Alan Cotton - Drawn to Paint

For Alan Cotton, drawing is the most natural thing in the world. A compulsion since childhood, drawing is his means of understanding his environment, of being part of it, possessing it.  Drawing out of doors in front of the motif has become an integral part of Alan Cotton's artistic practice.  A landscape painter in the Romantic tradition, he travels adventurously in search of special places that particularly manifest the power and luminosity of nature.  His response to these places can be seen in the sheer joy of his mark-making.  This book shows a substantial selection from the many hundred of drawings that Alan Cotton has made in a wide variety of locations.  Many that are purely visual investigations, drawn for their own sake, have remained unseen in sketchbooks throughout his life.  The book 'Drawn to Paint' offers a rare opportunity to see these drawings for the first time.