I was born in St Albans in Hertfordshire in 1949 shortly after the war years with food rationing still in place.
I have painted all my life, with varying degrees of time to do it, always having had a facility to paint.
My first memorable inspiration was in the 1950s watching Portrait Painters at Butlins Holiday Camp doing quick portrait sketches of the people on holiday there …….. I was hooked.
Having left school at fifteen, I had to go to work and earn money. I am therefore self taught, sort of University of Life, always changing, updating and each year feeling what’s next.
My artistic heroes change from time to time, my earliest I shudder to even mention. John Singer Sargent is probably my greatest influence, going to American abstract impressionists Franz Kline, Willem de Kooning. Modern day painters Howard Morgan and Wapping group member Trevor Chamberlain, amongst many others.
I joined the Wapping group in 1996, having been invited by Trevor to come along. My recollection was that the venue was Greenhithe Dock, a rather modernised, daunting subject to paint.
I have always painted on site since painting in my thirties, it was a lot harder then than it is now, having never got the right kit together, and I now feel comfortable working in a well thought out transportable compact and practical way, a lot of which comes from discussing with other painters and swapping experiences.
Although I am a member of four National societies, ie The Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour, The Royal Institute of Oil Painters, the Pastel society and Royal Society of Marine Artists, it has been in recent years that Oils have been my main Plein air medium, although I have used Watercolour in the earlier years and also Pastels and Acrylics.
On the spot I tend to paint reasonably small, generally 8 x 10 to 12 x 16 inches, but have worked 20 x16 or larger if revisiting the location is possible.
I warm to subjects that are more a challenge of colour, light and high activity than atmospheric distant remote vistas, the more difficult the more I enjoy. Having been a keen observer of people in their environments this is a constant source of inspiration for me.
In tackling a painting on the spot my first objective is to work with an abstracted form, not allowing the drawing to take over and not documenting too soon. Thinking of general shapes of tone and colour and working with the composition in mind. Working from the general to the specific, not finalising anything until the composition feels right. Specifics and detail come towards the end. This is more the calligraphy stage. I will have been working from middle tones to dark accents then the highlights, holding on to the middle tones for as long as I can.
I believe that the paintings I produce today are merely a stepping stone on the way to becoming a better painter, and the work climbing to higher levels.
For more information please visit Roger’s Website www.rogerdellar.com
