My approach is “paint what you know”, light/dark, warm/cool, one third/two thirds. Paint with passion, compassion and respect.

I never compromise my technique for the sake of absolute realism. Once the paint is being applied the technique more or less dictates the final result. Viewed up close my paintings can appear quite coarse, yet at the same time the enormous amount of work that has gone into the painting to produce the thin glazing and depth of colour is evident. Only with this technique can I achieve the desired outcome. While the work has visual impact at a distance the technique compels closer viewing.

Initially, all my works were oils until it was discovered my colour blindness was a serious impediment. Paint with acrylics was the solution. Its fast drying qualities made possible frequent colour changes and facilitated colour experimentation.

Choosing the colours, I then proceed to build up paint with thousands of brush strokes and translucent colour glazes. Using acrylics also eliminates possible complications or deterioration one hundred years on. Whilst the technique can be incredibly tedious the rewards can be immense. Always there is the delicious excitement of finishing a painting, most often right up till the final glazes and varnishes are applied I never know the end result!

As it was with film, so it is in fine arts--most techniques emanate from
the commercial sector. Outstanding artists in my formative years have all been commercial artists at some point in their careers. Philip Markham worked for my father in the fifties and I got to know Steve Harris through a major client. They have uniquely different styles and techniques and distinctive qualities to which I aspire. The list of commercial artists graduating to fine arts is endless and to those of us who subscribe to common sense, logical.