His mother thought of him as a failure and often laughed at him, calling his paintings ugly, depressing and boring, yet he was devoted to her. He attended Manchester art school and the Salford art school for over twelve years in the evenings, before they eventually told him to leave because he was too old.

A Lowry industrial scene before the tutor's criticism.

A Lowry industrial scene after the tutor's criticism.

He began painting his industrial scenes in the late 1920′s but they met with little success until one of the tutors criticised them. Lowry was furious and when he asked what he should do to improve them was met with the answer, ‘that is for you to find out’. Lowry went home in a tantrum and came back with the roads and buildings painted white to which the tutor said, ‘that’s better.’

You will notice in all Lowry’s landscapes the roads are painted white and the buildings white or pale pastel colours, nothing like the dull grey’s of the reality. His work began to sell after an exhibition in London in 1939 brought him to the attention of the London art scene, he was aged 52.

Interestingly, if you look at the figures in Lowry’s paintings they are always in little groups, a lot is going on, but you always get the impression that Lowry is the distant observer. Apart from his devotion to his mother, he had no other relationships in his life. His work is actually much more interesting and sophisticated that it appears. He is an artist who observes the minutiae of life very intensely.

Want to try your hand at painting a Lowry? 

Why not try this great LS Lowry painting course     

Inspired by Lowry at Hampton Bishop VH on 16/17 June  

If you want to be a little more creative with your drawing, or perhaps you want to push your drawing more towards an individual, abstracted response, why not try a one of these ideas.

Start by taking an object, maybe an interesting vase, and make a quick large sketch of it, now change your view point and draw it again, BUT draw it directly on top of the previous drawing. Do this a number of times from different angles, how extreme you want to make the viewing angle is up to you – experiment. After completing  say five sketches look at the mass of lines you have and start selecting, with a bolder line, what you believe to be the more significant lines. You should end up with a drawing that sums up the experience of moving around the object, seeing it from all angles in its full glory.

Another idea which can produce some interesting results is a variation on the idea above. Pick up an object you are not familiar with and hold it behind your back. Place your pencil in the middle of the paper and close your eyes. Roll the object around in your fingers, now draw what you feel, but do not open your eyes. Imagine the object from different viewpoints – still feeling the object in your hand -and draw a number of these again on top of each other. This idea is all about how your brain visualises purely tactile messages into a visual image. Be open minded about the result, try lots of objects – experiment. I am sure you can come up with lots of other ideas for exploring drawing, – let me know and I might publish them here.

Why not try one of my drawing courses?

Just start scribbling. The first idea is rarely the best just keep scribbling and let the idea fester, play with it over a period of time and remember if it goes nowhere it is not the end of the world, but it might suggest the beginning of a new adventure.

To be truly inspired, you have to learn to trust your instincts. Don’t keep re-drawing the idea too much or plan the painting down to every intricate detail, otherwise you’ll get bored with it and everyone who looks at your finished work will probably feel the same. Remember, hard work is important, but it’s not as important as inspiration.

If you are really stuck for ideas, let your mind wander, observe people in the street, watch films, read books, comics, newspapers, look at the gestures people use when in the street, queuing, eating, whatever. Take these everyday things, make notes about them use them as a starting point and doodle, let your mind day dream and ponder on them.

Sometimes try to write down your ideas instead of drawing them. Be very brief, concise and direct. Don’t over-complicate things. Picasso once said he spent a lifetime trying to learn how to draw like a child. Children see the world in simple, straight forward ways, they speak a lot of sense, watch how they work and try to follow their uninhibited methods of self-expression.

At the end of the day don’t be afraid to scrap all your hard work and planning at the last minute and go off in a totally different direction. Don’t be too precious about your idea, it can be hard to ditch it, but as I said earlier trust your instincts.

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