Visit my website www.raymutimer-artist.co.uk to see more of my work.
If you would like to arrange to come and see specific pieces of Art contact me preferably via email rigmutimer@btinternet.com.
I am based in Calcutt near Knaresborough.
As an artist and an illustrator, I CREATE pictures. From things I have seen, or from imagination when illustrating a story.
I have an acrylic painted tree stump, dated 1970, cut to shape in plywood. I also did shaped paintings on paper – watercolour cornfields in a semi-abstract way. *Sketching sunbathers of all shapes and sizes is good drawing practice.
My disguised sketchbook says CROSSWORDS. * When drawing an illustrations, I get a picture in my head. Using semi-transparent layout paper, I rough out the illustration. No rubbing out. This is improved on layer after layer until perfect. The final sheet, on my lightbox, is drawn in pen on watercolour paper. Then painted. *Composition, how everything is organized in a picture, is important. In illustrating a story, figures must have movement and facial expressions. Relate to each other. * Some of my paintings result from separate sketchbook drawings. Take an old Barn. Put in a snow scene.
Needs foreground interest so add some frosty teazels. Add hikers. * I revised cutouts a few years ago. I call them Landshapes. These have greater illusion of space than a picture in a frame.
I did a two year teaching course. Taught Art at St. Aidan’s, Harrogate. I also painted and exhibited in group shows and 28 of my own one man shows. My baby son introduced me to the wonderful world of children’s illustrated books. Over a few years I illustrated my own children’s stories. They were rejected by publishers – but my work rapidly improved. In 1997 I took some to show the producer of a Yorkshire TV schools program. He liked them. During 3 years, I illustrated twenty three stories for him. Publishers were impressed by this. I got 6 adventure stories to illustrate for one publisher and four picture books for another. More followed. In 1980 I became a fulltime illustrator. My agent found me work for children’s magazines. I had complete confidence in my ability. From books for young children to a Stock Exchange pictorial history, nothing daunted me. Then Ivor Wood, creator of the Postman Pat Tv series chose me to draw some Postman Pat books. I became the principal Postman Pat illustrator for 14 years. Did 42 Pat books. In 2004, having work in 207 books, I came back to painting.
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