Craigie Aitchison

The painter Craigie Ai tchitson was born in Scotland. He came to London intending to study law, but

went to art school instead. There he found the traditional drawing classes difficult, but still kepton

painting.

In  his  late  twenties,  he  was  given  money  by  the  Italian  government  to  study  art,  and  became interested in early Italian artists, which shows in some of his work. He loved the greens and browns of the Italian fields and the clear light there, and wanted to put this light into his paintings.

This led him to paint colors thinly one on top of another from light  to dark, but he insists he’s never

sure what the results will be. He says, “It’s a secret  –  because I don’t know myself. I don’t start by

painting  yellow, knowing I’m going to put anything on top.” Like  most talented people, Atchison

makes it sound easy.  “Anyone  can do the colors  –  you can buy them. I simply notice what you put

the colors next to.”

Unlike some artists, he never does drawings before he starts a painting, as he feels that if he did,he

might get bored and not do the paintings afterwards. Instead, Aitchison changes his paintings many

times before they are finished. This explains why his favorite models are people who don’t ask to see

their pictures while he’s painting them. “If I feel they’re worried and want to look at the painting , I

can’t do it.”

Since moving to London years ago, he has not felt part of the Scottish painting scene. He says he is

not  interested  in  following  any  tradition,  but  just  paints  the  way  he  can.  However,  his  work  still influences young British painters.  

1.  What is the writer trying to do in the text?

A.  describe popular works by Craigie Aitchison        B.  teach readers how to paint like Craigie Aitchison

C.  introduce readers to the artist Craigie Aitchison

D.  explain how Craigie Aitchison has made money from painting

2.  What can the reader learn about Aitchison from the text?

A.  He works in a different way from other artists.     B.  He often gets bored with his paintings.

C. He improved his drawing by going to art school.       

 D. He did some paintings for the Italian government.

3.  What does Aitchison say about his use of color?

A.  He likes starting with the darkest colors first.B.  He knows the colors he’s aiming for when he begins.

C.  He prefers to paint with yellows, greens, and browns.

D.  He understands how different colors work together.

4.  Aitchison prefers models who don’t

A.  keep talking to him while he’s working.   B.  ask him about his strange method of working.

C.  worry about how long the work will take.D.  feel anxious to see the work as it’s developing.

5.  What might a visitor at an exhibition say about Aitchison’s work?

A. I love his recent paintings of Scotland, which  are  very  similar  to  a  number  of other Scottish painters.

B.  You  can  still  see  the  influence  of  his trip to Italy in some of these pictures.

C.  You  can  tell  he  spent  a  lot  of  time drawing  the  picture  before  he  started painting.

D.  I  wonder  if  his  law  training  helps  him at all, especially in selling his work .