Zombie
STREETS AHEAD We had the pleasure of speaking to cover artist, Alan Russell-Cowan aka Alan Streets, about his unconventional career as a plein-air artist.
Alan is an incredibly talented, self-taught artist who started his career doing acrylic paintings on the streets of New York, where his work became popular and well-known. After spending 10 years in New York, he then returned to the UK and expanded his repertoire to include UK cityscapes, imaginary scenes and woodcarvings. But his career hasn’t necessarily been a smooth journey – with Alan using his art to distract from his struggles with mental health. While Alan began in New York, where he sold his paintings to passers-by, he also travelled around America, painting a range of famous landmarks from other big cities. After returning to the UK in 2011, Alan continued to paint plein-air for three months, before deciding instead to paint from photographs. Venus
He said: “When I was younger, my style was quite controversial, so I struggled to sell my paintings. But as I evolved as an artist, I had much more success and earned a reasonable living selling my cityscapes. I had a lot of support from the public, and I found that my style of artwork was more popular in America, where people tended to invest more in art. In London, my work is still popular, but the levels of crime on the streets means that I prefer to paint from photographs!” Alan has been an artist his whole life, after being inspired by the legendary Salvador Dali as a teenager. But, although painting brought him fame, he also works with other mediums and enjoys drawing
4
and woodcarving. He began drawing extensively at the age of 23, after being admitted to hospital for schizophrenia – ever since then he has been drawing to relax his mind, enabling him to paint better paintings. As an artist, Alan is always looking to expand his work: “I took up woodcarving as a hobby when I was in my forties, after finding a piece of mahogany in a skip. I carved a swallow into the wood, sparking a love for the craft. I bought some blocks of wood and some carving tools and worked on my technique – now I can carve almost anything! Because of that, my woodcarvings are the pieces that I’m most proud of.” Much of Alan’s work now comes from his avid imagination, from which he paints imaginary scenes. His work is immediately recognisable, incorporating a bold use of colours and reflecting the unique way in which Alan portrays the world around him. Alan said: “Some of my favourite paintings of mine are the larger-scale imaginary scenes from the 90s, including ‘A Bolt from the Blue’ and ‘London Calling’. But it’s hard to choose, I love my plein-air work and woodcarvings too!” Tower Bridge, moulding used 285757662
