Portraits of Dignity – W. N. Pope

I draw automatically. I paint and draw in an obsessive way what I see. When I am somewhere where the people interest me, or I know the person I am drawing, I will do a quick portrait. These are real time events characterised by: the personal interaction I have with the person, my feelings for that person, my mood at the time.

These drawings are often incomplete because of their immediacy, but can be good for this reason. I have bundles of these. Sometimes, if the person I portray wants the picture, I’ll sell it to them or give them a photocopy. I sketch in three different media which tend to dictate how I work: ink, which can be decisive, pencil: where I erase and draw with the end of the pencil, a more analytical style, or acrylic: with colour ranging from thin to thick brushwork, or using palette knives. There can be people can be arranged in a setting, at a workplace, at an activity. I like the vitality of groups with individuals portrayed together.