Bob Barker

Bob has always lived in Yorkshire, and continues to draw inspiration from his surroundings. He explains: "Where I live, it is impossible to walk a dozen yards from home without seeing old weavers’ cottages, cotton and woollen mills, Yorkshire stone flags or cobbled streets that have been there for decades, watching the landscape change around them. Every day I get to see and paint this history, and people get to share it with me through my paintings. How wonderful is that?"

The idea for Bob's signature heart motif developed after he began doodling umbrellas and noticed a heart shape taking form. Following this, he asked his son and daughter-in-law to pose for him. While the concept started as an experiment, it now represents a feeling of togetherness, with Bob adding: "Life takes us to unexpected places, but it is love that brings you home."

The glaze of his original oil paintings is inspired by the Old Masters of the Renaissance period. Techniques include grisaille: a method used by artists such as the Early Netherlandish painter Jan van Eyck, whereby neutral tones or shades of grey create the illusion of sculpture. He has also mastered sfumato, which softens the transition between colours so that they appear to evaporate like smoke. By using repoussoir, he paints objects in the near foreground to lead the viewer's eye into the painting and enhance the depth, light and perspective of the piece. 

Describing his painting process, Bob says: "Before I squeeze the first drop of oil onto my palette, I sit and gaze at the blank canvas, sometimes for quite a while. With music always playing in the background, I visualise the composition, change the colour of the sky, nudge buildings into new locations, make it rain and many more combinations until I am happy. I then make a few very quick lines on the canvas, just to set the scene, because by now I am impatient to get some paint on the canvas.

"When the initial painting is dry, I usually rework it by applying glazes (thin washes of oil paint that allow the colour of the underpainting to show through), either to the whole canvas or to individual areas, thus creating intense contrasts for luminosity and depth."

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