Rick Smith

My work is primarily figurative – landscapes, portraits and narrative paintings in oil, acrylic and gouache. I never tire of the challenge of rendering a subject in a ‘realistic’ manner whilst at the same time weaving in a story, mood and personality to the piece.
In the more narrative compositions, I have attempted to invite the viewer to construct the ‘story’ in their own minds from the content of the picture.
My portraits seek by use of pose, composition, colour and tone to give an understanding of the subject’s character beyond the physical likeness.
In my landscapes I like to convey the atmosphere and mood of the environment, so the viewer ‘feels’ as much as ‘views’.
I work in my garden studio in Kingston on Thames, and my work can be viewed at

I attended Ashford Grammar School until 1973.
I graduated with an ‘A’ pass in Illustration from Twickenham Art School in 1977. At the time, Twickenham was a well-respected Art School with courses in three main areas – Graphic Design, Exhibition Design and Illustration. The Illustration pathway focussed heavily on ‘traditional’ life drawing and painting from models by direct observation.
In my final year I came joint second in a national bursary competition run by the Royal Society of Arts.