Ian studied painting at Wimbledon School of Art and gained a 1st Class Honours degree in 1987. After graduating he worked as a drawing office manager for several years which have him the opportunity to develop his drawing skills. Ian is attracted to the urban environment and loves the feel of a busy city. He paints very quickly and loosely, but it must happen within the context of an accurate drawing, which holds the paint in.
Ian works from a light and airy studio overlooking a beach and often work on several pictures at once, which enables him to plan the colours and allows different ideas to bounce off each other. An important part of this information gathering process is travelling to different cities. His 'urban sketches' are completed on location, using only watercolour, brush pens and fine liners.
"Inspiration for my paintings comes from visiting places, spending time there, meeting people and getting honked at by buses. But when I paint, the subject is just the starting point; it's the battle on the paper that's really exciting. Colours, shapes, lines and patterns are all jockeying for position , while the water flows within the textured grooves of the heavy Fabriano paper. This is what's really exciting. The image will inevitably come through, sometimes in spite of my efforts, because it's painting itself that really inspires me.