'Near the top' Painting

David was born in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, in the U.K. Since leaving Norwich school of art in the UK, he has been painting and drawing for approximately 40 years .All of his work is created in his studio at his home in Brandon, Suffolk in the UK. Paintings are made on canvas or board, in oils and acrylics. His work 'Bathers', is a mixed media painting on canvas, using a combination of different textured paper and fine tissue paper, acrylic and acrylic ink. The painting took approximately a month to finish and was based on a charcoal drawing he had produced. This process is quite lengthy, because the finished painting is usually based on drawings, that can take a month or more to produce. David enjoys painting landscapes in the open air .His method is to visit the same location over two or three days ,at the same time each day ,usually early morning or late afternoon. Because the light changes so dramatically each visit would take approximately one hour. Another medium he enjoys using is gouache often in combination with acrylic paint he uses a heavy weight paper made of 100% cotton. In recent years he has produced many works depicting bathers on a beach ,inspired by visits to countries such as Italy, Portugal and Greece. He has a love for drawing ,especially using charcoal and graphite; for there is such a wide range of mark making that can be produced. The drawings are often conceived in a fleeting moment ,but then take time to unfold .The artist's aim is to create light, atmosphere, harmony and unity in his work. . The cycle of the seasons is something that has continually interested David. the landscape has played an important part in his work. He is still amazed how nature adapts to harsh weather yet recovers to bring fresh growth in spring. Yet his work is as much about the process of mark making as it is about representing a neglected landscape. The Riverbank series he is working on draws a strong inspiration from such local subject matter. A river runs for miles behind his home ,and during march 2018 there were strong gales and many well established trees were blown across the riverbank. A drawing he completed after the gales is " Riverbank and fallen tree". He uses a sized, heavyweight watercolour paper, and with the combination of plastic erasers he is able to continually work and rework the drawings by adding further subtle mark making. David is a member of the Society of East Anglian watercolourists based in the UK.