Laurence Wallace

For many years I have been passionate about still life painting, taking inspiration from Chardin, Spanish and Dutch still life artists of the 16th century to Giorgio Morandi.

To begin with I set up the objects and do a few pencil sketches and a quick watercolour study of the composition. I then draw up the picture. In the main the colours are invented and the lighting is part natural and part artificial in order to give a sense of drama to the work.

I use Schmincke watercolours on Arches 300 gsm, rough surface watercolour paper.

Working from location sketches and measured drawing I arrive at the final composition in the studio. The sense of drama I see in the real world is what excites me. Through the composition and paint I create dramatic and atmospheric pictures.

The intention is that the painting should create its own narrative without human presence and the viewer’s interpretation completes it.

The work of many artists including Vermeer, Edouard Vuillard and Edward Hopper have inspired me.

I use Schmincke watercolours on Arches 300 gsm and 600 gsm rough surface watercolour paper.

The first available series of signed fine art prints selected from recent still life watercolour paintings.

Each image a limited edition of edition of 25

Signed and numbered by the artist

Archival Grade Print

Paper size 330 x 400mm

Image size 260 x 340mm

10-colour Ultrachrome HDX pigment inks
Printed onto German Etching, fine are acid free paper 310gsm

£95.00 Unframed

Includes free UK shipping

Only shipping to UK at present

For sales contact me here

Many of these etching aquatints are inspired by my paintings and developed further to arrive at stark areas of contrasting light and dark. Stripped of detail they create moody, atmospheric images.

All these etching aquatints are printed on Arches hot press printing paper and are limited to an edition of 10 per Image.

By keeping a sketchbook one can record those incidents seen while out and about. For example an odd lighting effect, a quirky unusual scene or a different vantage point.

All these paintings are taken from location drawings and are manipulated in the studio. By enhancing real life to create familiar yet heightened paintings.

A range of artist and architects have inspired my work including Edward Hopper, Charles Rennie Macintosh, Algernon Newton, Denys Lasdon and Giorgio de Chirico.

I use Schmincke watercolours on Arches 300 gsm and 600 gsm, rough surface watercolour paper.

Observational drawing is for me the the starting point of all my work and the only way of improving my drawing skills and ability. The challenge is to put down what I see and not what I think I see. Drawing is an on-going process to improve ones confidence and it feeds directly into other artistic areas.

All the drawings are observed from life in soft lead pencil on A3 cartridge paper.

These monochromatic drawings are closely related to the etching aquatints. They contrast, yet echo, the path of the paintings in subject matter and atmosphere. The range of tones is executed through different weights of graphite pencils from HB to 6B.

All these observational images are either drawn in situ or taken from sketches on location and worked up in the studio.

The drawings are done on a Hammer hot press paper.

These paintings started as observational drawings from geometric forms and progressed towards imaginative brightly coloured images. The work moved towards amorphous forms and broad areas of colour that metamorphosed into bold abstraction.

I use Schmincke watercolours on Arches 600 gsm, rough surface watercolour paper.

All my photographs are one shot and are not cropped or enhanced. Something catches my eye and in that moment I capture the essence of the subject matter.

As with my paintings I’m attracted to shadows, structure, colour and the decorative in everyday life. The interior and exterior world is represented in these photographs and they stand alone from my other work. I never use photographic reference for my paintings as it is a different discipline.

Influences include Andre Kertesz, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Albert Renger-Patzsch and Saul Leiter.