Adebanji Alade ROI, otherwise known as The Addictive Sketcher’, features regularly on the BBC’s The One Show, and can often be found sketching travellers on the London Underground.
He trained at Yaba College of Technology in Nigeria, later obtaining a diploma in portraiture from Heatherley’s School of Fine Art in Chelsea, where he now teaches.
He is also the founder of The Addictive Sketchers Movement (his online art school) where he inspires and teaches students all over the world how to sketch anything they see accurately and confidently.
Adebanji is the president of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters; a full member of The Guild of Fine Art in Nigeria; and in 2014 was elected to the council of the Chelsea Art Society.
He also belongs to Urban Sketchers Worldwide and Plein Air Brotherhood.
His awards include Buxton Spa Sketchbook Award (2014); winner of Pinta Rapido Plein Air Event at Chelsea Town Hall in 2013; winner of Best Painting of a London Scene, Chelsea Art Society in 2010; the Alan Gourley Memorial Award at the Royal Institute of Oil Painters Exhibition 2017, and numerous others.
Adebanji has a strong following in the US as well as the UK.
He writes regularly for The Artist magazine and exhibits with the Royal Institute of Oil Painters.
He teaches at the Art Academy, London, and also runs workshops and demos for schools, colleges, universities and art societies.
Artist’s statement
My work is all about people and places.
I strive to bring the force and power of the sketch into every piece I embark on. I am a strong believer in sketching and I believe everything in art starts with a sketch, so, in my works you’ll always feel the power and sense of a captured moment. I work from life and from photo references but the mission is the same-to bring a lively sketchy feel to the completed piece.
I like to focus on people because I love the play of light, moods, emotions, beauty and the variety that each face brings. I also love places because I get inspired by the atmosphere, historical importance, mood and the play of light that a particular place can offer at any point in time.
Society memberships
2012 Elected an Associate Member of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters.
2014 Elected a full member of The Guild of Fine Art, Nigeria.
2014 Elected to the council of the Chelsea Art Society.
2015 Started teaching at Heatherley’s School of Fine Art, Chelsea.
2015 Elected to Full Membership of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters.
Adebanji Alade, noto anche come "The Addictive Sketcher", è un celebre pittore, insegnante e presentatore televisivo Britannico, stimato per il suo ruolo di Presidente della Royal Institute of Oil Painters (ROI).
Nato a Londra, Alade ha trascorso parte della sua infanzia in Nigeria prima di stabilirsi definitivamente nel Regno Unito, dove lavora dal suo studio situato a Chelsea.
È una figura molto popolare nel panorama artistico britannico, celebre per la sua straordinaria capacità di catturare la vita urbana e per i suoi passaggi televisivi, in particolare come collaboratore regolare del programma The One Show su BBC One.
Si autodefinisce un disegnatore compulsivo.
È famoso per i suoi sketch rapidi di passeggeri e pendolari, realizzati direttamente sulla metropolitana di Londra.
I suoi dipinti ad olio ed acrilico ritraggono piazze affollate, mezzi pubblici e scorci cittadini, puntando a trasferire l'energia immediata dello schizzo sulla tela finale.
La sua ricerca si concentra sugli effetti della luce, sui volti, sulle espressioni e sul movimento delle persone.
Ha studiato presso lo Yaba College of Technology in Nigeria e ha ottenuto un diploma in ritrattistica alla Heatherley's School of Fine Art di Chelsea.
Oggi insegna nella medesima accademia di Chelsea e conduce numerosi workshop.
È il fondatore e CEO dell'Addictive Sketchers Movement, una piattaforma web con cui ispira e forma studenti di tutto il mondo.
