Zoe Fitchet

Zoe explores and expresses her love of the natural world through creating accurate and realistic, highly detailed portraits, learning about each subject before capturing them on paper or canvas. She works with coloured pencils predominantly, as their sharp points and ability to layer allows for intricate detail and texture. Another of her preferred mediums is acrylic, although not as highly regarded as oils, high quality acrylic can be more archival than oil due to their lightfast properties and as they dry much faster they allow for precision and detail to develop quickly. Zoe uses incredibly small brushes to paint the hairs individually, with each section of hair or fur requiring multiple layers to build a dense and realistic result. Using negative space to create focus on the subject, her wildlife pieces adopt a more contemporary look.

From a young age Zoe has worked hard to grow her ability and skill, always seeking ways to improve the accuracy of her pieces. “I love to challenge myself to achieve realism in my work. I want the viewer to feel as though the portrait could take a breath at any moment, creating lifelike detail which allows them to see and appreciate the beauty of each animal. It is my intention with each portrait to capture life, character and sometimes movement; making the eyes alive is often the most crucial part hence why they are usually the first thing to complete.”