I love the use of colour in your work, and how effective it is despite the lack of detail it has. When it comes to choosing the colours you use, is there a reason behind each one?

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Colour is crucial to my work and I have experimented using different colour combinations for a while. Often, I start out with three base colours which I choose based on their tonal value i.e. one light tone, one mid tone and one dark tone. I found using yellow, red and purple were very effective together. More recently I have been experimenting with yellow, magenta and blue as my base colours, which I think helps create a more cheerful image.
 

Two of the works you have submitted have been portraits, is there any reasoning behind why you chose these people?  

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The first portrait is a self-portrait and was painted during the first UK lockdown. I wanted to capture the range of emotions I have felt during the pandemic. I found the general feeling of being unsettled led me to use much thicker paint than I would normally. I think the added texture of the paint heightens the emotions depicted.

The second portrait was created as part of Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Week. Each week they would have a sitter pose for 4 hours live on Facebook. This particular portrait is of Will Young. I found the experience extremely useful whilst in lockdown, as it meant I could draw and paint other people’s faces, which made a nice change from painting self-portraits!
 

How has your relationship with colour changed over the years? Have you noticed a change as your mental state changes?

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Initially, I was interested in creating work which had a contemplative feel. However, the longer the Covid-19 pandemic goes on for, the more concerned I am with using a much brighter colour palette. I think the Covid-19 pandemic has made me strive to create images which are joyful, playful and which give people hope in an otherwise quite dark and bleak situation.