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InspirationArt & Culture

Painted from Life: The impressionist photorealism of Liam Dickinson

Liam Dickinson is a 29-year-old portrait artist and illustrator from Chorley, Lancashire who works in oils, pencils and charcoal. A graduate in Fine Art from the University of Central Lancashire, he now lives and works in Preston, and was recently a finalist in Sky's 2017 Portrait Artist of the Year competition.

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Yellow tram travelling down wet urban street lined with buildings in muted tones, painted in impressionistic photorealistic style

Dickinson describes his style as an "impressionistic form of photorealism, capturing elements of photography/cinematography such as depth of field and filtered lighting, with a loose, painterly approach associated with painting directly from life".

His new solo exhibition Liam Dickinson: Portrait and the Urban Landscape explores opposing genres of painting (portraits and landscapes) but with a common goal of capturing light, colour and movement. It's on show from Thursday 27 April until Sunday 7 May at The Cass Art Space, a new space on Manchester’s Oldham Street due to be launched by specialist art supplies retailer Cass Art this week.

Portrait painting of a young boy with short blonde hair wearing a white t-shirt, illuminated with warm golden and cool blue tones against a dark background
A sunlit urban street lined with tall buildings, with a parked car and pedestrians casting long shadows on the pavement beneath a bright sky
Portrait of a woman in profile with her hand to her face, painted in vibrant blues and oranges against a warm gradient background
Wet urban street with yellow taxis and dark vehicles beneath tall buildings with soft light filtering through the cityscape, painted in loose impressionistic style
Busy urban street at dusk with illuminated vehicles, buses and buildings, painted in loose, impressionistic style with warm amber and cool blue tones
Framed oil painting by Liam Dickinson showing a woman in brown and blue clothing tilted sideways, with bokeh lights in the background
Monochromatic portrait painting of a woman in profile with long dark hair, rendered in Liam Dickinson's photorealistic style with loose brushwork and dramatic lighting
Portrait painting of a woman's face lit by contrasting red and teal green light, with a red flower in her dark hair against a dark background
Oil portrait of a bald man with blue eyes wearing a light blue shirt, with yellow flowers and framed artworks visible in the background
A nocturnal street scene bathed in warm red and orange neon lights, with illuminated shop fronts and vehicles rendered in loose, painterly brushstrokes
Urban street scene at dusk with blurred car headlights and warm-toned buildings under a blue sky, painted in loose, impressionistic brushstrokes
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