This is a fine large original charcoal drawing that I have owned for about 20 years. It was made by the Scottish artist, Pat Douthwaite (1939 - 2002).
I have taken a couple of photographs of it hanging in my house - before I did a wee rehang of my pictures. It is nicely framed with a thick silver wooden frame. It is glazed with perspex to keep the weight down!
This is a dramatic portrait head study of a lady with lots of black hair - it is certainly a strange but very compelling image. It is drawn on a thin sheet of paper (there is a little rippling to the paper in the top left-hand corner, that has probably occurred in the creation of the artwork (as photographed)). It remains stable and I never noticed this when he was hanging at my home. There is also geometric patterns done by the artist on the sheet - and these are obvious with the charcoal shading and toning that she has used in the creation of the portrait.
Douthwaite often used cheaper materials to produce her artworks as she was never financially secure. Pat Douthwaite certainly favoured working in charcoal and coloured pastels on paper - and she just loved to draw.
The subject of my moody portrait has not been identified - and the sitter is probably taken from Pat's own imagination.
This work does not appear to be signed by her - she might have just intended it as a sketch made for her own enjoyment rather than sale or display. I am not sure if it was ever signed in the top corner under the window mount or on the back of the sheet. It is without doubt an autograph work by Douthwaite. I bought it at an auction as such decades ago - and always treasured it. On a stylistic basis, it must date to the mid-1980s.
It is a large and dramatic work by her - and I have taken lots of images of all details for your inspection.
This is a highly resolved portrait study by the artist - as she did not usually use such an amount of tonal work in her drawings. My price for this fine Expressionistic work by her is a fair one - as her work continues to be keenly sought after. Even today, she remains much undervalued in artistic circles across the UK. Perhaps her difficult personality was a reason for her work being less known outside of her native Scotland.
Dimensions: The frame is 95 x 65 cm. The image size is 79 x 53.5 cm.
SHORT BIOGRAPHY: Pat Douthwaite was born in Glasgow in 1934. She studied mime and modern dance with Margaret Morris, whose husband, J. D. Fergusson, encouraged her to paint. She never had any formal art training and remained self-taught. In 1958 Pat moved to Suffolk where she befriended a group of painters, including the Scots Colquhoun and MacBryde, and William Crozier. From 1959-1988 she travelled widely, to N. Africa, India, Peru, Venezuela, Europe, U.S.A., Kashmir, Nepal, Pakistan, Ecuador. From 1969 she lived part of the time in Majorca, and latterly in various properties across the Scottish Borders. She died in July 2002 at Broughty Ferry.
If you would like to know more about this fascinating Scottish outsider artist, there is a 2016 monograph on Douthwaite written by Guy Peploe. The book contains a fine selection of plates illustrating her work.
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