David Allen: Yorkshire’s Great Pastel Painter

On the first day of September, the Fylingdales’ Group of Artists mount their annual exhibition which this year for the first time may be seen on-line. Prominent among them is David Allen, one of the country’s finest pastel painters.

Talking to him gives me a much greater understanding not only of this relatively uncommon medium but of the art of composition in general. He describes the technique as something like ‘drawing with colour’ on paper with ‘plenty of tooth’. Indeed, when it was available, he used to favour Hermes glass paper of the sort primarily intended for rubbing down metals. Although it does not involve mixing, a large range of secondary colours can be had, as he explains, by glazing one colour over another, with some gentle rubbing occasionally to achieve a blurring. ‘It came about many years ago when I was given a present of 50 landscape pastels and they gradually superseded my oils.’

A native of Knaresbrough, David received early encouragement to paint from his uncle, the much-respected Yorkshire landscape artist, Stanley Dollimore (1915-2001), who also introduced him to the work of Samuel John ‘Lamorna’ Birch (1869-1955), whose beautiful paintings of Cornwall are still much in demand.

He initially trained as a draughtsman which he believes imparted a strong sense of design to his work and involved ‘seeing things three-dimensionally whilst drawing in pencil’. An early hobby was photography which also furnished him with ‘a basis for capturing a strong image and a good composition.’

Although he describes his work as ‘representational’ in style, he has strong view on the use of photography: it can be of help as long as its limitations are recognised. ‘An artist needs to be able to see what the camera can’t see - into the shadows, detecting the colours within them.’

Given this view that ‘the big turn-on is light’ not surprisingly he favours working en plein air, very often producing smaller paintings to form the basis of larger studies. The presence of good light is both liberating and stimulating: it does not stay the same for long. ‘You have at maximum four hours to capture it before it changes.’ July Morning, Staithes, painted on the spot this summer, is a fine example of something, only 10” x 12”, executed very quickly before the light alters.

Perhaps not surprisingly David found himself drawn to Staithes, where historically so many artists have found the light and the landscape utterly beguiling. ‘I like to paint into the sun,’ he tells me, ‘which gives a sparkling effect on water – and water is common to almost all my paintings.’ He describes precisely and with obvious affection why the tiny Yorkshire fishing village is so inspiringly picturesque: ‘It’s got a Dickensian quality about it. It’s windswept and undeveloped. It’s got lots of nice angles going down steeply to the harbour. There are fishing cobles in the beck. There’s a beautiful contrast between the orange-tiled roofs and the blue sea. The tide comes in and creates a different view.

Staithes in Hazy Light is one of the many he has done of the village and it perfectly illustrates the affecting qualities of light, especially when set aside Staithes at Low Tide, both captured from the Cowbar side of the valley. The former was painted in the studio in August 2019, (exhibited and sold in March 2020) and David tells me ‘the light is from a combination of photographs taken in early Spring and my imagination’. Its quiet colours perfectly capture an indefinable quality, the ethereal beauty that descends on Staithes when there is mist in the air. There is a still calm that seems to stretch from a lazy beck to the faint roseate glow of the distant moorlands. By contrast the light in Staithes at Low Tide is brighter, throwing the buildings into sharper detail, making Roxby Beck bluer, the grass greener, the roofs a perfect coral.

Again it is hardly surprising to find David has painted extensively in Venice famous for the quality of its light and colour, in Paris and in London. Much of his early work was done in the Lake District and his earliest exhibitions were in Keswick.

The 1st of January 1990 is a date her remembers well as ‘ground zero’ and has cause to celebrate. It was the start of a new decade and of a new life for him as a professional artist. It meant that for the first time he could concentrate entirely on painting and he noticed an immediate effect. ‘Now I was able to dedicate myself to my work and technically it improved dramatically.’

Since then, in addition to producing countless outstanding works of art from his studio in Harrogate, David has demonstrated the art of pastel painting to local art societies and written about it for authoritative magazines. He is, however, keen to stress he, himself, is learning all the time. ‘All artists’, he says candidly, ‘can be dissatisfied with their current work and want to achieve something better. We need to push the boundaries to make progress.’ Currently he’s looking forward to returning to oils from time to time and to be stylistically ‘perhaps a little bit looser’. As ever he is looking to find stimulating locations which will enable him to produce ‘some stunning work.’

His work may be seen permanently in the Walker Gallery in Harrogate and the Staithes Gallery (where, incidentally, Staithes at Low Tide is currently exhibited and for sale). He is a member of the Fylingdales’ Group Of Artists, an association now in its 95th year and currently having some 22 members, 14 of whom are mounting an exhibition which will run from the beginning of September to the First of November. It will be their 88th annual exhibition and it can be seen on the Fylingdales web page: http://www.thefylingdalesartists.co.uk.

This is an online-selling exhibition in conjunction with the Pannett Art Gallery, Whitby. David is also a member of the Royal Society of Marine Artists and will be exhibiting with them at the Mall Galleries, London, from the 1st to the 10th October, 2020.

To appreciate the sheer diversity and beauty of his paintings, there is no better way than to browse the two galleries on his own website: http://farm8.clik.com/davidallenart/gallery.html