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| David Poxon at his home studio |
When I was five years old I used to help my Grandmother who ran a sweet shop. As a gift she gave me my first tin of watercolour paints. I had to try to teach myself how to use them. This opened up a world of adventure for me. Seeing the effect this tin of colours had on me she took me on a day trip to London to ‘see the art’. This was my first visit to London, and we went to the Tate Gallery. It was there that I gazed up in wonder at Turner’s painting of ‘Hannibal Crossing the Alps’. This was my lightbulb moment. I knew then that my life would be shaped forever by a love of painting.
It’s probably the same drive that compels people to make music, dance, write, or anything else creative. It is an overpowering urge to express oneself, to get those powerful feelings out of your body and mind and set them free into the world.
For many years I followed a traditional path in realism, and painted the usual subjects, landscape, city scape, big skies and seas. However I did become a little frustrated trying to capture these big scenes onto a small piece of paper – I somehow felt that I was missing so much. Then one day an elderly neighbour gave me an old enamel bucket and suggested I paint it. It was only after working on the ‘bucket’ painting I realised how little I actually knew about drawing or watercolour – and this was after years of practice! With something like a still life there is no hiding place, if the drawing is badly judged it will be glaringly obvious as there can be no guessing or approximations with the scale and measurements, just like with life drawing or portraiture. This changed the way I saw my own painting practice, and I had to start again and teach myself a whole new way of working. So I guess now my work is about things abandoned, overlooked, and discarded. Remnants of the world we inhabit which are being reclaimed by nature. To me texture is important, and the effects of weather and age brings a whole new life to the objects and scenarios I paint.
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| 'Van in a Wood' by David Poxon on Bockingford 425gsm |
After I embarked on my new subject direction many years ago a eureka moment was when I realised that painting in watercolour, contrary to most of the instruction in the many books I had acquired, was not actually about speed and fast washes. It could be considered, paced slowly, and great tonal depth and value could be achieved with multi layering. I experimented a lot and was able to devise a system which enabled me to layer more than twenty washes whilst still maintaining luminosity and transparency. This really became my signature style which harnessed with my chosen subjects gave me the sense of rebuilding the things I painted onto the paper thereby capturing their essence forever.
What is the best piece of art advice you have ever been given?
If you love to paint and you paint for long enough you might get quite good at it. Somewhere in time someone might pay you for your art. But the most important thing is never to lose the love!
I use a minimalist pallet. With multi layering a vast array of colourways can be achieved using mainly transparent pigments and just two or three colours. I don’t use white or black paint. Paint brand is important, the better the brand the more consistent the paint quality. My go to colours are Raw Sienna, Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna, Pthalo Blue, Ceruleum Blue, Alizarin Crimson, Rose Madder, Magenta, & Lemon Yellow.
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| 'Days Like These' by David Poxon on Bockingford 425gsm |
I go on subject hunting trips – which is wherever I happen to be travelling. I live in the countryside of Shropshire and the local farmers have all given me access to their farm buildings and machinery, I am never short of subjects. I do on the spot sketches, gather information, and take photographs. My process can take days or weeks to make a painting. Waiting for washes to dry in a 20 wash painting can take a long time. Therefore most of my work is produced in my studio. It is important that the first flash of enthusiasm for a subject can be maintained through the painting process, it’s not easy! Not all choices are good ones, this is the unpredictability of painting. Simply being able to paint what is in front of you does not necessarily lead to a winning painting. The magic ingredient is magic itself, a mysterious spirit that occasionally choses the painting you are making. The thing to remember is your best painting could be your next one.
Watercolour is a wild and unpredictable medium. Yes there
are techniques to master, and the more you do it the better you may
become. However you can limit the
chances of the painting running away from you by ensuring that you are working
with the best materials you can afford. For many years I have used Bockingford
425gm Not paper. I always stretch it on to thick wooden boards. My process
requires a reliable, consistent, & robust paper that will take many wet
washes, and will also put up with the various other techniques I employ to get
texture into my work. This requires some quite physical handling of the paper.
Quite simply I don’t take chances with my paper, I use one that works with me
not against me. How do you know when a piece is finished?
A classic question! The painting always tells the artist
when it is finished.
From all of us at St Cuthberts Mill, we say a huge thank you to David for speaking with us. Let us know if you enjoyed this piece in the comments below.
David's Website:
To learn more about the International Watercolour Masters exhibition David is curating:
www.internationalwatercolourmasters.com
International Watercolour Masters 2022 is held 16-29 May 2022
Lilleshall Hall, Shropshire, UK
In addition to the exhibition, there is a full line up of demonstrations
and workshops.
