Sorcery

Ian Howard (b.1952) is an established Scottish artist and prominent art teacher. Sorcery, a mixed media drawing incorporating chalk, gouache and acrylic paint, was executed just before Howard won first prize at the Scottish Open Drawing Competition in 1985 and whilst he was teaching at Gray's School of Art, Aberdeen. The title bears witness to Howard's longstanding interest in alchemy and hermetic thought, though it may also allude to the shape of a recumbent sorcerer to be seen in the drawing's top half, constructed from largely abstract forms.