Details

First Name

Donald
Last Name

Ritchie
Username

donaldritchie
Website

donritchieartist.com
Region

Scottish Borders
Disciplines

Painting, Printmaking
Themes

Abstract, Figurative, Landscape

Statement

Statement

My work reflects my fascination with the landscape and in particular the effects of the human hand  as it changes and modifies the landscape season by season.  I will see a scene which immediately brings together shapes, colours and textures into a unified whole and immediately catches my imagination and a painting is created.  The same scene at a different time and in different light will often have lost its inspiration.   My work usually proceeds with a rapid pencil drawing identifying the main features that caught my imagination painting and often with some exaggeration to accentuate the shapes.  Photographs will also be taken as a reminder of detail but the painting is made predominantly from the drawing.  Mostly I work in oils painting fairly thinly and with a focus on earth colours.

Biography

Biography

My background is in science.  I was the Professor of Genetics at the University of Liverpool and Deputy Chairman of the Environment Agency.  I have painted for many years, predominantly landscapes in oils.  My art training has been in drawing, mostly life drawing, with courses at Hammersmith School of Art and the University of Liverpool.  I have paintings held by two national collections, the Williamson Museum and Art Gallery, Birkenhead and the Victoria Gallery and Museum, Liverpool.  A solo exhibition was held at Shrewsbury School and I currently show my work at the White Fox Gallery, Coldstream.  Apart from many local exhibitions I have exhibited with the NEAC, the Royal Society of British Artists, Major Merseyside Artists, the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists and the Aberdeen Artists Society.  A number of prizes have been received, the most recent being the 2021 MSD Design Ltd Award for Drawing and Painting by the Aberdeen Artists Society.