Interview

Apr 14

William Keleny

William Keleny is a UK-based artist using pencil drawing to flesh out dark supernatural fantasy. He has been drawing since childhood with a lot of access to films and books. He saw many pictures, mainly of historical figures and living creatures. William decided that he had to portray these things in pencil as realistically as possible. As he discovered the work of artists like Alan Lee and Karl Kopinski, he started realizing that he wasn’t the best artist in the world. You couldn’t just rely on talent alone. You have to practice if you are going to create something really special. This left William somewhat disheartened but when he started attending Aylesbury College, his work really started to improve. It stopped being a hobby, and became a profession; something that was appreciated, valued and respected.

His work has since grown to include sculpture, but bringing something to the field of pencil drawing remains his primary goal. He combines photorealism with original concepts, to create something fantastically, and horrifically life like. His work is not so much conveying a message, as it is studying the extent to which a fantastical concept can be brought to life. William experiments with different compositions, ideas and drawing styles to bring the fantastical into reality. As he pursues this goal, the relationship between each artwork becomes clearer. He doesn’t know for certain, but he believes all his works will turn out to be pieces of a single whole: one drawing, one painting and one idea. He is a member of the Dark Art Movement, founded in 2009 and based in London.

What is your background and how did you start your journey in the art world?

“I have been drawing since childhood. It began with reading JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. I had to create the kind of thing he described in his writing. I had to create my own fantasy worlds. From that point on I was a fan of fantasy, sci fi and horror. I was not yet considering creating drawings professionally. That came when I attended Aylesbury College. There, I learned that you need to start the drawing with simple shapes – e.g when drawing a human, draw a circle for the head, a square for the jaw, and gradually add more detail. If you try and make something perfect from the start, you will be constantly correcting yourself. You need to be free. You shouldn’t worry about drawing things wrong. You must get the shape, the form, the feel of the thing, before adding details. My drawings were suddenly ten times better, and the hobby had become a life’s work.”

What inspires you?

“Films, novels, comics, history and nature. I enjoy portraying something as realistically as possible, but sometimes I enjoy drawing in particular styles, e.g. comic book styles or with characters that look like they should belong in a Japanese print. Mainly, I want to tell stories through my work.”

What themes do you pursue? Is there an underlying message in your work?

“I explore themes of violence, anatomy, nature and the supernatural. The message of my work is that horror can be beautiful. I want to show people how wonderous a nightmare landscape can be. This wonder defines it even more then the horrific aspects. Its not just about scaring people. Its about finding ways to turn a scary thing into something they also enjoy.”

How would you describe your work?

“I would describe it as an effort to bring the viewer into a fantastical world. I am trying to demonstrate the power of imagination. But despite the violence and its supernatural perpetrators, I want it to be a world that has hope, with beautiful landscapes and characters of good will. There has to be a swamp of horrors, and a mountain of light.”

Which artists influence you most?

“Alan Lee, John Howe, Harry Clarke, HR Giger, Keith Thompson and Karl Kopinski. The work of Lee, Howe and Kopinski is astonishingly realistic. They set the standard of realism that I must live up to. Clarke has this beautiful style without being photorealistic. He gave me the idea of using different styles to express or signify different subjects and emotions. Giger and Thompson have this insane originality. They can conceive such strange concepts for creatures, characters and worlds, and shape them into things that no one else thinks of.”

“I am trying to demonstrate the power of imagination. But despite the violence and its supernatural perpetrators, I want it to be a world that has hope, with beautiful landscapes and characters of good will.”

What is your creative process like?

“I start with a rough sketch. This establishes where each thing is going to be in the drawing. It also establishes what the idea is and how it is original. Then, for the details I get images usually from the internet, or from books, to use as reference. Then, I draw those elements of the images that add the most to the work. It’s simply a matter of concentrating hard enough, and drawing each part of the work again and again, until you make it as good as it can be. I always combine aspects of more than one reference image. For example, if I want to create a drawing of a wolf, I might use one reference photo for the fur, another for the stance, another for the mouth and so on. Sometimes, the drawing develops in ways I never imagined. Its like your discovering the thing your drawing rather than creating it. It already existed before you got there.”

What is an artist’s role in society and how do you see that evolving?

“It’s actually quite contradictory. For the most part, artists are, and should be entertainers. They are paid good money to provide something beautiful to look at. They give people a break from real life. But they can also amplify real life. They can inspire, horrify and tell uncomfortable truths. But that in turn can all be just part of the entertainment. I think art is becoming too much like real life though. Its become too allegorical. If the artwork portrays the real world too much, it kind of looses the ability to stand on its own two feet. I think if art is to survive it needs to have more applicability, be more timeless, have its own internal merits, e.g photorealism, rather than be blown on the winds of what the latest news story happens to be.”