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Inspiration from Artists Week 132 Bonus Artist: RON LAWSON

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Jenny Harris

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Welcome to this week’s Bonus Artist.  RON LAWSON, based in Perthshire, is regarded as one of Scotland’s most original and distinctive contemporary landscape artists. Born in 1960, he spent his early years on a farm in mid-Lothian before a career took him to the art studio publishers DC Thomson in Dundee, where he progressively developed the individual palette and technique that is central to his work today. With a passion for dramatic and sparsely populated locations, he has spent many years exploring and capturing the wild remoteness and majesty of the outer Hebrides and  Scottish Highlands.

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by Jenny Harris

Waddesdon Grotesque

Andrew Roles

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I really like this pared back style and blocks of solid colour. Great recommendation Jenny.

Tessa Gwynne

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Very striking paintings Jenny, with sharp clean lines. I really like his style which I imagine is very commercial. I will look later in more detail.
My Profile pic16

Lewis Cooper

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Mixed feelings about this one.  Where he has painted something, I like the style, but I don't like the huge areas of flatly painted sky in some of his paintings.  The ones that work for me are where the paintings are more cropped of sky...like the last of Jenny's posts above.  The one immediately above it, where a plain flat grey sky occupies three-quarters of the painting, no thank you.

Jenny Harris

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Quite a lot of his work is in a rather wide landscape format and doesn’t come across very well in small images (at least not on my iPad) - a couple below. I’ve also found one where the sky isn’t a single block of colour, but a rather dominant sky area does seem to be a feature of his work.

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With Sarah, Phil, Ellen, Rose the dentist, and the granddaughter whose name I forget.

Robert Jones, Napa

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It's stark, strong, and clear - and that reflects very well the harsh landscapes he paints: a particularly rewarding landscape for painters IF - a) you can stand the rigours of that climate, and get out in it and really live in it, and b) if you don't do what some of the modern colourists do, and painfully exaggerate colours, in the process producing paintings that are no more than topographically accurate while lacking all sense of atmosphere (one I have in mind is Scott Naismith: it might be interesting - when we get the chance, I know of the backlog - to show some of his work: I really strongly dislike it, to the point of detestation, but it could be instructive to have others' opinions: some might love it).  This painter though has developed his own style without imposing it on an unreceptive subject - I can see that some might think it a bit one-note, but I do think it works, and that's the point. 
IMG_3630

Paul (Dixie) Dean

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A couple I found , they are all so similar it’s difficult to know what has always been posted . 
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Carol .

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Very bold and dramatic artwork. I like the simplicity of the colouration and subjects. I like all the work that's been posted, however, the lighthouse is at the top of the list, here. An inspiring choice of artist, Jenny.
IMG_1547

Russell Edwards

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I really like his work
With Sarah, Phil, Ellen, Rose the dentist, and the granddaughter whose name I forget.

Robert Jones, Napa

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Skies the colour of lead - which does vary in hue between deep grey and blue - are typical of the area; but I understand Lew's point and Paul's inference about the similarity between these paintings; for a good sky painter of Scottish scenerey, have a look at the work of the late Ken Bushe, whom you should still be able to find via Google.  He specialized in skies, where Lawson specializes in landscape - but the comparison isn't that simple, they are very different artists.  

Tessa Gwynne

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I looked at his website and tried covering over some of the expanse of sky where they are particularly large, I think this diminishes the effect, and I like what I see in his work as it is. I’m going to have a look at Ken Bushe’s work and that of Scott Naismith, the list goes on!

Jenny Harris

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Tessa, I agree about diminishing the effect if you reduce the expanse of sky in his paintings (I did the same as you) - and Paul has a point about the similarity of a lot of his work, but I think we do sometimes find this when we look at a lot of one artist’s work all together in this thread.  Following Robert’s earlier comment, I had a look at Scott Naismith’s paintings - get your sunglasses ready!!

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