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Ian Hodgson is a British artist pushing the boundaries of contemporary drawing with his striking graphite and pastel creations. His raw, deeply personal style blends figurative and abstract elements, inviting viewers into a nuanced exploration of identity and space. After winning the UK’s National Open Art Prize and catching the eye of brands like Derwent and Macy’s, his career has expanded beyond the canvas, most recently collaborating with fashion photographer Nick Knight during London Fashion Week. In this interview, Ian shares his childhood obsessions with drawing, his unique approach to working with graphite, and the musical influences that fuel his artistic process.

Can you tell us about your background and how you formed your artistic style?

I have drawn since before I can remember. The childhood fascinations I had with various animals, birds, dinosaurs and pop stars always resulted in me drawing their likenesses obsessively. Although attending art college after school ended seemed like the natural path of choice my interests were pulled to more rebellious pursuits and my artistic endeavours were shelved for a few years. Once I began attending part time life drawing classes in my twenties, this lead me once again back to art college courses. Thoroughly embracing the learning process I progressed to degree level and successfully graduated in 2000. Since then I have continued to create and exhibit my drawings.

What led you to work with graphite? Could you briefly describe the specifics of your work with this material?

Graphite has long been my preferred medium. Applying the powder from an extra soft graphite block with brushes builds up dense areas and soft gradients which I can work back into with erasers to remove and create texture. Building up layers in this way and adding the sharp lines of a pencil opens up a myriad of mark making potential, more than enough to express my creativity.

I noticed the similarity of the silhouette in all your paintings. Would I be correct in saying that your works are a form of psychological self-portraiture? How would you interpret this?

The figurative element of my work is often represented by a silhouette. This approach has developed over time and although I still occasionally draw faces with features I find the absence of physical features can allow the viewer space to project their own feelings onto the figure. I have always called my figurative pieces “psychological portraiture” as they are rarely drawings of a particular individual, I’m trying to capture a feeling, a mood or a sense of identity rather than a personality or character. I suppose, ultimately, this could be classed as some kind of psychological self portraiture but I suspect this can be attached to any artwork one creates…

In your works, there’s a lot of personal touch. You even draw your fingerprints. How did you come up with this idea and what does it signify?

Issues of identity have been prevalent in my work for some time now and the fingerprint motif has been a visual representation that I have used to convey a sense of self and how we relate to the cultural and psychological landscape we inhabit. I originally made drawings from an enlarged copy of my own fingerprint and this has developed into a slightly more stylised version, still recognisable as my fingerprint but not quite an exact copy.

Which work or project excited you and led you to go beyond your usual boundaries?

As I’m generally working solo I don’t tend to have projects as such and tend to have small excitements along the way during my working practice. This could be something as small as how a drawing mark juxtaposes with a space or passage in a composition to give fresh meaning to whatever I’m working on or the recurring realisation that sometimes less really is more. Submitting a large unframed sheet of paper full of sketches/ideas to a group drawing show and seeing it hanging amongst other unframed drawings felt exciting and liberating compared to conventional exhibitions. This led to working on a show with a fellow artist where we displayed our work together hanging like washing on lines, unframed and raw.

You are an example of the phenomenon of late bloomers — people who “blossom late” and start building a successful career after the age of 30. Do you think you would have achieved the same heights if you had started earlier? Or did you need time to explore yourself in order to embark on a creative path and find your unique style?

I don’t really think of myself as a late bloomer, I suppose I just keep on keeping on, producing the work with the occasional small nod of recognition from here and there along the way. I’ve never been really driven by an urge for fame or financial gain so I don’t push myself in those directions and I doubt I would have responded well in my younger years to attention gained through that kind of success. I suppose the artistic path I’ve been on has allowed me to explore and develop my style and being able to continue with this I consider to be a great success.

Are you spiritual person? Do you believe that fate is guiding you? Are you sensitive to signs?

I don’t think I’m a particularly spiritual person, I can marvel at the world and the universe but the concepts of a higher being or fate guiding us don’t ring true with me, I think we are guided by our personal experiences in relation to others and alongside our cultural positioning in society. The urge to communicate this drives the work forward.

In one of your interviews, you mentioned that music is always a source of inspiration for you. What kind of music do you listen to while working on your paintings? What are your favourite tracks at the moment?

I play an eclectic range of music while I’m working, I go through phases of trying to find new sounds to listen to, play recent discoveries or delve back into old favourites. I seem to be drawn to more electronic based music as I get older, some of it dance based such as YouMan or Lynks or less beat driven like Eyes of Others, Yello or Air. Equally I can settle into First Aid Kit, Agnes Obel or my childhood faves Blondie. Everyday is different, today I’ve been playing Jordan Rakei and Cabaret Voltaire!

What are you currently working on?

I’m currently working on some experimental drawings (I alternate between figurative, landscape and the abstract) working back into the edges of dark shapes with an eraser, finding light in the darkness. Although this work appears more abstract than my figurative pieces I find that this way of working creates interesting pieces in their own right and also opens up a creative space that influences and feeds into the figurative.