This month’s spotlight is on a pastel wildlife artist
We present...
SOPHIE PARKHILL
This wildlife artist aims to keep her work realistic, while embracing colour and vibrancy, and using her art to support wildlife charities
I’ve always been creative, and even sold small commissions as a teenager. My journey back into art happened unexpectedly when I was in hospital during pregnancy, suffering from hyperemesis gravidarum. My other half bought me a set of Faber-Castell Pitt Pastel pencils to take my mind off things.
I hadn’t painted or drawn in years, so my first piece was Blue Jay created from a free reference image I found on Pixabay. Once I finished it, I had a huge rush of positivity: I felt relaxed, inspired, excited; everything I used to feel when I was creating art. From then on, I was hooked.
Online galleries were a great first step and helped me to grow my confidence. Without exhibiting in online exhibitions first, and winning some great awards, I don’t think I’d have had the courage to enter physical exhibitions. I started to exhibit my work in small events, then larger group exhibitions like the Association of Animal Artists, followed by my own guest exhibition at the Artworks2 Gallery in Betws-y-Coed. Fast forward several years, I’m now an award-winning artist and donate a portion of the sale of many of my original paintings to wildlife charities.
I use a range of pastels for every single piece, including PanPastels, soft sticks and pastel pencils. I often focus on birds and big cats because I love to paint them, but I choose the work I’m doing based on what I know sells at each particular event or gallery. People may believe this takes the fun out of art, but it’s actually just a reality that cannot be overlooked for anyone wanting to make a career out of it. There can be a balance between painting what inspires you, and painting what is likely to sell.
Structuring my time to keep creating regularly is something I struggle with even today! When running your own business, it can feel easy to have a day off, which quickly turns into a week off. Trying to do 9-5 hours wasn’t right for me so most of my work is created between 7pm and 2am because those are the hours where I’m most productive and able to fully concentrate. spwildlifeart.com
The Eye of the Catcher , pastel, 30x30cm