Three and a half years after picking up a paintbrush, Milford resident Darren Reid is poised to become one of the most celebrated photorealist painters in the UK with a leading London art gallery taking on his work.
Darren, who works at Indigo Design & Display at Darley Abbey Mills, only took up painting to pass the time when, in 2011, he was cooped up in his Sunny Hill house nursing his ill dog, Tubs.
Since then, Darren uses all of his spare time to paint – and he needs plenty of time, too: each painting takes around 250 hours to complete. His large contemporary realist artworks look like photographic canvases. Working from a photo he has taken, Darren proceeds to make an outline drawing and then meticulously paints in every detail while also adjusting certain aspects.
James Preston at Duffield Art Gallery exhibited his early work and within ten months, all five five of his paintings on display had sold for prices ranging from £1,200 to £1,800.
So far, Darren has sold every one of his 14 paintings and has now won the admiration of one of the leading photorealist galleries in the world. Plus One in London’s Belgravia has told Darren they would like to represent him and his future work.
‘I’m still a bit rabbit in the headlights with it all and can’t really believe it to be honest,’ says Darren. ‘Plus One is a massive gallery full of some of the world’s best Photorealist painters, and with an international reputation and client base. I showed the owners my latest work – a painting of Brixham – and had it not already been sold, they told me they would have put it up for sale for around £18,000. It’s all so surreal for someone like me who just paints on an easel behind the sofa in the lounge.’
To view Darren’s website, click here