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.

John Waterhouse