'The Underwater Menace'- painted specifically for this years North Somerset Arts Week (2017)
I have been painting now for over a decade. I don't paint full time. Like a lot of creative people I have to fit it in between a full time job, household chores,eating, washing, etc. Real life just keeps getting in the way. So if I'm lucky, I might be able to squeeze in a few hours to indulge in my passion (say on a Sunday afternoon) but it's more than just a hobby.
'Flamingos over the Camargue' - for North Somerset Arts week 2015
Water Colours can be beautiful but require a set of skills I just don't have and I have never ever got on with them (or the Poster paints at school). They can produce fantastic results in the right hands but the're a very unforgiving medium. You can't hide your mistakes with them, but don't let me put you off. If you're interested in taking up Water Colour painting my advice would be to join an art class or buy an instructional DVD, a number of which are easily obtainable from online stores, where you can learn the skills to be a successful Water Colourist.
Oils on the other hand I love. With their rich, intense colours, but they take forever to dry and you need solvents to clean them. (Although you can obtain quick drying Oils these days, I'm to heavily invested in Acrylics to change.)
My medium of choice is Acrylics.
'Finding Buddha' - for North Somerset Arts Week 2013
I like using Acrylics for their vibrant colours and quick drying properties.
They are water based and can be used as either a Water Colour (when diluted) or as an Oil paint (straight from the tube).You clean Acrylics (paint brushes and pallets) the same way you do Water Colours, by just washing them under the cold tap; and because they dry in a few minutes you can paint over them, thus allowing you to correct any mistakes or making any alterations you want to your compositions.
So if your are just starting out I would recommend Acrylics as it allows you to try out both styles (Water and Oils). Don't get down hearted if don't create a "Masterpiece" on your first attempted. Very few of us do. It takes time and practice. I'm still learning after 14 years and I doubt I'll ever stop. Even the Great Artists have their off days, you just never get to see these works as they tend to destroy them (to keep their reputations intact).
'Three Sisters' - for the North Somerset Arts Week in 2011
In this site you will find examples of my work. Some them I'm happy with and others I'm not so much. Some are as I originally envisioned and others have changed drastically over the course of their construction and now differ greatly from my initial ideas. Some are experiments and others the results of images that are stuck in my head that I can't get pass until I get them down on canvas and out of my system. I'm not sure If I can style as such and unlike a lot of Artists I don't create a set of paints based on a linked theme. I like to change subject matter form picture to picture. This doesn't mean I won't return to a subject later on its just that I find I need break or there is a danger I'll get bored and sloppy which is not good for me or the painting. I tend to paint whatever takes my fancy and just dive in and have a go. Sometimes it pays off and sometimes it doesn't, but I always have fun finding out. The hardest part is naming the pictures.
Roger spent the early part of his life in Battersea,South London, where he obtained an A'level in Art (still life in pencil and chalk pastels). He moved to Monmouth in his early 20's. At that stage he continued his school art studies by occasionally sketching and drawing figures. Fourteen years ago he moved to Weston-super-Mare where he started painting in earnest exploring the use of colour and shapes in natural and imaginary worlds.
If you have any enquiries please contact me on this email address
roger.ellicott@btinternet.com
and not the one for this site.
Thank you for checking out my web site
Roger Ellicott