PAINTBOX COLLABORATOR: Kerry Darlington
THE ARTIST: KERRY DARLINGTON
” My paintings begin maybe with a doodle from a daydream, a photograph of my children, a local model, or inspired by the last painting i worked on. I usually have a firm idea of the main composition but the rest happens organically as I begin to paint. I use acrylic, metallics and several layers of resin.I start with a primed wooden board cut to the size I require. First, I draw on the main elements and then I paint in some background colour. There is always a plan to this background layer and it is the most critical time of the painting. This is because I need to have a good idea of which colours will be applied upon the next layer.For example, if I want a purple colour, I may put blue on the background layer, add resin and then paint red on the next layer. This creates a purple of more translucent depth than one tube of colour can. The areas that I leave on the background are the most important to me because if these are left untouched throughout all of the resin layers, I can use them as the highlights without the need to paint a flat colour afterwards. This effect cannot be achieved with paint, because it is created by light passing though the resin layers. A shade of black for example would create a deeper black than if it were painted on the top layer. A red could be intensified by painting more reds on the following layers. And so on.Subsequent layers of resin are painted upon, building up and intensifying the background colours, or painting over pastels to give a gentle translucent colour. Upon the top layer of resin, I add the finer details of the piece, add small white highlights and the finished image is archival-varnished.”
THE ARTWORK: TWIN FLAMES
13 years ago Kerry became self-employed and began a new venture, selling decorative abstract works on eBay. Her work became hugely popular and a year later was spotted by a gallery and a publishing agent who began to sell her work instead. Kerry has since built a reputation for her original, decorative designs, focusing primarily on trees and nature.
Several years ago she released her book Illustrations as Unique Edition prints – the reception to this work was spectacular! Her first releases – ‘Midnight Garden’ and her ‘Mad Hatters Tea Party’ were so popular that they sold out in hours. Her book illustration work went on to include ‘Peter Pan’, a whole series of ‘Alice in Wonderland’, and ‘The Wonderful Wizard of Oz’ by Frank Baum. In 2013 she was given special permission to illustrate her childhood favourite – ‘The Magic Faraway Tree’ by Enid Blyton.
She then released her private collection of figurative works which took her work to another level, with ‘Ophelia’, ‘Undine’, ‘The lady of Shalott’ amongst them. Many of these sought after pieces are still in demand and have gone on to obtain high values on the secondary market.
In May 2012 and in 2014 she was awarded ‘Best-Selling Published Artist’ at a ceremony by the Fine Art Trade Guild. Kerry continues to inspire other artists and has become one of the most sought after artists in the UK today, with hundreds of collectors across the country and abroad.