My Dad Rob Donaldson

As some of you know by now my father Rob Donaldson recently passed away to cancer. Most of you probably don't know this but he was one of the reasons I started my career as an artist as he was one too so this post is for sharing some of his work with you.

 One of my favourite pieces my dad sculpted, the powerful Leo!

I used to watch my dad work on his artwork all day and night, which obviously started me off in my own art endeavours. I have memories of him working on life size waxwork figures which always amazed me by how lifelike he made them, which was kind of freaky at the time but also inspiring and what got me interested in special effects for horror films.

Scary stuff! Love it!

Dad never really 'taught' me how to draw or paint but suggested new ways of thinking when putting pencil to paper. Don't think of the object as a 'thing' but a series of shapes, draw around the object and not on the object. Negative spaces etc etc, which made me try and think of new ways to approach things, and thinking as out of the box as I could to create something different.

He loved to draw from mother nature, always saying there is nothing better to draw as it is as perfect as can be. Every day he went out for long walks across the countryside, to draw and get away from the noisy life. His room has two massive boxes full up to the brim of sketchbooks that he has completed over the last ten years or so, which was great to look through and read his comments as it brought him back in a way.It definitely made me think I should begin to fill up some sketchbooks of my own and keep them somewhere safe so my relatives or soon to be son's or daughters can read through them.

Here are a few pages from his sketchbooks

He was never really an 'artist' looking type but preferred it that way, proving that you cant go by looks alone in this life, to really get to know someone you need to talk to them. One thing that also surprised me time and time again was his ability to adapt to any situation, artistically and with life in general, moving from sculpting a horse for the Queen of England, to tattooing for the general public he was always trying new things to make ends meet and generally just for fun!

 

Onwards and Upwards!

He loved to pose! haha!

The past year or so he came to writing his biography, and here are a few poems taken from it. Eventually I will be getting it published as a whole book with a lot of his artwork filling the pages. 

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“OPEN YOUR MIND”

Open your eyes----before you shut them, don’t shut your minds, before you know them, give them a chance…you know?  to know them! …so open your eyes and minds before you shut them.

“FRIENDS”

Don’t be lonely, don’t be scared, life is sharing, love and caring. Though we stand, alone in being, we are one, in thoughts of friendship, our thoughts are bonding in strength as one, for on our own, the voice is gone----but with our friends, the voice is strong.

“POWER”

The stupidity of power amazes me! Their pomposity astounds and niggles me, they run around like jester clowns, they lift their noses up and down, they speak!---but they do not hear----their thoughts are for them, and how they appear, they live for themselves, they let no one in, for they hate you “little man” for you are a “thing”.

“ETERNITY”

Time is to be natures gain, and again, till time has gained, and gained again, till the blossoms fall no more, and the seas stand still, with the light-----till the light goes out.

By Rob Donaldson

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We will be holding an exhibition of his work soon to come, which is something he asked of me shortly before he died. Here are a few pieces of his work:

 

One thing he loved was people, and being a tattooist brought him to many people through his later years. As long as you were nice to him, he was nice to you, as it should be! One thing he hated more than anything was people's views on tattooing and how it can't be art, or you cant be a real artist because your just a 'tattooist'.

I think it was mainly the whole stereotype thing that society seems to hold close to its heart these days. It takes someone to raise there voice to be heard or your just what they think you are based on looks and a title as my dad used to say. He said time and time again that he felt like a psychiatrist helping his customers not just with there tattoo but there life problems, and usually with good effect! They walked away with a different outlook on life as they used to say after speaking with my dad.

It was great to see a tattoo look like something out of a sketchbook and not just a traced pattern!

Near the end he did curse the arts a few times, mainly for all the time it 'stole' away from him which was strange considering how passionate he was about it all though I am not sure he really meant it. He was watching a program on holidays and said he should have been spending a lot of his time traveling and experiencing places like that instead of painting. I think we will all be like that in the end, thinking about the what ifs. I guess there really isn't enough time for anyone on this planet to experience everything they want to do, but one thing I am certain of is that my dad definitely made an impact on a lot of people and will live on through them and through everything he achieved with his art.

 This was one of his last pieces of sculpture dad made showing Christ, which he found strange as he was in no way a religious man and I found notes to himself in his sketchbook asking himself why he even did it in the first place. I think it was his mind trying to tell him something was wrong.

The last piece of work he did was of this sleeping chimp which he found completely ironic feeling as worn out as he did near the end. It's definitely strange these last two sculpts of his and makes you wonder.

Reminders to myself that my dad used to always say to me...

ANATOMY SEAN! Study more anatomy! :)
Don't draw something for no reason, make sure there is a point to something you are drawing.
Always carry a sketchbook!

Shortly after his death I decided to paint a portrait of him to have at the funeral. All of his self portraits were always showing him in a more moody light which he really wasn't most of the time! So this is how we all remember him...smiling and upbeat.