During these trips, Charles won’t sketch or
paint, but rather soak up the experience and
take hundreds of digital photos. “Painting is about
continuous decision making,” he reasons. “The more
time I have to make these decisions the better – and this
process is more suited to my working in the studio.”
Big Cloud over Portuairk was based upon a series of
pictures taken overlooking Sanna Bay near to Stevenson’s
famous lighthouse at Ardnamurchan Point on the most
westerly tip of mainland Britain. “I was just lucky with the
weather,” says Charles. “I do recall it was remarkably hot.”
The key, he says, to doing justice to his subjects back in
the studio is creating subtle variations of colour, tone and
temperature within the large expanses of sky and water.
“For example, a great variety of warm-cool and dark-light
tones can be achieved through mixing Burnt Umber and
Ultramarine Blue with a white. Similarly, more neutral paint
colours such as Payne’s Grey or Cool Grey can be warmed
or cooled by adding small amounts of colour, such as
Naples Yellow, Yellow Ochre, Light Red or Ultramarine.”
Charles Simpson: Painting the Light runs from 14-29 March
at Panter & Hall, London SW1. http://www.csimpson-art.co.uk >Charles Simpson
For some, landscape painting can be a rather breathless
pursuit, throwing down colour as quickly as possible to
capture a fleeting record of a scene before the clouds shift
and the light changes forever. Charles Simpson, however,
is a man who likes to take his time about things.
He is a fan of Scotland’s “notorious changeable”
weather, yet he has honed a way of working that allows
him to really absorb his subjects first. “I probably spend
as much time looking at and thinking about a painting than
I do actual painting,” he reveals.
After graduating from Glasgow School of Art and working
for 15 years as a graphic designer, Charles moved to the
Scottish Borders in 1991. Eight years later he turned to
painting full-time and has since completed more than 30
solo exhibitions for top-end galleries in London, Edinburgh
and beyond.
Despite this prolific output, he works methodically,
heading out for research trips before each new body
of work. As well as exploring the farming country that
immediately surrounds his cottage, he regularly ventures
further afield to Scotland’s islands and west coast.
Fresh Paint
charles’s
top tiP
Build paint in layers of
increasing thickness.
The paint should have
a degree of tackiness
before adding moreABOVE Big Cloud
over Portuairk,
oil on canvas,
90x110cm