Elected an Associate Member of the RCA in 2023; Full Member 2026
After a Foundation Course at Dyfed College of Art in 1982, I went on to study a four year Technical Illustration course in Swansea. On completion, I worked as a designer/illustrator for an advertising agency and was employed as a part-time lecturer in analytical drawing. I later worked as a life drawing tutor on the Foundation course in Swansea. I subsequently completed FETC and PGCE teaching qualifications.
I re-trained as a Graphic Designer gaining my BA(Hons) in 1997 and have been running my own design company, SIGGA Design Ltd. ever since. In 2011 I returned to education to complete an MA in Visual Communication (Contemporary Dialogues). I then taught part time in various design and drawing disciplines for over ten years. I now teach life drawing masterclasses on an ad hoc basis.
From the beginning I have continued a regular life drawing discipline, working in graphite, watercolour, pastels, or coloured pencils.
I have been painting portraits in oils for several years now. One of the portraits in the set of nineteen I painted via Zoom during the Covid lockdown, was accepted for the Royal Society of Portrait Painters annual exhibition at the Mall Galleries in 2021. I have since completed many commissions for portraits (conventional and nude) from all around the world. My portrait of the poet David Hughes won the Neath Open Art competition in 2024. I take sittings both online and in person and also work from reference photographs.
Five years ago I began painting landscapes and still life and my close-up paintings of conkers and mussels have been widely exhibited.
In addition, I am a keen writer and have written a number of articles about my work and other subjects published online via Medium (https://medium.com/@draftsmann).
