David Hobbs
artist
Old Town, Hastings
I studied Illustration & Design at Hastings School of Art and subsequently worked for advertising agencies producing finished artwork including line illustration, hand-drawn lettering and full-colour illustrations of anything and everything.
This proved a worthwhile apprenticeship to hone any skills that I may have possessed. Seeking more control over my work I decided to become freelance and therefore needed to specialise in one or two areas of illustration, so I chose illustrated maps and historical reconstruction. This work combined my interest in history, architecture, wildlife and lettering. I subsequently produced work for Heritage magazine over a ten year period, BBC Homes & Antiques and The Daily Telegraph for three years plus from time to time work for other magazine and book publishers. Museum and exhibition work followed and I produced historical illustrations for The National Trust, English Heritage, Birmingham Museum, Tamworth Museum Kingston Museum and maps and illustrations for Hastings Borough Council/1066 Country Partnership. I also supplied images for visitor information panels to two major Lottery Funded exhibitions -'Canterbury: England's Crucible' and 'Canterbury:1600 To the Present Day'.
During this time I continued with painting and drawing for exhibition purposes but could not devote as much time to this as I would have wished. I am now able to do this and enjoy producing line drawings with added water-colour washes; I also work in acrylics and am busy producing a body of work in this medium.
A fascination with combining several images in one drawing and weaving these into a satisfying overall design is a great passion....and challenge.
A strong illustrative element, imagination, the story behind the story and a nod to the past, are all features represented in my work.
I am inspired by the local landscape, history and period architecture of this beautiful part of the UK......East Sussex.
Participation in exhibitions:
Hastings Museum and Art Gallery (two -man show)
Stables Theatre Hastings (Joint shows)
Sidney Cooper Gallery, Canterbury 2010, 2012 (History of Canterbury)
Rye Society of Artists Annual Show 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023
Pure Autumn Arts Fair, Battle 2017, 2018
Hastings Museum and Art Gallery (one-man show) 2024