http://www.painters-online.co.uk artistMarch 2021 17
PRACTICAL
paintings by artists I admire, to try
to get inside their heads. Like most
representational plein-air painters, I
love John Singer Sargent and Joaquín
Sorolla, and there are enough fabulous
contemporary painters in the ROI and
the NEAC to keep me inspired for many
years.
Watercolours and oils
‘I used to be mainly a watercolourist –
and I still paint in watercolour – but the
technique I evolved for architectural
illustrations is so painstaking that it’s a
studio-only medium for me. I really took
to oils when I started spending more
time outside – they’re very tolerant
of British weather conditions. I have a
long-held desire to become proficient
in pastel, but so far, I’m lacking the
perseverance to succeed.
‘My watercolour work is nearly all
commissioned, but my oils not very
often – I do tend to slip into tried and
trusted ways when I know who the
buyer is and what they’re expecting,
and I don’t think that’s a good way to be
all the time.
‘My standard palette is fairly
unremarkable – warm white, lemon
yellow, cadmium yellow, yellow ochre,
cadmium red, alizarin crimson, burnt
sienna/transparent red oxide, raw
umber, ultramarine, phthalo blue with
zinc white (this has a bit more bite than
cerulean), lamp black (only with yellow
for greens, honestly), and sometimes
bits of viridian, Naples yellow, cadmium
orange, or cobalt violet. I don’t tend
to use titanium white any more, I was
always fighting against its bluish tinge.’
Contrasts and shapes
So how does he begin his vibrant and
t Waterloo Road, oil on canvas, 233/4 3 271/2in
(60 3 70cm).
‘I painted this in one plein-air session through
the middle of the day. The landlord of the
nearby Wellington pub kept me going with
cups of tea.’ This was the painting chosen by
editor Sally Bulgin for The Artist Award in the
annual ROI exhibition
u Pylon and Flyover, oil on canvas, 30 3 24in
(76 3 61cm).
‘This represents the side of the Canning Town
flyover in East London, a bit of SLOAP (Space
Left Over After Planning), with some unused
bench seats. I painted it on two mornings.’
BELOW RIGHT
Painting at the Mall Galleries, oil on board,
123 16in (30.5 3 40.5cm).
‘This is the annual portrait painting evening
at the ROI exhibition. It’s more of a room view
than a portrait.’