Did you always know that you would be an artist and where did your involvement in art stem from?
I have always enjoyed drawing and painting ever since I was young. Both my parents were creative people. My mother was always making clothes or being creative with material in some way. My father’s creative passion was writing music, so I suppose there was always going to be someone else in the family who had some kind of creative flair. As I got older I persued something that I enjoyed and felt that I was reasonable good at. It wasn’t really until my mid thirties that I started exhibiting some of my work at small art shows and the feedback I had gave me the confidence to continue with my passion.
You have a BA Hons in illustration, how did you find the course? And has it influenced your painting style in any way?
Not that I can remember. I think you are always influenced by everything you see, it’s just you tend to pick out the bits you like. I feel that my art is still evolving and that’s what makes it exciting for me.
You teach 3 days a week, how do you find the experience of teaching others?
I now teach full time. It has its challenges. I soon realized that being a practicing artist does not necessarily make you a good teacher of art. It gives you good experience but I still think I am learning about art as I teach it.
You visit to Spain has inspired you, where do your other inspirations come from?
My recent inspiration come from the local area. I love the old fishing villages of North Yorkshire. I also enjoy painting old ruins like Fountains Abbey. There is something extremely powerful and emotionally moving about the old historic structures from our past.
Do you paint from life, or photographs, or both?
I usually paint from photographs.
Could you please describe the practical process you go through when making a painting?
I paint in many styles however the one I prefere in written below.
I take photos and crop images to find good compositions. I then usually undercoat a piece of MDF. I tend to start the painting using a medium tone acrylic hue. I paint loosely to capture an overall composition. I then sometimes add material( coloured card/photography) to the image to develop a more textured and interesting surface. I then use a pallet knife to add areas of colour( often going for bright unrealistic colours. The process continues until I am happy with the overall colour harmony. I continue to layer colours and eventually refine details with a small brush. I like to keep the style impressionistic so knowing when to stop can sometimes be difficult. I often rely on my intuition to know when the painting is complete.
You can see more of Philip Wilson’s Artwork
