David Harrison

David was born in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. Since leaving Norwich school of Art, he has been painting for approximately 40 years. All of his work is created in his studio in Brandon,Suffolk.

Paintings are made on canvas or board, and in oils or acrylics. His work ‘Bathers’ is a mixed media painting on canvas, using a combination of different textured paper, acrylic, and acrylic ink. The painting took approximately a month to finish, and was based on a charcoal drawing he had produced. This process is quite lengthy, because the finished painting is usually based on drawings. This can take a month or more to produce. David enjoys painting landscapes in the open air. His method is to visit the same location, over two or three days, at the same time each day, usually early morning or late afternoon. As the light changes so dramatically, each visit would take approximately one hour.

Another medium  he enjoys using is gouache, often in combination with acrylic paint.  He uses a heavy weight paper made of 100% cotton. In recent years he has produced many works depicting bathers on a beach, inspired by visits to countries such as Italy, Portugal and Greece.

He has a love for drawing, especially using charcoal and graphite. There is such a wide range of mark making that can be produced. The drawings are often conceived in a fleeting moment, but then take time to unfold. The artists aim is to create light, atmosphere, harmony in line and colour, and balance and unity.

An ongoing series of drawings he is producing, is based on several visits to Venice. ‘September morning by the Rialto Bridge’ is one of his accepted works  for the Spring exhibition. He visited Venice several times over the last few years. The drawing is in graphite, and is based on several photographs. The work took approximately 6 weeks to complete. Although based on photographs, it is the mark making that interests him, and trying to create a celebration of a beautiful city.

‘A morning in Venice’ is a companion to ‘September morning by the Rialto bridge’, and is his second drawing accepted for the Spring exhibition. Standing on the Rialto bridge, he viewed both sides of  the Grand Canal. Again it took approximately 6 weeks to produce, using graphite.

David is a member of the Society of East Anglian Watercolourists and his website is on Saatchi Art.