I’m so proud of this book because it captures my entire method for painting and I’m excited to share it with you.
Click the book cover below to find out more about how you can order a signed copy of “Painting People and Places”.
About Adebanji Alade
Adebanji Alade, otherwise known as The Addictive Sketcher’, features regularly on the BBC’s The One Show, and can often be found sketching travellers on the London Underground.
He trained at Yaba College of Technology in Nigeria, later obtaining a diploma in portraiture from Heatherley’s School of Fine Art in Chelsea, where he now teaches.
He is also the founder of The Addictive Sketchers Movement (his online art school) where he inspires and teaches students all over the world how to sketch anything they see accurately and confidently.
Adebanji is the president of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters; a full member of The Guild of Fine Art in Nigeria; and in 2014 was elected to the council of the Chelsea Art Society. He also belongs to Urban Sketchers Worldwide and Plein Air Brotherhood.
His awards include Buxton Spa Sketchbook Award (2014); winner of Pinta Rapido Plein Air Event at Chelsea Town Hall in 2013; winner of Best Painting of a London Scene, Chelsea Art Society in 2010; the Alan Gourley Memorial Award at the Royal Institute of Oil Painters Exhibition 2017, and numerous others.
Adebanji has a strong following in the US as well as the UK. He writes regularly for The Artist magazine and exhibits with the Royal Institute of Oil Painters. He teaches at the Art Academy, London, and also runs workshops and demos for schools, colleges, universities and art societies.
Artist’s Statement
My work is all about people and places.
I strive to bring the force and power of the sketch into every piece I embark on. I am a strong believer in sketching and I believe everything in art starts with a sketch, so, in my works you’ll always feel the power and sense of a captured moment. I work from life and from photo references but the mission is the same-to bring a lively sketchy feel to the completed piece.
I like to focus on people because I love the play of light, moods, emotions, beauty and the variety that each face brings. I also love places because I get inspired by the atmosphere, historical importance, mood and the play of light that a particular place can offer at any point in time.
Method of Working
I work directly from life or from photo references. I paint directly without building up successive layers of paint. I paint shape by shape, a technique I call inside-out, in which the painting is embarked upon from a spot inside the workspace and I spread out, still working shape by shape until the whole piece is complete. I also work from broad shapes to details, a technique I call outside-in, where the painting starts off with broad strokes to cover the ground and then finished off with details on the inside.
I mainly work with oils but I use acrylics, watercolour, pastels, Coloured pencils, charcoal and graphite and I also love to combine these in mixed media works too.
Society Memberships
- Royal Institute of Oil Painters
- Chelsea Art Society
- Guild of Fine Art, Nigeria
- Urban Sketchers Worldwide
- Plein Air Brotherhood
Last evening, I spent a couple of hours watching the DVD which you made in Cromer a few years ago. I have watched it several times previously but as I am a great admirer of your work, your DVD gets frequent use. I love your enthusiasm and the end product.
Although I have never had any specialist training, I am a very keen amateur painter – I have been for most of my life. At the end of your DVD you extol the use of a sketch book and those words rang a bell with me. It reminded me of the words of my old Grammar School Art master who some seventy five years ago encouraged his class to get a sketch book, get on your bikes and each day draw something – anything! When I retired, no, before I retired, I started to use a sketch book to record what I saw on my travels abroad and closer to home. And doing so has given me great pleasure and my drawing/painting skills have certainly improved. Quite recently, in response to requests from friends, I published a selection of the thousands of sketches done over the past twenty plus years in book form. Would you be interested in having a peep at it? I’m afraid that age prevents me from travelling far these days. I very rarely venture as far as London. But if you are interested, i’ll post a copy to you and you can tell me what you think. I would value your opinion.
Please send me a copy Denis, I’ll love to see it. Send it to Studio 7, 92 Lots Road, SW10 0QD.
Hi , I saw your work on the BBC one show, painting. Clevedon pier. You are certainly a man of huge. Talent ..
Have you got a Christian faith because you certainly would shpw it.
What an Inspirational guy
Thanks John, I have got christian faith!
Hi, I’m one of the Clevedon swimmers you painted, we have a marine lake for swimmers to use free of charge that’s run by a local charity (MARLENS) who’re always in need of funds to help with maintenance. We wondered if you’d be kind enough to send us a print to auction to raise much needed funds?
Yes, that will be fine, Ill email you to get your details.