Reflecting on my life as a painter, I’ve often thought how fortunate I was to have spent so many years designing furniture and interiors after my initial training in design at art school. It certainly has stood me in good stead in my second career as a painter. Why, you may ask? That’s easy. No matter what medium you use, a painting is a design – whether it’s on paper, canvas, board, or any other material.
Composition
For me, there has to be some form of structure to the painting. Yet often when teaching students I find so many just sit down and paint without any thought about composition, tone or colour – all three being the basic principles of a painting. Too often, the end result will be disappointing.