Peter James Field

Peter James Field is an artist whose work bridges the gap between fine art and illustration, capturing the essence of his subjects with precision and depth. Whether painting for gallery exhibitions, illustrating for renowned fashion brands, or chronicling daily life in his decade-long visual diary project, his work is marked by keen observation and a unique personal touch.

In this interview, Peter shares insights into his creative process, from finding inspiration for his portraits—including his piece featured in Perfect English: Small and Beautiful—to navigating the balance between commissioned and self-directed work. We discuss his materials of choice, the impact of music on his artistic flow, and his experiences working with figures like Yeside Linney and Alexander Nilere. With a passion for storytelling through imagery, Peter's reflections offer a fascinating glimpse into the world of contemporary portraiture.

Those attending our Drink and Draw session at Ghost at the Feast on Wednesday, April 2nd will be learning from Peter firsthand - we can’t wait!

Peter at his Brighton studio

One of your portraits is featured in Ros Byam Shaw's newly released book, Perfect English: Small and Beautiful. Could you share the process behind finding your subjects?

Peter - That particular painting depicts Pallant House Gallery Director Simon Martin, who lives in a lovely flat which was photographed by Ros for her book. This was actually a commission – I know Simon and he approached me in 2019 to ask if I’d do a small painting of him.

I don’t take on a huge number of commissions, they probably make up about a quarter of my overall painting time. The rest is self-directed work, and I’m always on the lookout for people who might be interesting subjects. I often ask friends/acquaintances to sit, or sometimes do callouts on social media for people who might be willing to volunteer. It’s generally a process of ‘casting the net’. I tend to work a lot from photos, which I always take myself, so I meet lots of people (usually a lot more than I end up painting) and search for some fairly indefinable spark of inspiration in those encounters.

L-R: Simon Martin, Portrait by Peter Field. Page and Cover of Perfect English: Small and Beautiful by Ros Byam Shaw.

 You undertook a visual diary project, which lasted over 10 years and resulted in the book ‘No Bulb in my Lamp’. How did this long-term endeavour influence your artistic development?

Peter - The diary began as a one week college project, aimed at encouraging us to make space for daily observational sketching. Once I started drawing every day, I found I was looking more intensely at the world, and saw that there was the potential for beautiful or thought-provoking drawings in even the most mundane scenes. For me, in a way, it was a case of ‘the more mundane the better’. Drawing helps one experience things directly, and provides a mindful space, together with ways to experience reality afresh. I suppose the diary confirmed to me that I am primarily an observational artist – but not seeking to provide a photographic rendering of reality, instead filtering visual experiences through my own moods and idiosyncrasies. To quote Emile Zola: ‘Art is nature seen through a temperament.’

Pills, page taken from No Bulb in my Lamp by Peter Field.

You will be teaching our next Drink and Draw session in April, what can the attendees expect?

Peter -It’s going to be a really fun evening, with a fantastic model, and lots of varied poses, short and long, to allow everyone to just experience the pleasure of drawing. I’ll be on hand to provide lots of support and encouragement. You don’t have to be a seasoned sketcher, or to have done any life drawing before. The evening is just about having a go, and enjoying the process.

Could you discuss your choice of materials, particularly your preference for mechanical pencils and small sketchbooks, and how they complement your style?

Peter - I hate sharpening pencils, particularly when I’m on the go! Mechanical pencils are therefore obviously great – whether it’s with small 0.5mm leads, or fatter clutch pencils which take a whole thick stick of graphite. Small sketchbooks can easily be fitted in a coat pocket, so they’re great as well.

Generally, I am quite a precise and small-scale sketcher – I love a clean, fine line. At art college the tutors were always telling me to ‘work bigger’ and ‘get messy’, but interestingly whenever I did attempt to work outside my comfort zone on huge sheets of paper, it never felt like ‘me’.

I think we all have to find the style of mark-making (and by extension the materials) which suit us, not just as artists but as people. I am quite a shy, hesitant, cautious person, so it’s no surprise to me that I work in a very planned out, neat way.

 What are you reading at the moment?

Peter -I’ve been reading a 1970s Japanese novel called The Box Man by Kōbō Abe. It’s a surreal Kafkaesque little book about a man who retreats from society by wearing a cardboard box on the upper part of his body. I’m sure I fantasised about doing that when I was a shy teenager...

Your recent portrait of artist Yeside Linney, titled "Yeside" (2023), was featured in the Herbert Smith Freehills Portrait Award exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery. Could you share the inspiration and process behind this particular piece?

