Online publications

4 As he forcefully works into the paper, Richards delves deeper into the psyche of his sitter. As distinctive personalities appear from within deep pools of ink washes, and characters emerge and take shape from the evocative chiaroscuro, it is evident that these are immensely personal images are each created with a compelling tenderness. Working increasingly from memory, Richards's searching drawings reveal the emotional connection which exists between himself and his subjects – friends, family members, art dealers, gallerists, and students from the Slade. Each one of his figures is defined by their powerful psychological presence: Ellen, one of his students, cocks her head at the viewer, whilst gripping with tensely-knuckled hands the chair she sits in; Gaby playfully fixes our stare, her expression bridging innocence and experience; and Christina looks far beyond us, wrapped in her own thoughts. Whilst noting with his extraordinary draughtsmanship their extrinsic features, what is clear is Richards' emotional understanding of each of his sitters' intrinsic qualities and states of mind, their aura and energy emanating from the densely worked paper. Richards' arrival at figurative expressionism and his interest in capturing life stems from the very beginnings of his artistic career as a performance artist. In the early 1980s he worked with Bruce McLean as part of the performance group Nice Style. With an irreverent attitude towards the Pop status of musicians and artists of the day, he managed to manifest in his work the energy of that period in a very fresh visual language. The performance quality and theatricality, which has always distinguished his portraits from those of his contemporaries, defines each of these highly charged images. As well as drawing those people closest to him in his life, this series shows the development of Richards' fascination with the personalities of animals and birds. Whilst looking at Rembrandt's book of drawings, he recognised a further shared interest with the Old Master, who had rendered a series of animals in portrait-like terms. Inspired, Richards continued on a journey he first began in 2001 when he collaborated with London Zoo to create a body of work based on the close observation of its creatures. Attracted to their "tremendous drama", he describes in each of his drawings the changing movements of their skin, hair, paws, beaks and eyes in works that are equally dynamic and reflective. Just as in his portraits of his students, friends and family, Richards has masterfully individualised each creature. He confronts his viewers with the aggression of

• Cover