Clementine Hanbury

EXPLORING YOUR OWN DEPTH

WITH NITRAM CHARCOAL

“Fog”, 2024, by Clementine Hanbury, 30 cm x 23 cm, Nitram Charcoal on paper


“My work explores and records the human condition, striving to express psychological and emotional depth. I have recently discovered that this is most efficiently achieved through self-portraiture, which I feel is a powerfully introspective act. I see it as a way to tell the truth with a gentle intensity and brutal honesty. There is something particularly metaphysical about studying oneself, which often results in going beyond just the aesthetics - looking both outwardly and inwardly simultaneously.

I was introduced to Nitram products while studying traditional realism at the Florence Academy of Art. Nitram Charcoal is made with professional artists in mind with a variety of sizes and densities, and offersthe ability to easily sharpen into very precise points. This allows for a great deal more accuracy thanany other charcoal product I have used.

Charcoal, the rawest and most essential tool for an artist, has been central to my practice since childhood. Originally, it was a material I used specifically for sketching out preliminary ideas and studies. Nitram’s quality has elevated it to become the foremost component of my work. Its flexibility enables delicate, linear drawings or painterly, moody renderings, achieving a nostalgic profundity which I find elusive with other materials.”

~ Clementine Hanbury

 

 

 

Clementine Hanbury, a contemporary realist painter and draftswoman based in London, trained at the Florence Academy of Art (2017–2020) and City & Guilds of London Art School (2015–2017), earning awards in printmaking and etching. Her work is held in private collections internationally and featured in group shows like the Royal Society of Portrait Painters, New English Art Club, Hampstead Art Society and Arcadia Contemporary in New York. In 2022, she exhibited alongside Picasso, Warhol and Cocteau in Paris as the sole contemporary painter. Clementine's self-portrait was highly commended for the De Laszlo Foundation Award (2023). Known for studying her subjects in natural light, her intimate, nuanced portraits have earned accolades, including Best Portrait of the Year (2019) at the Florence Academy of Art. You can see her work online at clementinehanbury.co.uk or follow her on Instagram @clementinehanbury.art.

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