Rather like the Barbizon artists who painted in the Forest of Fontainebleau during the 19th century, Doug Eaton works almost exclusively in and around the Forest of Dean in Coleford, Gloucestershire, where he grew up.

His paintings are dazzlingly evocative, intensely atmospheric and filled with colour and textures that suggest depth and light.


Wimberry Valley, acrylic on canvas, (61x92cm)

Many artists would refrain from using such a wide colour range, but Doug handles it masterfully. The work is vibrant and expressive, an individual and arresting interpretation of the valley that allows viewers to see beyond the brushstrokes

Extremes and combinations

Doug captures each location in vibrant combinations of colours, from viridian, cobalt and violet, to amber, cream and plum – always evocative and unexpected.

His application of paint adds to the expressive, enigmatic and ephemeral qualities. Doug says he is ‘interested in extremes; soft against hard, dark against light, hot against cold.'

Although in the past he has worked in oils, watercolour and soft pastels, currently he works exclusively in acrylics because of their ‘wonderful colour range' and 'quick drying properties'.

His methods include working ‘quickly and broadly, trying to get in the major areas with a large brush.'

To achieve the angular, refracted look of many of his works, he hones areas using a smaller brush and a 48in (122cm) piece of 2x1in wood as a guide when he wants to establish a firm line.

In this way, he builds up his unique style that can sometimes be seen to resemble elements of the work of Cézanne, Monet, Corot and Matisse, or even Holman Hunt.


Symonds Yat Gorge, acrylic on canvas, (100x120cm)
 
Here a range of blues, from turquoise to violet, is enlivened with lemon, cool green and splashes of red, to portray this striking gorge.
 
The reversed-out silhouettes of houses and trees enhance the drama of this scene

Doug continues: 'I glaze quite a bit, but generally use opaque colours to surround or break up existing paint. I mix little on the palette and more on the canvas, again using glazes.'

It is these contrasts and glazes that build up his marvellous range of effects, from misty to vivid, dark to light or bright and strong or sharp to soft.

On first appearance, each painting appears detailed, but on closer inspection, many details seem to dissolve and new impressions form, drawing the eye in and around the work.

Doug's understanding of colour is a mix of intuition and experience, a knowledge of what works. He says: 'I don't have a set palette; I could choose anything from buff titanium and citrus green, to azo yellow and cadmium orange to begin.

He also adds that the choice is 'very deliberate,' and knowing what colours to add is usually suggested to him by what's already on the canvas.

So his process is intensely personal: a mixture of intuition and deliberation.

He finds that unexpected, unpredictable colour choices add to the sense of enjoyment and help to create something new and fresh out of an observed scene, and he frequently places complementary colours next to each other so that they interact and change viewers' perceptions.

These are nearly always unanticipated fusions and placements, rarely exact complementaries – as with all his colours, everything has a fresh twist. His colours and pigments are always chosen for their uplifting, uncontrived qualities, and while the brights are vivid and the darks intense, nothing appears jarring or harsh: colours are always modified to create the desired effect.

For instance, Doug uses carbon black and bone black for ‘their softness,' and he usually adds a little purple to the mix to soften them even more.


Symonds Yat Gorge, acrylic on canvas,(100x120cm)

As before, Doug has painted the spectacular Symonds Yat gorge, only this work is captured with the warm colours of late summer.
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Familiar surroundings

Doug generally paints alone in his studio using photographic reference.

He knows the surroundings so well and lives so close to the forest that he says he either paints from memory or pops out to have another look when necessary. Ideas for fresh and vibrant compositions are always there and are almost infinite. He says: 'I choose views that have a natural sort of dynamic. I am constantly amazed by how many straight lines and sharp angles there are in a landscape.'

He emphasises and exaggerates these to enhance his compositions and constantly edits what he sees: ‘It's more important that the painting is successful than it presents an exact truth of the landscape.' A painting can take 'anything from 3 to 30 days.'

He says the process is brisk at the start, but it gradually slows to a more tentative procedure.

He paints every day of the year, from early in the morning until late into the evening. All his works are the result of careful planning and paint application.

His passion for the area is palpable in every painting and it's clear that it's not just the light shining through the trees and the colours that are created in this way that affect him, but the entire landscape; the social and industrial aspects of the location he knows so well.


