Guest Blog - ‘A Significant Transformation’
Artist and Brushstrokes Alumni, Bill Greenhead shares his experience on his creative journey from Digital Artist to exhibiting Oil Painter following the Beginners Oil Painting Course in 2022.
Written By: Bill Greenhead, May 2024.
I have been a professional illustrator since I was 21 years old, and I continue to work in the field. Now, at 58, my art has undergone a significant transformation, in no small part to Laura’s online lessons.
My career as an artist has led to my work being featured in Mad magazine (UK), Punch, Daily Mirror, The Times, and FHM. Primarily, I have worked in digital formats, using tools like Photoshop and After Effects for animation. However, after our move from Maidstone to Hastings at the tail end of Covid, our family pet dog, Charlie, passed away. He was a beloved part of our family, and I wanted to commemorate his passing in a tangible way - through paint rather than pixels. So, I made a promise to our children that I would paint a portrait of him in oils, a medium I hadn't touched since I was 16.
Naturally, I was apprehensive about picking up the brush again after all these years. What if my skills had diminished? Could I do a portrait of our much loved dog and not look ridiculous? I know all to well, there’s a fine line to be trodden here.
Sensing my reservations, my wife and adult children gifted me an online painting course with Laura for my birthday. I admit, I initially cursed them.
Shortly after, I received all the materials in the post from Laura, and a few weeks later, I began painting online with her guidance. Starting with a still life of two apples and a pear, Laura introduced me to various techniques, including thin to fat painting with oils, using a grid, and blocking out dark to light. Over the course of four weeks, I completed the painting, creating something I didn't think I was capable of. It looked good. I was as surprised as anyone.
This experience inspired me and gave me the confidence to tackle painting Charlie's portrait. I applied the lessons Laura had taught, gridded it out to get the proportions correct, sketched it all out in burnt Umber, and coloured it up. Blow me, it looked great and the children loved it! What a relief! From there, I immersed myself in painting landscapes of Hastings and St. Leonards, finding inspiration in the dynamic skies and seas of the area. Taking thousands of photos much to my wife's annoyance, 40% of those being seagulls.
Seagulls rule.
Self-Portrait, Steven Trevillion, 2022, oil paint on canvas, 70 x 80 cm.
The move to Hastings was also a large reason I needed to paint. You see, I have fallen in love with the sea here. It has inspired me and is a factor in this journey I accidentally found myself on. The seaside fills me with joy and it’s something I feel I need to share.
Looking back on my career, I think it was the fact that I really didn’t feel like I was an artist. If I am honest with myself, I knew I had talent. I am a pretty good cartoonist and can replicate most drawing styles. I have worked in the advertising, publishing space for decades. There was something missing which I couldn’t put my finger on. The craft of generating something you see and converting that image from your mind to a canvas for other people to enjoy hadn’t really occurred to me until I revisited oils. Oil painting wasn’t a job, I wasn’t following a brief, I was creating art to share with the world on my terms. Working with paint, rather than choosing a colour on a digital swatch wheel feels more earned somehow. That’s not to say I am disparaging digital artists. I am one. There is something that feels more like alchemy when you mix and work a colour on a palette. A feeling I was ignorant of, or forgot about until I jumped in and started painting again.
It also informs my digital work. Which is a nice bonus.
My first paintings have been an exploration of Hastings and the countryside around. I am very interested in learning what the medium can do, and to explore the myriad of colours in the sea and the sky. You see more shades of colour as you continue to paint and therefore see more as you look.
I have taken part in a few exhibitions. It’s been wonderful to meet complete strangers who tell me what they see in my work. I had a lady in tears telling me about how her husband painted landscapes and how my work reminded her of him. It made her very happy. That cannot be bought.
Two years later on this journey, I have started to sell my art, with my own exhibitions and prints and greeting cards available in local shops. Now, I am beginning to experiment further, incorporating my love of cartoons and modern art culture into my work. A fun phase if you will. Stemming from the confidence I am beginning to gain from using oils. I have started painting on driftwood and using gold leaf for some work, which I am calling “My Holy Seagull Period”.
I couldn't have embarked on this journey without Laura’s amazing course. She was the perfect teacher, and for that, I thank her from the bottom of my heart.
Bill Greenhead