Mary Jane, Chesterfield Canal, Notts Painting

Award-winning artist, Richard Harpum, paints mainly with acrylics on canvas or board but also paints watercolour florals. He works in a realist style and pays meticulous attention to detail. His slogan is "High Definition Art". Richard's primary focus is landscapes and seascapes but he also paints still lifes, portraits and florals. The effective use of light is a key ingredient to all of Richard's works and he spends a great deal of time before starting a painting in selecting a composition that provides both drama and contrast. Born in Bromley, England, in 1951, Richard has had a passion for drawing and painting from a very young age. As a youngster, he was always drawing and became a prolific painter after he received an oil painting set for Christmas when he was 12. He has a Master of Arts degree from Cambridge University. Richard's work was featured in a 10-page article in International Artist Magazine, Issue 73, June 2010. He has also won a number of art competitions and awards. He is a strong advocate for using the golden ratio (Phi - 1:1.618) in his paintings. You may note that the position of the sun or some other key feature or length often uses a golden ratio. In some of his works there are several used. Richard believes that this gives his paintings better balance than using the more traditional "rule of thirds". During his life Richard has lived in many parts of England and currently lives in South Yorkshire. He has also travelled extensively for both pleasure and business and has lived abroad in Africa, the USA, Australia and Germany for a total of 20 years. This has given him a very broad perspective of the world, as well as providing him with wonderful sources of inspiration for his paintings.