'Stilson' Painting

I was born and live in the Eden Valley, a picturesque part of the world nestled between the Pennine Fells and the Lake District Fells in Cumbria, England. Although inspired by a wealth of lakes artists I generally tend not to paint 'views' but rather home in on detail within the landscape, such as an old tumbledown barn door, or a rotting and lichen covered tree deep in the hollow of a shaded valley or hillside. I am entirely self taught, having drawn from a very early age, heavily influenced by comic book art in my youth, by artists such as Frank Frazetta and Severin, and indeed had dreams of becoming the English Frazetta! Having not gone to college, there wan't much call for paintings of Barbarian hordes decapitating adversaries or semi naked distressed damsels, so comic book drawings were put aside and I painted other topics, instructive books and manuals taking the place of formal training. I then discovered the work of David Hockney, or rather the acrylic paints he used, which slowly replaced the wishy washy flat watercolours I was producing back then. Acrylics were a game changer for me, a revelation! No more disappointment when that vibrant rich watercolour wash dried to a flat dull finish, no more following rules such as light to dark or ruining expensive paper! Now I discovered I could paint from dark to light, and often do, glazing colour in multiple layers, upon colour upon colour, to build up texture and lush depth, and relishing those highlights as they loom from the gloom with touches of opaque paint! Acrylics have one big advantage, which is that they dry very fast, which also turns out to be their biggest disadvantage!