Peter - Yeside is an amazing artist, and an extremely enthusiastic lover of art – she's a cheerleader for so many artists on social media, which is how I got to know her. I asked if she’d sit for a possible portrait because she seemed fascinating and I just wanted to meet her. I think this is how a lot of good portraits begin; a simple fascination with another person and a desire to connect in some way. It wasn’t until I met Yeside that I realised she’d already sat for over a dozen other artists!

I met her at her home and we took a few hours to just explore a lot of options in terms of pose and lighting. I ended up being fascinated with her hands and wanting to find a way to put them in the image.

After my sitting with Yeside, I went through a process of making lots of sketches, ending up with this composition. My paintings take quite a long time – but this one was fairly quick and only took about three months of on-off work.

 I love the work you did for Comme des Garçons. can you tell me more about that and other brushes with fashion you have had in the past?

Peter - The Comme des Garçons piece was a fairly straightforward magazine illustration commission for a Japanese fashion magazine, where they sent me photos of a piece they wanted rendered in a beautiful colour pencil style. I’ve done hundreds of magazine assignments, but that one really became a huge stand-out favourite in my portfolio, for myself and for those who commission work. I’ve done a fair few illustrations for fashion brands over the years – including for Hogan, Sunspel, United Arrows, Charles Tyrwhitt and Tommy Hilfiger. A couple of years ago my painting of Alexander Nilere was borrowed by Manchester City Art Gallery for their show ‘Dandy Style’ which was a survey of men’s fashions across the last few centuries.

Comme des Garçons Jacket, Brutus Magazine.

Do you view your illustrative work as distinct from your fine art painting and printmaking, or do they overlap in approach and intention?

Peter - I do view them differently. The obvious difference is that illustrations are commissioned works, usually for print, so they are never about my personal expression. I do a lot of portrait illustrations and I rarely if ever get to meet the subjects, and am always expected to deliver a certain amount of flattery and/or strict adherence to the source photos. Also, these drawings (they’re usually pencil illustrations) are made to be scanned, emailed as digital files, and reproduced at a certain size. So the ‘original’ might look great, but that’s irrelevant, it has to reproduce well at its given page size (and the client will rarely, if ever, see or care about the original).

None of this is meant to be a criticism of illustration, it’s just a different beast. In illustration it’s often quite nice and comforting to have the reassurance of working to a strictly defined brief, especially when it's with a good art director who can push you to produce something out of your comfort zone.

In my fine art painting work I always have a face-to-face encounter with my sitters, and the resulting work expresses some aspect of my personal passion. And unlike illustration, where the end result is basically dictated, I go into each and every painting feeling fairly uncertain where the process will take me or what the end result will look like. This is where so much of the joy lies – it's always a process of discovery.

Even in a commissioned painting, where I may make certain compromises with a sitter, I still maintain the awareness that this is not an illustration, and that it therefore has to fit into my vision and provide me with some creative nourishment (partly because a painting takes so long, and it would be depressing to approach it any other way). If a commission can’t do that, I won’t take it on.

  Your portrait of Alexander Nilere, dressed in a striking patterned suit, features a particularly compelling composition. When working with sitters you've personally invited, do you take on the role of art director, shaping the setting and their attire, or do you indulge in a more organic approach?

Peter - Generally speaking I take the organic approach. In the case of Alexander, I had met him a few times before and knew that he had a very bold, distinctive fashion sense (often making his own clothes). It was always my intention to capture him in one of his amazing suits, but over and above that I didn’t go into the sitting with a plan. I think it’s important for a portrait artist to be open-minded - I’m looking for the uniqueness of the sitter, and I won’t know what that is until I experience it. With Alexander, this turned out to be a slightly pensive, reflective pose he assumed – which summed up something about him. He dresses flamboyantly but is not, as a person, particularly showy or driven by ego. I think the portrait succeeds in communicating these two aspects of Alexander, and perhaps hints at the ways in which one serves the other. His colourful clothes help give him a confidence which may not always come too naturally. His dress sense is not boastful, and I think the portrait communicates that.

Alexander Nilere by Peter Field.

I know music is another big passion of yours, please make a 10-track studio playlist:

 Peter -I have extremely broad tastes, but when I’m painting I try to choose fairly emotional music that seems to help me get into a flow state. This playlist gives a flavour of the sort of thing I’d be putting on for a painting session.