AN ARTIST who uses his DIY paint to create interpretations of the human form has been nominated for a prestigious award.

Brighton artist Andreas Soldini has been named as one of the best emerging artists in the country after being shortlisted for the Griffin Art Prize 2014.

The 22-year-old will receive a six-month residency in a studio above London’s Griffin Gallery, a supply of the finest artist materials and a solo show at Griffin Gallery if he is named winner in November.

The former Blatchington Mill, BHASVIC and City College student graduated from the University of Brighton.

He said: “It’s a big deal to be nominated. I couldn’t believe how much it was offering as a prize.

“I found out when a couple of friends sent me a message saying well done and I didn’t know what they were talking about until I got home and read my emails.”

Mr Soldini developed the distinctive thick, flowing lines of his work by applying up to a litre of home-mixed oil paint, combining oil and paint to each painting while manipulating it with an adapted wallpaper brush attached to a length of wood.

He said without his home-made oil paint, top of the range oil paints could set him back £720 a design.

He said: “I am interested in the human figure and I like to sit in a cafe for a few hours and draw people. I fill up 20 pages in a sketchbook and go home and look at the shapes on the human body and reinterpret them.”

His work is on the Griffin Art Prize website and if he is selected from the shortlist on October 6, his work will be in an exhibition. Visit griffinartprize.co.uk