Interestingly, my technique of painting is very different to the painters I mention as being inspirational (Monet, Crot, sisley, Seago). All four are known for applying the paint quite heavily, in a loose, sometimes impressionistic style, whereas my work is more controlled. I have heard it described as being very refined, which was nice. I have tried to loosen up, but development should come naturally and not be forced.

Most of my paintings are now on canvas, apart from some minatures, which I do on prepared panels. From the moment the canvas goes on the easel, I know how I want the article to look. This was one of the most important things my father (Gerald Coulson) taught me. I start by covering the canavas with a base cover of colours and the tones I am going to use, a primer coat if you like, and I do this in acrylic paint because it dries in minutes, not hours like oils. When dry I proceed on the painting, using oil paints and mediums and building up layers of colour and tone to achieve what I hope is a very clean, clear painting. I don't mean clinical, just not daubed. As oil paints can take several hours to dry I tend to work on several pieces of work at any one time. You can get to a certain point on a painting when you cannot do anymore until the painting is completely dry. For this reason I do not know exactly how long any one picture takes to paint, but I do know that osme of the most successful are also some of the quickest.

Cambridgeshire Fens, England

Published by
Washington Green
since 1998

Preferred medium: acrylic & oil

Walking the Tide

“My paintings have always been based on the English landscape. I have dabbled in other things, but for me its landscapes that have held the most interest. I feel a huge amount of satisfaction in trying to create the tension that feels the air just before a thunder storm, or the atmosphere of being the first on the beach on a cold Autumn morning.”

English Landscape