Artist Analysis: Andrew Tift

Andrew Tift
Tift was born in 1968, studied at Stratford College of Art and the University of Central England. This was where he graduated with a first class degree and a Master of Arts degree. So far he has been exhibited in the B.P. Portrait Gallery ten times; he has also won various awards, including The European  Painting Award and the Emerson Group Award, he has also done many notable commissions, for example, the portraits of Neil and Glenys Kinnock.
He describes himself  as a figurative realist painter and that specialises in portraiture. His work is aimed to convey people in a highly detailed and realistic way that is understanding, sympathetic and intimate towards them.
Instead of his paintings, I am going to focus on his drawings, which are mostly the mediums charcoal and graphite on paper. Tift's drawings/work is inspirational to me and they are pieces of work that I aspire too, I believe that they will help me to improve my skills and techniques.

Examples of Andrew Tift's work:

Absorb 60 cm. x 44 cm. Graphite, Charcoal and Carbon on paper
http://www.andrewtift.co.uk/drawings/absorb.jpg

Unfinished Memory 30 cm. x 20 cm. Graphite, Charcoal and Carbon on Paper
http://www.andrewtift.co.uk/drawings/unfinished-memory.jpg

Eric Sykes by Andrew Tift, (2011) 35 in. x 26 3/8 in. Graphite, charcoal, carbon and ink,
http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw220125/Eric-Sykes?LinkID=mp59010&search=sas&sText=andrew+tift&role=art&rNo=1

When I visited a few art galleries in London a couple of years ago, I came across this piece of Tift's in the British Portrait Museum; I can remember being in ore of this striking piece and standing and in front of it and staring in amazement.
The piece show Eric Sykes, who was an actor, comedian, writer, director and producer, who in the piece comes across as happy through his grinning expression and quirky, shown through his slightly off balance spectacles.
The artist has used many formal elements in this piece; personally, the most striking is the tone used, it is strong and there is a lot of contrast between dark and light tones, it is very layered, which creates lots of depth and texture in the piece. The line used gives the piece more shape; also, the simple lines at the bottom that create his shirt, add simplicity to the piece. I am fond of the unfinished look to a finished piece.
I am going to make this piece relate to the work I want to make through including more depth and tone into my work, I also want to incorporate the unfinished look into my work, it makes the pieces more dramatic as more attention is drawn to the bolder parts of the piece, but at the same time, adds simplicity to the piece because of the simple lines.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/artists/andrew-tift
http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp59010/andrew-tift?search=sas&sText=andrew+tift
http://www.andrewtift.co.uk/drawings.shtml