How difficult is it to paint in reverse?
It's high-stakes painting, with many ‘do or die’ moments in the process. I'm painting from the back, so I often don’t realise something’s not right until I reach the very end. Often I will spend hours dedicated to the finer details, only to have the paint run at the last moment or scratch away in the wrong place, and there’s nothing I can do about it, other than look at it philosophically and take the lesson on board for next time. Getting used to the fact that paintings can and do go wrong makes the ones that work all the more rewarding.
Studio Sessions Whilst filming our YouTube video for Richard Rowan’s new An Impossible Dream release, we got an exclusive tour of his studio in Wimbledon. Here we discovered what keeps him motivated, and how he’s making sure his art stays sustainable.
Do your children ever get involved with your paintings?
We’re a team. We go out and find sunsets together, we chase lightening together, we do all of it together. The children come into the studio and do some painting. In fact, my son Tyler actually painted a small part on ‘Never Give Up’ from my Twilight collection, and it meant so much to him. It really spurred him on with his own artwork, and so he’s been busy learning some techniques from me.
How has your style changed over the last 15 years?
I’ve progressed from just trying to get the oil to stick to the glass to now being able to apply so many different techniques, from the clouds to the lightning. My work is far more nuanced and instinctive now. With experience, I’ve developed new techniques: I know how long to leave the oil to dry, how long I can leave it in between stages, how much I can scratch into it, how much I can take off it while it's still wet and then add to it. All these components give me endless possibilities for what I can paint now.
How does listening to music help you to paint?
When I'm designing the composition or working out how it's going to go on the glass, I’m usually listening to a lot of different music. There will always be a piece that just goes with how I'm feeling at the time and the image that I have in my head. It doesn't take that long to find the right piece of music, and once I've got it, it becomes synonymous with that painting for me. It sticks in my mind, so whenever I revisit that picture, I only have to hear that piece of music and I can see the picture in my mind’s eye.
How do you challenge yourself as an artist?
I'm never satisfied. I always want to try to move the artwork forward and apply the learnings from my last painting to create something new every time. I never, ever want to take it easy. I want to try and push myself to my limits and see what else I can put on glass in oils like this. I don't know where it's going to take me, and I'm not making it easy for myself, but I like the challenge. And I get a lot back from when a painting goes wrong, especially when I can save it. That’s special.
DID YOU KNOW?
Before becoming an artist, Richard pursued a career in motorsport. Starting as a ‘junior trucky’ before working his way up to managing pit teams, Richard toured internationally on the World Rally and Formula One circuits. In tribute to this period, a bottle of champagne from ‘Triple Eight Racing’ still has pride of place on the windowsill in his studio.
120 FINE ART COLLECTOR SPRING / SUMMER 2022
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