Crispian Oates

Biography

When I was at school in the 60's or 70's we were never taught art properly and it was a wasted opportunity. You would never give someone a violin and say "Have a go and see how you get on" with no tuition of basic techniques. However, we did go for lectures at the Tate and there I learnt to appreciate art, and my father, who was an architect, taught me the rules of perspective. I spent my working life as a medical physicist and apart from a short spell at an evening class in watercolour some years ago, I have now been painting since 2009. I currently attend a weekly class run by an artist friend and I work almost entirely in oils. With every painting I do, I try and learn something new or get something right that didn't go right before, as well as produce the painting. It has become quite addictive!