36 Watercolor artist | APRIL 2020
and, indeed, considers his “the best job in the universe.”
Still, it hasn’t all been a bed of roses. “Nearly all my work
is speculative,” he says, explaining that regular income, or
lack thereof, is the downside. “I have representation with
a number of galleries and that helps, with sales hopefully
coming from one when the others are quiet. I enjoy being
able to choose what I paint, in eff ect giving myself a brief
of a certain subject or place from which to draw inspira-
tion. Th e enjoyment of drawing and sketching outside and
then putting that into a painting is enormous.” It’s a way
of working that agrees with him.CAPTURING ATMOSPHERE
Forsey’s paintings seek to capture the elusive elements of
a landscape, maybe a change in the light, the atmosphere or
the weather, which is why he says, “Turner is my man.” Th e
artist’s paintings also reveal his ability to see in abstraction,
without necessarily clinging to naturalism. Forsey cites addi-
tional infl uencers like John Piper (English, 1903–1992),
whose paintings featured strong shapes and striking mark-
making, without being architectural—as having a slight
edge. He also appreciates Rowland Hilder (1905–1993), the
English marine and landscape artist and book illustrator,
who brought draughtsmanship to the world of watercolor.Forsey frequently sketches and takes photos outside,
making use of both when building a painting. “I take time
to plan the composition and decide on the palette of colors
I need to achieve what I’m looking for,” he says. If, for
instance, he’s painting overseas, his palette usually includes
brighter, clearer hues: turquoise, orange, magenta. He deems
the light to be clearer and less grayed by cloud and mist.MEDIA APLENTY
Forsey’s preferences in media have continued to evolve
over time. “I started painting in pure watercolor after using
gouache as an illustrator,” he says. “I didn’t really know what
pure watercolor was at that stage, so my early works were in
gouache, and then I switched as I learned more about it.” He
deepened his knowledge by going to exhibitions and reading
books on the subject. Th e artist’s style has developed, too,
with the introduction of ink, oil pastel and acrylic to his
creative arsenal, providing an element of excitement and
unpredictability in the way they all interact on paper.
Forsey’s use of pastels started as an experiment. He’d
been using candle wax as a resist to the watercolor, and it
was suggested to him that wax crayons or oil pastels would
have the same eff ect. “Pastel creates an interesting texture
under watercolor,” he says, “good for depicting rough