Original Landscape Paintings

All my paintings are original, not copies of photographs and they're certainly not copies of other artists paintings. They're made using paint brushes and paint on canvas, board or paper by me, and each one is created entirely from a blank canvas rather than repeating what I've done before, which is similar to using a template. They're not manufactured, not by me or in a factory in their thousands. I'm hoping it's obvious and you already understand this, though it's always worth being clear.

The word 'Original' also means something other than 'not fake' and 'not manufactured' of course. It means: 'original idea or way of doing something' – an idea, a way of showing or doing something no one else has thought of or done already. This is the more usual meaning when art is described as original. My art is original in this sense too, because I don't even copy the landscape I'm painting! Some artists copy a landscape so perfectly, you'd think their painting was a photograph. I prefer not to because we're not cameras and don't experience a landscape in the way a camera does.

In the early stages of my studio paintings (the collection above) I really study the scenery I think will make a good work of art – I look at in an intense way, I observe it and try to understand it. I'm classically trained so inspecting closely is an engrained discipline and firmly part of my process. My other collections (below) contain a lot of 'observed' paintings.

When the painting idea progresses in to my studio, I start meddling. By meddling, I mean I apply something called 'artistic license'. I apply lots of it. I talk about all this in detail elsewhere (link at the bottom of the page) so I'll not repeat it here. Suffice to say, my paintings aren't an exact copy of the landscape in the way a photograph (almost) is, so that's another reason why they're unique and original.

All my paintings, whether made in my studio or painted outside are of the UK landscape. There's a magic about our enchanted isle and it's nothing to do with faeries. The Romanticism painters saw it. This is another reason I'm not making paintings that have anything in common with photographs – I'm trying to make something richer than that. The British landscape is endlessly fascinating and trying to capture the beauty of it is deeply challenging. It's the challenge that draws me to it. I can't get enough of it and that's why I make paintings of the UK landscape.

Updated: 16 Nov 2019