WHEN Neville Swaine was growing up in Bradford in the 1930s, it became a family joke that he was always to be found in a corner drawing.

Such a natural inclination meant it was clear to everyone where little Neville's future lay. After studying at Bradford College of Art and a spell in the armed forces, he found a job as a commercial artist with an advertising agency in Leeds.

Striking out on his own as a freelance after six years, he got involved in fashion illustration, working with large department stores such as Binns, manufacturers Berwins and men's clothing retailer Hepworth.

He dealt with designers and made fashion drawings for them. It's little wonder, then, that his work still has what he likes to call "a certain feminine chic" to it today.

There's a graphic quality to it all, and a trademark elegant elongation to the figures in his work that's redolent of 1930s fashion mannequins, stylised dolls on whom beautiful clothes hang perfectly. They sway in the breeze, perhaps losing their hat in sudden gusts, but never did windswept beaches look so stylish.

As a commercial artist Swaine knew he had to move with the times, and when photography took over as the prime medium he turned his hand to other work, contacting Yorkshire Television about promotional materials.

There followed a period of many years when he worked on portraits for TV use of the likes of JB Priestley, Hermione Baddeley, Dorothy Tutin, Alan Whicker and Richard Whiteley, and the promotional illustrations for series like Rising Damp and South Riding.

"I've always been able and available to paint or draw anything," says Neville. "I don't do landscapes, but would have a go at pretty much anything else. I've never felt the need to specialise."

That adaptability and the quality of the finished work is why he's always been able to earn a decent living.

Over the decades Swaine's work branched out into book illustration, including many projects with Penguin and history books that required research into the Boer War, the American Civil War and various styles of costume.

Has he ever detected a certain snobbery in the art world towards his kind of jobbing commercial work?

"There's a kind of Royal College of Art attitude that says you shouldn't paint what others want you to paint, only what you want to paint. I've always done what others wanted and were willing to pay me to do, and I've enjoyed it all. Michelangelo was a commercial artist, after all."

Retirement was never in the frame for Neville. Although he does little commercial work these days, he has just finished illustrating The Adventures of Gusto the Dragon, a series of three children's books by Yorkshire author Kathleen Gardiner.

Alongside the day job he has always thrown a great deal of energy into oil painting for pleasure, choosing to work with long-handled brushes on impressionistic images that evoke mood rather than focusing on detail.

He has exhibited and sold work with other artists, but at 81 and with a vast body to choose from, he's decided it's time go it alone. His first one-man show has just opened at Bradford's South Square Gallery, with 18 drawings and large oil on canvas works, priced from £200 to £900.

"A friend knew of a suitable gallery, so I contacted them and showed them some of my work, which they liked. That gave me some confidence, but I still felt apprehensive that nobody would turn up. I feel I've stuck my neck out a bit, but that's a good thing.

"As any artist will tell you," says Neville, "it is both an agony and an ecstasy to show your work in public, but the artist is driven to it and those who say they paint for pleasure also look for approbation.
There's little point to it, otherwise!"

One of the most refreshing things about Swaine is that he is not precious.

"I recommend all my friends to have a go. You never know what will happen. Look at me – it was a hobby that became a very enjoyable career."

Work by Neville Swaine is at the South Square Gallery, Thornton Road, Bradford BD13 3LD until August 31. Tel 01274
834747.