We sat down with Steve Bolton from Gordon Harris Newmarket to talk about what inspires his paintings, his relationship with colour, the materials and brushes he reaches for, and the advice he would give to artists finding their own way with paint.
What are you trying to capture when you make a painting?
More often than not, what I'm trying to capture in a painting is an instant. A memory, something I've seen, or a feeling rather than an object.
It'll often be a dream, an idea, or an interpretation of something that I've seen and want to express, or want to see again.
Sometimes I paint what I want to see again. You might see something in a dream, or something out of the corner of your eye, and you just want to look at it again. That's generally what I paint.
What's your favourite colour combination at the moment?
It's always changing and always different, but I love Cinnabar Green. It's just the most beautiful colour. Chartreuse colours like that, I just love those.
I like to put them with a really rich burgundy, but that's not always the case. There are no colours that I dislike, and I find almost every combination appealing. Some work better than others, but they're all worth looking at.
What would you recommend to someone starting out with painting?
I'd recommend concentrating on buying the colours and paints that make you feel happy, that resonate with you, and that will help you get to where you want to go.
Most people painting, whether they've been doing it for years or a few months, have an idea of what they want to see at the end. So choose the colours that will help you get there.
That would be my advice. Go by colour.
Is there a material that completely changed the way you paint?
Oil paint, when I first used it.
The first time I used oil paint was with my grandmother. I think she wanted to get rid of me for a bit, so she sent me out to the shed with a whole lot of her oil paints.
Prior to that I'd probably used crayons and acrylics and things like that. I was about eight, and I was totally transfixed by the oils. They completely changed the way I thought about everything.
I painted a great big seascape with these crashing waves, and that completely changed the way I paint.
I don't only use oils now. I use acrylics and all sorts of things, but that experience completely changed my approach.
What kind of brushes do you like to paint with?
As far as traditional paintbrushes go, I tend to use a filbert more often than not. I use various sizes of them, and I like them because they give me so many options.
There's the wide aspect of the brush, the very narrow, precise aspect, and the fact that they're not flat or squared off. They're very soft. It's almost like painting with your finger, and I really like that aspect.
I also tend to really demolish brushes when I use them. I've found that the Gordon Harris ones with the red handles are good. I churn through them, but they're excellent quality, they're strong, affordable and really good value for money. I like those ones a lot.
What should artists look for when choosing a paint?
I think artists should start by looking for the colours they like and what works for them.
Once you become experienced with a particular range, you can start looking at things like how heavy or rigid the paint is and how many options it gives you. Different paints will suit different people. I quite like a heavier, more rigid paint.
Find something you like, but be happy to experiment and try all sorts of new things.
The primary thing I think people should look for is a type of paint, a brand or a range that lets them form a good relationship with the paint they're using.
Is there one colour that almost always ends up on your palette?
There's actually more than one, but they're all within the same range.
I always have warm, rich earth tones in my paintings. Other colours come and go, and I find myself gravitating towards certain colours for a period of time before moving away from them, but the earth tones are always there.
They're the constants. They're the base of everything that I do.
They're the colours of nature, and that's why I love painting. So they're always there.
Check out more of Steve's work via the links below.