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I’ve always painted, ever since I can remember, starting with felt-tip pens, gouache and finally, in oils and acrylics. My parents had the foresight to take me to some wonderful North Yorkshire beauty spots. My Dad used to keep a diary of the animals and plants we’d see on family days out, and I drew wildlife illustrations for him, using colouring pencils (usually on Sunday nights).

Iain Will.

I stopped painting and drawing for a few of my ‘wild’ teenage years, but came back to it in my late teens. Since then I’ve been painting constantly all through my married years; I now have a wife and a nine-year-old son.

I now paint mainly in oil and acrylics on board and canvas. Typically, I’ll start the under painting in acrylics to exploit the rapid drying times and switch to oils for the final layers, where more blending is required. I’ll paint anything and don’t necessarily want to stick to one subject matter, although wildlife art and landscape paintings are a common theme.

Detail from 'Woodland Sunlight'.

Woodland scenes are my favourite at the moment. My style is a mixture of impressionism and realism and I shy away from abstraction, though I do appreciate this approach in others. I try not to be too photographic, and try to keep a painterly feel to my art. I’ll let you decide how successful I’ve been!

I hope my paintings at least create a feeling of mood. I’ve written some artists tips on painting and I hope you find them useful. Take a look at my website even if you’re not a painter. You’ll be shown a ‘behind the scenes’ look at how I compose and paint a picture from scratch.

Solo and group exhibitions include: The York Guild Hall, York City Art Gallery, Norman Rea Gallery and Sheriff Hutton Art show.Ìý

Iain Will