Wildlife Artist

Jon Tremaine is a Cornish artist who grew up in Truro. He exhibited his art for the first time in 2008, realising such local success he gave up his full time job of 29 years to pursue his artistic tallent. He can now usually be found engrossed in his latest drawing at his working studio in Lelant.

Jon’s art is created using an Isograph pen charged with Indian ink. This has the finest .10mm nib giving him the opportunity to draw with great precision. The drawings are labours of love taking as long as a hundred hours to produce through sittings of two to four hours at a time.

Jon says: “Animals are amazing, I’m in awe of how they fend for themselves and adapt to their environment.” For him interpreting their shapes and weaving them together to create the fascinating drawings is the challenge. “Drawing is both relaxing and exciting for me. I am not always sure how they will evolve at the outset.”

It is an intricate balance and involves much thought about which animal to use where within the bigger picture. It takes time to consider how each part of the drawing will relate to another part in terms of shape and shade. For example the Running Hare has a mink as one of its legs, whilst the otter has a swan to accentuate its chest.

Whilst the animals come from Jon’s observation, the flora is often an interpretation of what he sees.

Jon’s work has been featured in many regional magazines and in the international magazine “Wildscape”.He has a fascination with nature and is a member of Artists for Conservation. This organisation’s mission is to support nature through art. More information about them can be found at www.natureartists.com.