Please sir, I want some Moore.

It's time for another feature on an artist who has influenced me. This month I have chosen Henry Moore, who is most well known for his distinctive abstract sculpture style.

I know my mum likes Henry Moore, so that is probably how I was first introduced to his work. I've also spent some time studying Moore for art projects and coursework over the years. Many of his sculptures (and particularly the most well known) are based around the human form. Moore is known for his unique ability to break down complex figures to simple shapes and forms. Despite the abstract style, he still manages to create a sense of the subject.

Although he mainly sculpted human and completely abstract forms, Moore was inspired by nature and also sculpted in his unique style. I like studying these pieces particularly because they remind me to think carefully about the most basic shapes and how important they can be to accurately representing an animal. It only takes a few, very simple shapes and lines to create an effective impression of an animal (or human) figure. One of my favourite Moore pieces is this sculpture, Animal Head (1951).

More recently I have become more interested in Moore's drawings and sketches. I like how different they are to his sculptures. I find it interesting to see how much artistic knowledge and drawing skill he actually used to be able to reduce the subject down to a more abstract form. He took a lot of inspiration from the natural world and studied animals frequently.

At home in Yorkshire some of the animals he saw most often were sheep. I recently treated myself to a copy of his sheep sketchbook and I love it! Maybe I'll go out and sketch more sheep.

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