces. At first, it felt weird losing my “undo” button, but I began to see how unexpected “mistakes” could bring my work to life.

 

 

I set myself a challenge to develop my style over a sixty-day period. This would give me time to focus and discover what I enjoyed doing. I knew, of course, that my art would evolve, but this challenge provided a solid foundation to creating the art I make now.

 

 

When I paint faces, I like to show the person behind their outward appearance. I integrate little characters which tell the story of what is going on inside.

 

 

My favourite medium is Neocolor ii Watersoluble wax pastel. It allows me to create colourful and vibrant art while letting me work with the tactile immediacy that I love.

 

Artist Tara Roskell invites you to follow her on Instagram, Facebook and Kick in the Creatives.

 

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