Jennifer Kilgour is an artist, illustrator, animator and not least, a photographer.

I was born in Glasgow, Scotland and am now based in Fintry, Stirlingshire. After studying at Edinburgh College of Art graduating with a BA (Hons) in Visual Communications, Animation in 1997, I broadened my skills by undertaking an HND in Professional Photography at Glasgow College of Building & Printing, finishing in 2001. Following this I felt compelled to explore other media and tackled oil painting.

In 2006 I enrolled at Cyprus College of Art, Lempa, Cyprus for the year-long Postgraduate Diploma of Fine Art course. I found my love of the figure and portraiture helped me create a portfolio of which I am very proud. After gaining a wealth of experience in Cyprus, I am now continuing my work in Scotland. Specialising in portraiture, I am looking for exhibition opportunities and commissions.

As an artist, my love is the creation of a visual image or form. This involves the subject, medium, execution and finally the reaction of the viewer. Which comes first is up to personal opinion but I believe the inspiration from seeing a subject or thinking of a concept is the source from which everything else flows.

My interest of the human form is perhaps narcissistic. I find it fascinating because it is of me, of my form and nature; I want to recreate what is closest to me. The old adage of, “the eyes are the windows of the soul” has a truthful ring to it and so in painting the windows this perhaps gets me closer to what I seek. The result of my work is mostly in the aesthetic but I am also interested in a subtle story that can lie behind the expression, the pose or even the title. My composition is usually very simple, uncomplicated by distracting forms with the main subject dominant. The face in particular is my most treasured subject matter; its endless information will never lose its fascination.

In my portraiture I prefer to fill the canvas area with information. I feel uneasy working with stark, blank areas and if necessary I will leave them with little or no content. I choose my subject and composition because of a whim or flash of image in my head, inspired by an external influence. What I wish to convey is not so clear at the beginning, not even to myself; that can only be discovered when the painting is finished.

The medium for my portraiture is usually oil paint. I find when I am most pleased with a work, it is the roughest and least worked-in piece. I prefer to keep things free flowing with expression and energy, in turn working quickly to keep up a momentum of fluid concentration. I like building up layers of differing colour and texture that can give a sense of unusual space within the subject. There is also an aim to generate a likeness of the sitter. I strive to reach a personal standard of perfection but this can cause perplexity leading to the deadening of the energy. I have a fear of losing this energy, as it is so easy to get bogged down and over work a painting. Colour concerns me but I have found that my surroundings greatly affect my choice of palette. If in a bright sunny climate I paint in bright sunny colours and in cold dark places I paint in cold, muted tones. This intrigues me as it makes me produce different emotional effects.

Some works are traditional in approach merely representing what I see before me. Sometimes I like to come away from the usual head and shoulders to having a floating head, placing the sitter in an unknown dimension. I find it humorous how people find this ‘not right’ or too difficult to comprehend. My work is far from shocking and very traditional in certain aspects but whatever the audience’s comment, I do want it to be looked at. Some of my sitters look away from the viewer making them more passive but some look straight out at the viewer demanding attention. I paint for myself and though the audience is important to me, while I am painting I do not think about any viewer other than myself. I ask myself what do I feel when I look at a piece of work; if I am satisfied, I finish. What comes next is another part of the process.

Portraiture is a difficult subject matter to sell. Not just in monetary value but also for its own sake. I have found viewers’ opinion divided regarding portraiture. Some people cannot get away from the story behind the face, who it belongs to, what did they do, what are they thinking? This group is split again into those who do not want to have a stranger looking at them and those who are intrigued by the story and want to know more or even make up their own stories. Then, there are those who see it as a physical object, the interpretation of a three-dimensional object seen through optics and recreated onto a two-dimensional surface. They enjoy the aesthetics of light and dark as another would of a landscape. Whether one idea is more correct than another can be up for debate. If my painting makes them stop for a second glance I feel happy that I have succeeded. If it makes someone comment or feel something new, I have succeeded in what I set out to do in at least this part of the process.

As an illustrator, I use a very different part of me. Though I use observation in all my art forms I delve in to my memory for the information I need for most of my illustration. I get very excited about the possiblities of creating things that are otherworldy, perhaps this comes from my animation influence. I have created a brand of greetings cards, “Fintry Faeries”, named after the village, where I currently reside. You can view my illustration through the Illustrations link and about the Fintry Faeries here. I am also creating characters and stories for children's picture books. Currently in production is a story about two little pigs, brother and sister, named Poodles and Pigsticks. They use their imagination and objects they find around them to fly to the moon. Also, in development are characters named Marc, Amelia and Tom who have pet dogs; Patch, Princess Fifi and Brodie. They have a contest to see whose is the best dog and begin to tell more and more fanciful stories about their dogs' abilities but find that some other things are more important.

Animation is never far from my mind and I plan to make my characters and creations come alive not only in the imagination of the viewers but on screen.

Photography is of great interest to me, I find it influential and inspirational for my other work. My combined knowledge of different media have enriched my practice. There are similarities to my portraiture in photography as in my painting where I use the same bold compostions. I also love documentary photography and in particular live music. The harsh lighting of small gig venues suit my interest in bold colours and simple compositions. Samples of my photography can also be seen on this site.

If you are interested in commissioning or purchasing my work please contact me.