John Waterhouse

Artist Information:

"Many things inspire me to paint - from walking the fields and woodlands that surround the area where I live, to simply watching people going about their daily lives. New ideas for paintings constantly enter my head and I note many of them down on paper, so as not to forget them.

When painting a landscape, a lot of the information is there, but more often than not something extra needs to be added, or changed slightly. A cloud formation, a distant figure, or perhaps the way the light is falling. With landscapes I feel it is not so much an idea, but an ability to balance and compose, to a certain extent, what is already there.

I find the English countryside very romantic. Fields and trees to me have their own character and history, just as a person does. By taking plenty of time to study the view that I am about to paint, helps me to decide the areas that require toning down and the areas that need to be made more vivid, if any, in order to emphasise it´s character. Although I paint landscapes I also enjoy painting people. I find this work a challenge, which is part of the attraction for me.

Just by sitting on a park bench watching the world go by can fill my head with plenty of new ideas. The store of ideas is endless. As with landscape painting, it is just a matter of looking, thinking and using an imaginary form in my head. The image then needs to be etched into my mind, as unlike a landscape, the subject matter may not stay still for very long, leaving me to reconstruct my ideas using models etc."