- Profile -

About the Artist

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Derek started painting about ten years ago - firstly with watercolour, then acrylics and more recently with oils. It took time to learn the different paintings techniques involved, the characteristics and behaviour of paints, and the particular types of paper and canvas.

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He uses 'Winsor & Newton' Artist's Professional quality paints in each case. 'Bockingford NOT' paper is his favourite paper for watercolour and ink as it is so 'forgiving'. By using a heavyweight paper, he finds there is no need to pre-stretch it. Sometimes the paper does warp slightly, especially if it is a very wet-into-wet painting. When this happens, he lets the paper dry out thoroughly, then wets the back and leaves it to dry for 24 hours under some heavy weights (such as books). Other artists use other methods.

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For his oil and acrylic paintings, he typically uses 'Belle Arte' fine cotton stretched canvasses. Even though they are pre-primed, he always prepares these with a coat of neutral pH pva adhesive to seal the canvas, followed by additional coats of acrylic primer. Over the primer, he often uses a coloured ground and underpainting. He prefers the feel, texture and richness of oil paints and uses Artisan water-soluble oil paints as there is no odour and brushes are easily cleaned in warm soapy water, thus avoiding the use of traditional solvents.

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After experimenting with different makes and kinds of brushes, he has found 'Rosemary & Co' brushes suit his way and style of painting best. Whether for watercolour or oils, the series 402 (a mixture of sable and synthetic fibres) prove to the most effective for his style.