Stream at Speech House, acrylic on canvas, (61x92cm)
 
In a jungle-like undergrowth, the dark shape of a squirrel can be picked out chasing through the foliage
 
The bright colours and faceted shapes give the impression of movement; the rustle of a breeze through the leaves

Painterly appearance

Many have identified Doug's works as abstract or semi-abstract, but this does not really do them justice.

With his creative twist and masterly handling of paint, he imbues them with a personal imprint that portrays pattern, light, form and colour, but can always be discerned as a tangible scene.

‘I've always been interested in what paint does and hopefully have applied it in as many different ways as my imagination will allow. I have always been aware of a 'painterly look' over and above a clinical rendition of anything, so I don't mind the odd dribble here or there, if only to remind the onlooker that it is paint.'

Attracted by the abstract qualities of paint, he depicts the landscape as energetic, random and abrupt.

‘I'm currently trying to be more fundamental in my approach to produce a strong result from lines, shapes and colours which combined in some way evoke a landscape.

In most of these pictures,' he reflects, ‘I try to maintain a certain amount of accuracy, but not too much – just enough to make it recognisable to someone who knows it well.'


Scowles 2, acrylic on canvas, (76x76cm)
 
Resembling shards of coloured glass, this image is like an explosion of colour across the canvas.
 
With no focal point, the eye is drawn around, through and beyond the landscape portrayed

Focal points

Intriguingly, none of his paintings have one focal point. Instead there are several that draw the eye around the canvas.

This is important as Doug likes the idea that an instant impression and assumption is made by viewers, and on closer inspection for example, what may have appeared to be a piece of grass can be seen as just paint, often in an entirely unexpected colour with a hint of something else.

By encouraging viewers to participate with his work in this way and make their own interpretations, Doug believes that 'somehow it makes the painting more real; a little bit of the painting will always belong to them.'


Old Hedgerow, acrylic on canvas, (61x76cm)
 
With broken, angled marks, Doug has applied paint across the canvas, building up a patchwork-like image to create a suggestion of warm-toned woods in the background and vibrantly coloured shadows in the foreground

Stained glass

For someone who paints light, how does he manage to work such long hours? 'I don't work in ideal conditions,' he confesses, and says he uses ‘a bank of daylight lamps from all angles around the painting.'

Another difficult decision for most painters is knowing when to stop. Doug says he stops when he feels he's ‘challenged nature quite a bit but still left her with the winning cards. I think I pay a bit of homage to stained glass as well, I stop when I think I've got the right balance of all the elements that I like to have in my pictures: hot, cold, soft, hard and surprise that this colour or that shape has turned up in this place on a canvas purporting to be a landscape.'

On the subject of homage, who else does he admire? 'I suppose I hearken back to the mainstays, such as Cézanne, Gauguin, Sickert, Freud, Hockney, Bacon and also Balthus, Blake, the Pre-Raphaelites, Futurists, Fauves – where do you stop? And then Chagall – or even Piero della Francesca.’

Many of these influences and inspirations can be seen within his work, but his understanding and appreciation of such a wide range of artists' styles and intentions informs every one of his paintings, augmenting them with depth and substance.

For instance, facets of Gauguin's references to primitive art or his saturated Tahitian colours or some of Hockney's works that depict places he knows intimately can be seen to emerge in many of the paintings – just hints or suggestions, as he says.

The Fauves and Futurists' saturated colour and dynamism appear in places, or even memories in the mode of Chagall can be acknowledged occasionally.

Doug has absorbed and assimilated it all, which is one of the many reasons his paintings have such a rich vividness.


From Mile End to Cinderford, acrylic on canvas, (92x61cm)
 
Ruby, gold and emerald hues create a jewel-like image.
 
Strong contrasts are counterbalanced to illustrate a scene lit up by the sun breaking through a pale sky.

About the artist

Doug Eaton studied at three art schools: Lydney Art School, Stroud School of Art and Cheltenham College of Art.

He began painting full time in 1977 and has exhibited at the Royal West of England, with the Cheltenham Group of Artists, the Pastel Society, as part of a four-man show at Hereford Museum and in many local exhibitions.

His work is in numerous private collections in the UK and abroad and he also has work in galleries in Canada and the US.

To find out more visit the website www.dougeatonart.co.uk

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