Dhows on Gold Leaf Painting

British Artist Alan Reed, was born near Corbridge in Northumberland. He specialises in Watercolour, Oils and Gold Leaf. "People say that watercolour is one of the hardest techniques to master and I suppose that's true, simply because it's not as forgiving as other mediums. "I produce paintings which are representational but not photographic. I am concerned about capturing the light and the fleeting moment for which watercolour is ideally suited. What makes Alan's painting so special is that, unusually for a watercolourist, he uses the most free flowing and uncontrollable of media to convey successfully the intricate and rigid forms of architectural detail. The attention to detail of Alan's buildings is comparable to that of the Italian painter Canaletto, but the essential difference, apart from the fact the Italian artist worked in oils, is that the geometric forms of Alan's street scenes are contrasted to the loose impressionistic treatment of the people. This contrast has the same relationship as harmony to melody and it creates the sense of rhythm and movement that achieves Alan's goal of bringing the streets to life. Alan is not consciously influenced by any other artists but is known to admire the 11techniques of JMW Turner, William Russell Flint and John Singer Sargent particularly in the way they apply their paint. He endeavours to harness the almost accidental nature of watercolour thus emulating Turner's free-flowing style. Alan's work shows, therefore, a meeting between the draughtsmanship of early 18th Century artists and the free forms of late 19th Century painters. Like Canaletto, Alan is an outstanding draughtsman but, like Turner, he is not particularly interested in drawing. "My training gave me an appreciation of perspective and eye levels and I do like things to be correct, but most of all I love colour and I love form. I will lightly sketch a work in pencil, especially if I am working on location, but pencil lines can be too restrictive. Instead I prefer to do my drawing with a brush - it is much more suggestive." Alan lives in the north-east of UK in Ponteland working from his attic studio at home. He draws much of his inspiration from the region and has been painting Newcastle street scenes and Northumbrian landscapes. The bridges over the Tyne and Newcastle's Grey Street are among Alan's most popular subjects.