Chris Arnol knows a firefighter's face well, including his own.

The Tasmania Fire Service chief officer is publicly known as the face of the organisation during bushfires and disasters.

Behind the scenes, he's a passionate drawer and painter of people.

"It totally consumes me and I just love it," he said.

For the first time, Mr Arnol's large collection of drawings and paintings will be on display in Hobart.

He has used his access to firefighters to capture private moments on the front line.

"It's about the emotions the firefighters feel when they are in that moment fighting a fire or making a critical decision," he said.

"I want to get into what's behind the eyes of the firefighter, what's in their head.

"I wanted to explain the things people don't see."

Chris Arnol finds drawing and painting is a welcome relief from the stress of the job. ( ABC Radio Hobart: Georgie Burgess )

Drawing a welcome release from fire stress

Mr Arnol uses photographs of firefighters, often taken himself, to draw extremely life-like creations.

The majority are in charcoal, some taking more than 30 hours to complete.

"I guess it's a bit of a giggle to see firefighters in charcoal, because we're often in charcoal," he said.

With a high stress job, drawing and painting provides a welcome release from protecting the state from fire.

"It completely moves me away from what I'm doing," he said.

He admits he can lose track of time, and all of a sudden it's 2 o'clock in the morning.

Sorry, this audio has expired The 'otherside' of chief officer Chris Arnol

"It's totally absorbing for me," he said.

"I don't worry about eating or sleeping."

The career firefighter had a 20-year break from drawing. ( ABC Radio Hobart: Georgie Burgess )

'I go into a trance over it'

The firefighter of 40 years has never had arts lessons, and said he discovered he had a talent for drawing when he was about seven.

He continued art throughout school, before dropping the hobby for about 20 years.

"Dad said 'You've got to get a real job', so I parked it," he said.

About 10 years ago he began life drawing, and rediscovered his passion.

The exhibition Behind the Heroes shows firefighters in tense moments. ( ABC Radio Hobart: Georgie Burgess )

He found himself gravitating towards the face and its details.

Now, it's an obsession.

"I'm looking at the person and I'm consumed by their shape," he said.

"I go into a bit of a trance over it.

"It doesn't matter who they are, I just love it."

Mr Arnol says charcoal allows him to give drawings depth. ( ABC Radio Hobart: Georgie Burgess )

For Chris Arnol, drawing and painting is all about depth.

"I found charcoal is a wonderful medium to do that," he said.

The collection has a focus on Tasmania's last bushfire season, which was a particularly tough one.

He wanted to immortalise faces during tense moments and in the aftermath of a fire.

"Lots of people don't understand how tough it can be and how it plays on people's minds and how they might reflect on how good a job they did for the people they are trying to help," he said.

Mr Arnol's exhibition Behind the Heroes opens on Friday at the Lady Franklin Gallery in Lenah Valley.

It will be open on weekends between 11:00am and 4:00pm until March.