In many of our editions of the paper we have covered local artists which always proves to be popular with our readers. This month we are looking at portrait artist Nicholas Foyston. A pastry chef by day, he is developing his hobby as a self- taught artist and is becoming well known for his expressive portraiture of both people and animals.
Born in Hull, Nicholas now lives in Roundhay, Leeds with his wife Bernadette. He says he found school difficult as he was not in the least academic but his interest in art was ignited when he joined a printing group run by his art teacher. There, it was discovered he had a real talent for drawing.
Despite this talent, Art College was not an option for Nicholas as, with his older brother away in the RAF it fell to him to financially support the family, which included his twin brother and a younger sister. With this in mind he embarked on a career in catering.
During his career, Nicholas continued to draw for enjoyment, often giving his art away to family members and friends. Originally, his favourite medium was pen and ink, using a stippling/pointillism technique but gradually he has moved away from that in favour of pencil, both tonal and colour. This new technique has enabled Nicholas to produce beautiful art in a much shorter time frame. He enjoys drawing portraits and produced a large scale commission for the footballer Dickson Etuhu which took him 160 hours.
In the past few years, his biggest influence has been Instagram, where he has been able to draw portraits from people’s photographs (with their permission of course!) This has been a fantastic confidence boost for Nicholas who says “I can’t stop drawing now, I’m constantly working on something.”
When asked if he had sold any of his drawings and if he had any advice to give to students, he told us “after being invited to exhibit 6 pieces of art in a local art event, I managed to sell 2 pieces out of a total of 13 sold, from 250 pieces of artwork shown. Whatever your talent, just follow your dreams and be inspired.”
Nicholas is not afraid to play around with new techniques and styles, which means his portfolio of work displays a vibrancy that is a pleasure to see. We are sure that, with a talent such as his, Nicholas Foyston is a name we will be hearing far more often on the local art scene!
For commissions please contact Nicholas by email: nicholasfoyston@me.com
View his work on Facebook: Nicholas Foyston.ART
