Profile

Profile

William Handley-Garland

I am a self-taught artist living in Southampton. I took up painting and drawing as a hobby in the late 1990’s and joined Oaklands Art Club which meets at a local secondary school. Working alongside other artists has enabled me to improved my painting skills.
Before taking up painting I had been an enthusiastic photographer and I make extensive use of my own photographs as source material, but also enjoy working directly from the subject when the opportunity arises.

Techniques:

My primary painting media are oils and watercolours.
I use Windsor & Newton’s Griffin fast drying oil colours, which I find are the ideal compromise between rapid drying acrylic paints and slow drying traditional oils. These alkyd resin based paints remain workable long enough to allow extensive blending, but only a day or so to dry. This allows the use glazes to modify areas of the painting without the very long drying times associated with conventional oil paints.
My approach to watercolours is fairly traditional, preserving the white of the paper as highlights, using masking fluid if appropriate. My preferred surface is a ‘not’ or rough paper of reasonable weight which I will stretch on a board if I’m anticipating using very wet washes.

Subjects:

I enjoy painting a wide variety of subjects including landscapes, coastal and waterway scenes, transport, still life, interiors and buildings.

Exhibitions:

I am a member of Romsey Art Group and Oaklands Art Club and regularly take part in group exhibitions and have recently started attending local arts and crafts events.