The Edinburgh Boxing Academy, Granton, Edinburgh. 2012
For the first few visits to The Edinburgh Boxing Academy I was pondering which medium would be the most suitable for the project. While watching the boxers challenge each other in the ring, I realised that I too needed to find a working method and medium that would challenge me artistically. I decided that the most challenging thing was to draw figuratively.
Through discussions with both boxers and artists I realize there is a meditative zone that both parties experience when totally absorbed in their individual practice. Is there also a correlation between the relationship of the artist, subject and the drawn mark with the boxer, his opponent and the punches thrown?
As an analogy, perhaps punches are crafted like a drawn mark. Some are spontaneous while others are carefully considered. Neither may hit the intended spot first time but through determination and practice the outcome of their movements begin to manifest. For the artist, this manifestation is displayed on the paper as a recognizable figure and for the pugilist his mark is left on the opponent. In this analogy it may seem that the opponent is the pugilists piece of paper but I think not. Instead, the ring is the paper; it is the boundary, the opponent is the subject, and the boxer is the artist.
One Hundred Standing Burpee's
July 2013. Oil on paper A1
Andy v Andy. Ink on paper.
TEBA. October 2012.
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Andy Jumping Rope
Charcoal on paper.
TEBA October 2012. (Andrew Philip.)
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Danny waiting to fight. Pencil on paper. TEBA. Nov 2012.
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Boy in red t-shirt. Charcoal on paper.
TEBA. October 2012
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 Waiting. Charcoal on paper.
TEBA. Sept 2012 (Andrew Sutherland)
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