The art of John Waterhouse

“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.”