My Thoughts on Painting

'Breezy Day on Ashdown Forest' - 16'"x12", Langton 200lb NOT

My philosophy on painting is very simplistic, which is probably the function of being completely self-taught. I like to think that without the baggage of theoretical axes to grind my painting can develop in whatever way it so desires.

I do not produce work to provoke thought, or solicit a response. I understand that a good painting (in fact any art) should do both and if my work falls into that category......great! However, that is not my motivation. I paint because I enjoy doing it and it gives me a deeper insight into the landscape (my main subject) through concentration than I could achieve simply by taking a look across a valley.

If someone had to label my style they would probably say that it is traditional as opposed to contemporary - by which they usually mean 'abstract.' My style is always evolving, and if you start with the premise that all paintings are ultimately an abstraction, then I would say that it is certainly more abstract than Reubens, but some way short of Rothko. Ultimately, I will leave the taxonomy for art graduates to discuss over a glass of jasmine tea on the King's Road.

My preferred medium, which I use exclusivley at present, is watercolour. I do not recommend this! It is by far the most difficult of all painting media to master. A watercolour painter lives and dies by the 'transparency sword.' The immediacy and freshness that watercolour confers make it a joy to use - sloshing fluid, transparent washes of colour onto paper is a process that I enjoy far more than scrubbing and trowelling thick, plasticky oil paints onto canvas. It is that transparency that can quickly become your enemy - you just cannot paint over your mistakes, or you end up with dull, muddy painitngs. If you get it wrong, you start again! It really is that unforgiving.

Watercolour is the perfect medium for capturing the British landscape. The cool, crisp nothern light that we have been given generally produces scenes that have muted tones from a colour palette largely comprising soft greys and intense browns. "How very dull," I hear you say. Not so. As a painter, working with this range of colours creates pictures that are soft and mellow and watercolour is perfect for conveying this delicate balance of tones and hues.

I do not subscribe to any particular school of watercolour thought, which in my opinion encourages 'art snobbery.' It does not matter if the white in your painting is the unpainted paper or the use of gouache, or other opaque media. What's important is that it looks good, but mostly that the artist enjoyed painting it. If so, then it is an entirely valid method.

My work has largeley been inspired by the likes of Crawshaw, Wesson, Yardley and Seago whose mastery of loose, impressionist technique and understanding of light is my ultimate ambition. There are no immediate plans to sell my work although over the years I have taken a number of commissions. For me it really is painting for pleasure......one day though, you never know!