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I met Tony Winterbottom after my sister-in-law, Jackie Bowley, discovered him at the Makers Market that takes place outside Chester Town Hall on the first Saturday of each month. Jackie is obsessed with the band Madness, so she bought a portrait of Suggs and a One Step Beyond boot, drawn by Tony. She told me how the artist had turned to drawing so he didn’t drink. Intrigued, I set up an interview with him.
Six years ago, Tony was a successful businessman, having built a multi-million-pound business selling high-end printing presses. An important element of his work was entertaining clients – if you are spending up to half a million on a printer, then you expect to be wined and dined.
However, this escalated to the point where Tony was out drinking every day, with one client or another. At one point, he would start the day with a bottle of vodka, before having his breakfast brew. At his lowest, he had bottles of wine hidden all over the place, yet he was still functioning very successfully and outwardly had all the material acquisitions of wealth, including a big house and flashy cars.
There wasn’t any particular thing that triggered his decision to get sober – not the crashing of his car that nearly killed him and someone else, not the notion of his marriage failing. He just wanted to get straight, recognised he was an addict and didn’t like it, so he went off to Birmingham for seven weeks of rehab.
Tony studied art briefly as a teenager, but gave it up when he became a young parent and wanted to provide for his family. While in rehab, he picked up pencil and pad again as a way of processing the experience of detoxing because he struggled to share his emotions in the group sessions. Art as therapy yet again.
He kept on drawing instead of drinking. He sold his business, took a year off and reframed where he wanted to be. People commented on how good his drawings were, and it was his now ex-wife who posted his work online. From there, his ‘Drink or Draw’ posts evolved organically into an online phenomenon. Trial and error while navigating the art world, but mostly a solid business background, means Tony has now sold his work worldwide. He sells his originals mostly to existing clients who look forward to his new releases, while his bread and butter income comes from the prints he has online or at the Makers Markets across Cheshire. He also takes private commissions.
Tony, who lives in Nantwich, is very open about his alcohol addiction and is generous in speaking with people in similar situations: ‘I can’t fix it for them, but I can show them the door to go through. Admitting to yourself you are an addict is the first step,’ he says.
He doesn’t want to get bogged down in business – his youngest son manages the everyday stuff and keeps him abreast of what subjects are current. Tony wants to be travelling in his campervan to Italy or France, where he can at art. The London art galleries he was oblivious to when he walked past them in a drunken state are now also among his favourite places.
Tony has OCD on a high level. When we met, he was sitting at a table in Storyhouse in Chester, sketching his hands, and told me: ‘I am no good at hands.’ He was being modest, he is very good at drawing hands. The little sketch was reminiscent of Michelangelo’s Hand of God, one of his favourite art pieces.
If you look on to social media or search ‘Drink or Draw’, you will see hundreds of Tony’s sketches. I particularly love the kingfisher and I asked why he never uses colour. He says his OCD makes it impossible for him to be satisfied with how the colours look in his work, so he sticks to pencil.
What makes Tony Winterbottom stand apart from other artists you find working the markets, many of whom have also had an equally diverse change in career trajectory, is his business acumen. He knows success, how to market himself and he is open about the fact he doesn’t need to work. He draws to stay sober, and the fact he is an excellent pencil artist is a bonus.
drinkordraw.co.uk
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