p “Has he seen us?” Oil on canvas 605mm x 455mm “Endeavour” a restored 1930 J-Class yacht. One of the most beautiful yachts afloat. We were that close to her on the Solent as she went across our bow like an express train – and yes, she was on Starboard. I simply had to recreate the power and grace of the yacht and the overwhelming noise of the displaced waves experienced on that day and achieved this with a relatively large composition which is “in your face” both in scale and colour using reference material

s we sailed up the Morbihan’s winding channel towards Vannes for the first time this summer, I was surprised to find that a large white water tower looked familiar. I soon remembered sketching it over forty years earlier while on a camping holiday with my parents. What really surprised me was that even then my interest in art was there under the surface and even more fascinated when we got home to find I still had the sketch in the back of a drawer.

I am often asked “how long did this or that painting take you?” I suppose the answer is forty years preparation and a few hours painting but the learning process never stops and takes in every stimulus we experience throughout our lives, that brilliant golden light at the end of the day, the colours of a stone just under the water, the shock of the unexpected or the fascination of an unanswered question.

Why I paint

I have to paint for the buzz. For me it is a bit like magic the way an image comes out of the page and I get very excited when it works well, also there is enormous pleasure in going back to the work for a renewed “Wow” weeks or years later. But why does it work, how can a sketch or a painting do something for the viewer – how can it press the button as they say? I believe the only way is for the artist to say something special about the scene, to capture a single moment, catch the atmosphere, the heightened senses and connect with the spectator in a way you may not be able to describe in words.

This is why I always take a sketch book with me and make drawings from life when cruising because it is a rare artist who can conjure up the magic simply from memory. Luckily I long ago passed the stage of being embarrassed about sketching in public, everyone wants to look over

your shoulder, particularly children and that adds to the fun. I sketch almost anything available – people, buildings, machinery, boats and even my foot if there is nothing else. The key is to accept that every sketch is more practice, might come in handy one day as part of a painting and is fun. Also if your memory is not that good, a drawing will take you instantly right back to the moment u in time and the very place anywhere in the world