ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTION
 
When I first started painting, I would look at someone else’s work and wonder “How did they do that?”. That is a good question and one you have probably asked yourself whilst admiring a piece of art. It is also a useful question to ask especially when you are just starting out on your art journey. I asked it many times and learned from the replies I got which helped me develop my own style of working.
The question is though – is it the right question?
Jackson Pollack is quoted as saying that he wanted to express his emotions, not illustrate them. Therein lies a clue to a better question to ask an artist, because, if you think about it, the answer to the ‘how’ question is always going to be the same. Does that surprise you? It probably does because you are thinking that every artist will give a different reply to ‘how ‘they did it.
However, the answer is always going to boil down to one word – technique. There are a million different techniques of course based on knowledge, experience and skill which will differ from artist to artist. Fundamentally though, no matter how involved or fascinating the answers you get, the answer to the ‘how’ question is always going to be the same, and that is what techniques were used.
So, what is a better question to ask the artist? Ask ‘why’ and then you really will get more interesting replies because the individuality of the artist will be expressed in the answer.
Let’s try it out. Why did I paint this?
Last year, I was looking through some sketchbooks for inspiration. I came across a sketch of Flamborough from the clifftop carpark. It was annotated ‘waiting for Dilly’. Dilly was our last rescue dog before Meg and Peggy. She had had an awful start in life being used as a breeding machine until being abandoned tied on a dual carriageway when she had become too ill to be useful to the puppy farm. Happily, she was rescued and after many weeks of treatment and loving care she eventually came to us. She lived another four and a half years, and we shared much love and joy. It was hard work though. Due to her condition she had to be groomed once a month. The dog groomer lived in Flamborough, so we took her there. It would take about an hour. Often, we would nip into Bridlington and have a cup of coffee, but if I took her on my own, I would go off and do a bit of sketching to pass the time. This had been one such occasion. Seeing it brought back many happy memories and a little sadness, so I was moved to paint it. As a tribute to her memory, I put her with Merice and I on the cliff top which was a walk we had all enjoyed together many times. It is a painting of love.
I could have told you the techniques I used but hope you have found this more interesting.
So, next time you see a painting you like give it a go and ask yourself ‘why’ instead of ‘how’.
Thanks for reading.

​If you do not already know it, I would like to introduce you to Woldgate. Woldgate runs from Bridlington through to our lovely village, Kilham. It is on the site of an old Roman road that used to go further all the way to Eboracum (York to you and me). There are not many centurions marching along it now! It is on a brow so in between the wooded areas, there are lovely vistas of the Yorkshire Wolds.
I have painted it many times and, not surprisingly, so have many other artists including David Hockney, who spent several years in the area as captivated as everyone else by the beauty of the Wolds. His work formed his unique one-man exhibition in the Royal Academy. It was called ‘The Bigger Picture’ and we were fortunate to be invited to the family and friends preview of the show before the official opening.
I noticed these lovely shadows on a recent ‘daily exercise’ walk. Early spring is a great time. The leaves are beginning to appear on the trees and the thickets and hedgerows are already bursting with verdant new life a joy to paint.

 
Although this is a special painting for me, it has never been posted before. I must have painted it in early 2003 and like most good things that have happened in my life, it was instigated by Merice albeit inadvertently. We lived in a small village just outside York at the time and Merice had been down to the City to do some shopping. As my greatest encouragement she was always on the lookout for things that would help me as a budding painter. She noticed a book in Waterstones that she liked. It was written by an artist called Nita Engle and was very attractively bound with one of her exciting watercolour paintings.
Reading it not only inspired me but transformed my whole attitude to painting. I had already discovered that you don’t improve at a gradual rate. You improve with sudden leaps forward and then level out again, maybe even dropping a notch or too before the next step up.
Nita’s book was a revelation. It introduced me to the concept of total freedom and joy in expressing yourself. Suddenly I was painting in huge washes letting colours freely flow together. Her central theme was to let the watercolour do the work for you and then add a few details to create a sense of realism. The biggest lesson I learned is that you can’t use too much water in a watercolour painting, and this has become my mantra.
Early experiments with this technique were, of course, total disasters and Merice must have wondered what I was playing at. Then one day this painting ‘happened’. Our dining room had become my studio, so I rushed into the lounge and called Merice – “Do you want to see something amazing?” She did and agreed that I had produced something special. This was a giant leap forward and I have integrated these ideas into my work ever since.
I could hardly wait to see it framed. My mum also lived in the village, so I took it round to show her too. She loved it and wanted to keep it. She always had to pay me something for the paintings and I let her have it for a nominal sum. It hung on her wall for the next fifteen years and I saw it every time I visited. When mum passed away, I got it back and was finally able to take a photograph so I can show it to you.
I have painted many similar scenes and used the same methods in many different subjects, but this painting really is so very special to me as it was the first.
Mum got it so quickly that I never had the chance to even give it a proper name. ‘Forest Study 1’ hardly does it justice, so perhaps you can help me out? If you have any ideas for a suitable title, please let me know. 

​I am travelling back in time for this one – back to the 18th August 2004 to be precise. Merice and I were in the Yorkshire Dales. Back then we lived in a village just outside York and we had easy access to the delights of the Dales. We would certainly have taken the shortest route there via Harrogate and Skipton, but on the way home we used to take the scenic route – over the tops to Pateley Bridge, Ripon, Boroughbridge and home without travelling on a main road.
It was the height of summer but there is never any guarantee what the weather will be like up there as It is so very changeable. The sketch was made from the roadside, so I suspect we had stopped for a welcome picnic. As we settled it, out came the sketchbook. I drew it in portrait form, so I have painted it in the same format.  As can happen so quickly in the Dales, a storm was racing towards us, hence the title of sketch and painting. Hopefully it passed over but my memory is not that good!

The Yorkshire Wolds are just on my doorstep. A couple of days ago, we had a meandering drive through this lovely area. Even on a cold (but bright) winter afternoon it was still inspiring - so much so, that the following day, I dug out an old sketch book and found this composition. I painted it quickly with my usual five colours and here it is. This is the first of many!