I found Paul Kenton’s work while going through an art gallery in Chester and it immediately caught my eye because of the way Kenton takes inspiration from his world-wide travels. I like the way he captures the cityscapes, cafes, harbours, bridges, seascapes, and cultures of the places he visited. I also like the way his work is very detailed and reminds me a bit of a photograph to document your surroundings.
CATHEDRAL STREET
Cathedral Streets shows the famous St. Paul’s Cathedral in the background. I like how the composition is of him looking down the street. The media used in this is a mixed media and painted using a monochrome palette, finished with subtle splashes of red and black paint.
The red paint used grabs your attention, compared to if it was all in black and white. I really like how Kenton used a biro to fill in the small detail of the buildings. I think this gives the work more of an illustrative feeling
ILLUMINATED CITY
Illuminated City is probably one of my favourite of his work. This is because it’s a painting of the iconic Piccadilly Circus. The piece has been painted using a colourful palette of oil paint, then finished using Kenton’s loose and painterly dripping style.
What attracted my attention to this piece is the colours used. I liked how he used bright colours for the advertisements and the two buildings in the background to show how popular and busy the streets of London can be. I also like how you can see the outline of the Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain, but not in great detail so you focus more on the buildings.
ALISON LOUISE WILLIAMS 