It’s quite evident from the works of the artist Adam Riches that he must’ve been a master doodler in his childhood! Jokes apart, this extraordinary artist scribbles a confusion of irregular lines, that skitter and loop across the paper, to emerge as amazing portraits.
Of course, Rices’ art is not just doodles, but has a style of its own, which he terms as ‘figurative expressionism’. Adam Riches drawings fall into two distinct stylistic categories – contour drawings and super-smooth drawings. The former captures the outlines and edges of their subject, while the latter display fine point of the pen with layered hatch marks.
In a BBC video interview, Adam Riches artist explains, “The drawings are often quite intuitive and are done spontaneously…they reveal themselves as I’m making them.” Although he’s adept at creating portraits in the likeness of real people, most of his drawings aren’t of real people. He uses human faces as a universal language to convey a certain mood or feeling.
Asked about his inspiration, Riches discloses it in an interview to electronicarthouse.com, “I think the Chinese artist Yan Pei Ming’s work has a profound impact on me. He makes huge monochromatic oil paintings, usually depicting war, death and political figures…I find them very inspiring.”
Adam Riches artwork enjoys a fan following of over 230,000 on Instagram alone. His artworks are available for purchase and cost between ₤200 to ₤1,000. Come December 2019, his works will be on display at PULSE Art Fair in Miami Beach, USA.
Adam Riches: Instagram