I have deliberately left the title of this article in French as it has a double signification.
People who paint or do things of the kind are sometimes asked to talk about those who have influenced them. In my case, although I can name a large number of painters from many periods whose work I admire a lot, I am not sure that any of them constitutes a direct influence on my work, at least consciously. Even if certain aesthetic approaches to painting (and even “anti-aesthetic in the case of a lot of contemporary work) can form a sort of influence, I feel that this operates in a diffuse and semi-conscious mode, at least in my case.
If I have to name painters and draftsmen whose work I particularly admire, here goes:: Piero della Francesca, Masaccio, Vermeer, Rembrandt, Turner, Cézanne, Degas, Manet, Matisse, Vuillard, Hammershoi, Hopper, de Kooning, Rothko, Richter, Hockney, Pignon Ernest. And this list, although far from exhaustive, may give some idea, even if the work of many of these is widely spread in terms of subject, style and of course period. I feel the intensity of looking and the mastery of the eye:hand coordination is at the core of the work of all or most of those named above. Painting is a craft that requires application and practice.
This form of production, if guided by eye and brain, is the product of our hands and it is in the articulation between these two poles that resides the difficulty of drawing and painting for me, especially as my practice is very limited in time and undergoes long intervals since I have to earn my living in other ways. Painting is a sporadic activity for me, even if I wish it were otherwise. Like a sport or any discipline, it requires regular practice, and even if it sometimes the eye:brain combination, and sometime the hand that takes control, ideally both work together and for that to happen, practice is essential. This is a form of explanation for many things unsatisfactory in the work shown here.
David Cobbold