40 Artists&Illustrators
TALKING TECHNIQUES
the tube with a dry brush. He sticks
with Winsor & Newton’s Cadmium
Red, Raw Sienna and Burnt Sienna,
but also selects colours from Holbein
Artists’ Watercolours (he loves the
Lavender for opaque highlights) and
Daniel Smith Extra Fine Watercolor
ranges – the latter is a brand he says
is worth the extra outlay due to the
intensity of its colours. Brushes-wise,
Simon used to favour sables but now
prefers the longevity and lower cost of
Escoda’s various synthetic brushes.
He generally works on Saunders
Waterford 140lb rough paper.
If all this sounds like Simon has a
consistent system, he begs to differ.
His fine art is still evolving, and each
painting offers potential for newexperiments and discoveries. These
days it’s common for his fine art
paintings to be made on the rear side
of his architectural paintings, making
all the experimentation less costly
and giving his unwitting customers
two paintings for the price of one.
Perhaps remembering the early
frustrations of his fine art career,
when he fell into churning out London
views he knew would sell, he is
committed to ensuring every painting
really has something to say. “You’ve
got to make that bit of paper better
in some way,” he says. “You’ve got to
make a painting valid: it has to stand
up in the world and have a reason
to be, that is the challenge.”
http://www.simonjonespainter.comTOP Snowdog Sunset, Cardiff, watercolour on paper, 40x30cm
ABOVE Hallowe’en, Llandeilo, watercolour on paper, 18x26cm