Mark Grieves

Mark Grieves was born in Newcastle and continues to live in the North East of England. He says if he hadn’t have had a talent for painting and drawing he would dread to think what he would have ended up doing as a career. For Mark, art is almost defined by the beauty of creating images that wouldn’t otherwise exist in real life. As a result photorealistic paintings fill the artist with a sense of sadness.

Mark’s method of working is different from the traditional approach. Normally artists work from light to dark but Mark finds it natural to work in reverse. Working exclusively in oils, he always starts with a completely black canvas and adds highlights until there is a balance in contrast. He works hard at composition and at the geometry emphasising light and shadow. Paintings are time consuming and can take several weeks to complete. The artist maintains a strong sense of narrative in the paintings and enjoys giving fun titles to the work.

Mark’s hugely successful musical series was a complete sell-out with his former publishers. His originals and limited editions often sold within a few days of issue. Due to the painstaking attention to detail, original paintings are in short supply leading to a high demand.

Mark’s publishers have since added a new dimension to his work by offering 3D high gloss editions. The publishers comment: “it occurred to us that the obvious move for Mark was a resined edition which, with its high lacquer finish, gave a new dimension to his work. Not only that, but by using black and white lacquered frames the whole piano look fused beautifully with the artwork”.

We are delighted to welcome Mark Grieves to Forest Gallery and love the deep contrast and detail in his work.