During the first lockdown in March 2020 I began drawing from old master paintings. It’s something I’d always meant to do – as other artists before me (Turner, Picasso, Goya) did in their turn. The older I get, the more I am drawn back to the magic of these works.I draw from paintings that I know well by Rembrandt, Velazquez and Chardin. The longer I have known the original the better the drawing turns out. Some are paintings I have seen many times in books, exhibitions and galleries around the world over the past forty years. I feel I have a relationship with them, I saw them as an art student and now I look at them as an artist approaching sixty.
When I draw from existing works, I am trying to capture the connection I feel with the work, the historical nexus between me and the painting. The colour and graphic marks I use to frame the drawing with come from my own history and love of 1970’s record covers and graphic design by artists such as Barney Bubbles and Caroline Coon. The titles of the paintings are important and reflect what I know and feel about the subject from my own research. Using contemporary language and ‘buzzwords’ from social media; gamer, influencer and migrant for example, I am imagining these characters as if they were alive today, wondering what they would be doing and how they might be perceived by contemporary society. In this way, as with all my work, I am looking for connections from our historical past and life today.
Alexander Johnson
Confidante (after Velazquez). Oil on canvas, 117 x 130 cm. £3500
Entrepreneur (after Rembrandt). Oil, charcoal on canvas, 117 x 130 cm. £3500
Migrant with Sunbeam (after Rembrandt). Oil and charcoal on canvas, 40 x 48 cm. £1400
Player (after Velazquez). Oil and charcoal on canvas, 115 x 130 cm. £3500
Radiant Quince Yellow. Oil and charcoal on canvas, 35 x 42 cm. £1200
The Last Supper 1 (after Caravaggio). Charcoal and oil on canvas, 117 x 130 cm. £3500
African Lemons. Oil and charcoal on canvas, 115 x 130 cm. £3500
Hanging Lemons (after Sánchez Cotán. Oil, charcoal on canvas, 35 x 42 cm. £1200
Red Painter (after Velazquez). Oil, charcoal and pigment on canvas, 30 x 37 cm. Unframed, £800
Sad Princess (study after Velazquez). Charcoal and pigment on canvas, 42 x 46 cm. SOLD
Blue Confidante (after Velazquez). Oil and charcoal on canvas, 40 x 46 cm. £1200
African Painter (after Velazquez). Oil on canvas, 40 x 46 cm
Sevilliano (after Velazquez). Oil on canvas, 40 x 46 cm
Joker (after Rembrandt). Oil and charcoal on canvas, 100 x 110 cm. £3000
African Man In Lace Collar (after Velazquez). Oil on canvas, 20 x 25 cm. £600
Golden Hoodie (after Zurbarán). Oil and charcoal on canvas, 22 x 30 cm. £700
Lemons (after Zurbaran). Oil and charcoal on canvas, 50 x 57 cm. £1500
Dark Princess (after Velazquez). Oil on canvas, 25 x 33 cm. £800
Cosmic Painter Study. Oil on canvas, 20 x 26 cm. SOLD
Possible Daughter (after Velazquez). Oil, charcoal on canvas, 66 x 72 cm. £1600
African Man in Lace Collar 2 (after Velázquez). Oil, charcoal on canvas, 60 x 66 cm. £2000
St. Jerome's Sliders (after Rembrandt), green. Oil, charcoal on canvas, 50 x 60 cm. £1500
African Man in a Lace Collar (after Velázquez). Oil on canvas, 48 x 56 cm. £1600
The Girl I Lost In the Rain (after Velazquez). Oil on canvas, 34 x 41cm. £1200
Mystery Man (after Velázquez). Oil on canvas, 30 x 43 cm. £1200
Blue Princess (after Velazquez). Oil on canvas, 60 x 66 cm. Framed, £1600
Cosmic Painter 2. (study After Velazquez). Oil on canvas, 42 x 46 cm. SOLD
Sun-drenched Princess (after Velazquez). Oil and charcoal on canvas, 66 x 72 cm. Framed, £2000
Migrant Study (after Rembrandt). Oil, charcoal on canvas, 40 x 45 cm. Framed. SOLD
Heir (study after Velazquez). Oil and charcoal on canvas, 60 x 66 cm. £1800
Jade Princess (after Velazquez). Oil and charcoal on canvas, 20 x 26 cm. £600
LITTLE PRINCESS (after Velazquez). Oil on canvas, 25 x 33cm. £700
Ripping Migrant Dark (after Rembrandt). Oil and charcoal on canvas, 60 x 66 cm. Framed, £1600