With the plants in the garden starting to bloom, now is the perfect time to get your paints out! We caught up with watercolour expert Trevor Waugh, BA SGFA, for a look at his life and painting techniques.

I started painting at the age of four when I was still at infant school, and it was then that I knew this was what I was going to do. So I did, and I have been painting ever since.

I was born in 1952, and grew up in London, so I can call myself a genuine child of the 60s. That was a very creative era when anything and everything seemed possible. I won a scholarship to the Slade School of Fine Art and studied under Sir William Coldstream, then Professor of the Slade. Starting with formal life drawing and painting I progressed on to portraiture and this gave me opportunities to work with other great artists of that time such as Euan Uglow, David Hockney and Patrick Caulfield. My first exhibition was with Sir William Coldstream and friends in UCL’s collegiate theatre.

I started painting flowers as a result of my work being published on greetings cards with Elgin Court. I then ran my own studio in the Cotswolds, where the light and gardens there are so inspiring. I particularly love painting roses because they are the queen of flowers and universally renowned throughout history.

  

They embody all things for me in Colour, Shape and Tone. There is, in my mind, nothing more beautiful and inspirational than a walk through a rose garden on a sunny afternoon.

If you are a beginner, then my tip for you is run with your heart, if something inspires you then paint it!

 

Discover more about Trevor's rose paintings in this fascinating video. Visit his YouTube channel for even more insights into his painting techniques!


Trevor's book, The Kew Book of Painting Roses in Watercolour, is available from Search Press, RRP £14.99.