Sardines

My goal is to achieve the ever elusive "truth to nature", to capture an essence of what I'm painting but in my own quirky, almost naive way. Ultimately I want to produce a pleasing piece of art but it's the intrinsic beauty of the objects themselves that is paramount. I'm not aiming for a photographic representation, but my own distinctive and hopefully exciting interpretation of the fish.

Oil and pastel.

Dimensions: 34.5 x 26.5 cm.

About the artist:
I live in Worthing and work in a studio at the end of my garden… I tend to paint objects that I find beautiful so nature has always featured very heavily in my work. I am fascinated by details so will spend hours examining what I will be painting before starting work. For "Sardines” it was the colour variations, the individual markings and the way the light and shadow played on them throughout the day that I took my time to study. When I feel I've observed every aspect of my subject as best I can, I dive straight into the work, hoping thereby to ensure that the final outcome retains a certain "freshness". In general, I don't usually undertake any preliminary sketches as I find that spontaneity has a power all of its own.