Paul Corfield

Paul works from his home studio in the heart of the Dorset countryside. "Just the sound of a blackbird singing nearby is all I need," he says. "For a landscape painter, the sunrise and sunset  offer up the most potential to create a successful painting. This is because of the long shadows, warm light and wide range of contrast."

He first produces a small sketch – around 5-10cm – as a simple line drawing with no shading. He looks for an arrangement of shapes which will eventually fall into place. The colours evolve once he starts to paint the sky, with his main interest being how he can play with the light to evoke the viewer's emotions. 

Paul explains: “I naturally paint seasonally. As I see my coastline and weather change, I react to this. Something I really enjoy with every painting is layering the clouds, hills and trees to create depth. With lots of layers, you can use atmospheric effects to introduce new colours such as blues and purples into distant shadows. This can then be offset with the stronger contrast and bolder colours of the foreground."

Find out more about Paul in our 15th anniversary Q&A here.