After a varied career in print media, Paul has quietly developed a skill as a printmaker and painter, deriving inspiration from the German Expressionists.

Describe your background
At various times in my life, I have been a journalist, book publisher, scriptwriter, producer of short-films and now a painter and printmaker. I have no professional art training – my degree from University College Dublin was in English and Geography, followed many years later with a masters in screenwriting from the London College of Printing.

When did you become an artist and why?
Most of my professional career has involved highly collaborative work. Newspapers require large numbers of journalists working to one simple goal. The same is true about book publishing and film production. When things go well in these professions, there is no shortage of people willing to take the credit for the success. I deliberately chose an art career where success or failure was solely down to me. And where there were no deadlines. The downside to this is the solitude. You face a blank canvas or a clean sheet of lino, and it is entirely up to you to make the first mark.

What is your preferred medium and why?
My father was a cabinetmaker and I have a natural affinity with wood. My first prints were woodcuts, courtesy of classes in Morley College. I soon realised not every design can be executed in plywood or cherrywood. This took me onto linocuts, where I have tried to do very fine detailed work. I shall continue to plough this furrow rather than embrace other techniques.

I have done a series of sports-related linocuts which try to show the huge amount of physical energy the athletes expend. The Cyclist is my favourite as it allows me to claim I am the last of the Italian Futurists. 

And your paintings?
Printmaking requires a lot of forward planning. You have to know what the end result should look like. On the other hand, painting is much more hit and miss, and opens up all kinds of possibilities. Francis Bacon said the skill and task of the artist is to know which mistakes to keep and develop further.

What do you paint?
Some landscapes tend to be expressionistic and other subjects are out-and-out abstract efforts. I painted a series of abstract “mood” paintings. The first of these was a small-scale painting I called Rainy Day in Sheen and later versions moved up in scale large enough to hang in my garden.

Who has influenced your art?
The German Expressionists and Edvard Munch.

Do you have a favourite artist? Or an underrated artist?
Sir William Orpen. His autobiography An Onlooker in France (which I republished in the 1990s) focused on his time as a war artist. The book begins with a description of a troop transporter.

The boat was crowded.
Khaki, everywhere khaki; khaki clothes, khaki lifebelts,
khaki rain and khaki storm.
The whole world a soaking wet khaki.

That’s incredibly graphic.

A favourite painting? The Wounded Angel by Hugo Simberg. and anything by Joaquín Sorolla or Stanley Spencer as both were masters of composition.

Are any members of your family artists?
My brother-in-law Paul Harrison is an architectural model maker who has become a sculptor.

If your house was burning down, what art would you save?
An early Ken Howard view from his studio window. Or a late Maurice Cockrill view of a Welsh landscape.

www.printmakerscouncil.com/artist/paul-hannon
www.richmondprintmakers.co.uk/paul-hannon
www.eastlondonprintmakers.co.uk/artist/paul-hannon