For years, I thought my chance at becoming an artist had slipped away. My life had taken a different path - into web design, coding, and long hours in front of screens. But one simple birthday gift from Carla, my future wife, would change everything.
It started with a small oil painting kit. I had no idea at the time that opening that box would also reopen a part of myself I thought I’d lost forever.
A Gift That Sparked Everything
One evening, I decided to give Carla’s gift a try. I set up the kit, popped a cheap canvas onto a small tabletop easel my mum had bought years before, squeezed out a few blobs of paint, and picked up the brush. Almost immediately, I was hooked even though it was almost painting by numbers.
Painting gave me something I didn’t even realise I’d been missing - a sense of calm, focus, and mindfulness. For those few hours, the worries and stresses of work faded into the background. After I finished that first painting I wanted to paint something close to my heart, so my second subject was the beach on the Isle of Barra where we got engaged. Barra has since became one of my most painted locations.
My second oil painting - Tangasdale (Engagement) Beach in Barra
Those first few paintings? Honestly, they weren’t great. But I loved the process, and some of those early pieces still hang in my home today - not because they’re masterpieces, but because they mark the start of something important.
Learning How to Paint - the Hard Way
Once the spark was lit, I wanted to learn everything. I quickly realised how much I’d missed by not studying art at school, so I turned to online resources, books, and tutorials to teach myself properly.
Some of the most influential courses I found include:
- Richard Robinson’s My Painting Club - my first structured step into painting techniques
- Barry John Raybould’s Virtual Art Academy - where I started learning composition, colour, and form
- New Masters Academy - which introduced me to incredible teachers like Steve Huston, Glenn Vilppu, and Stapleton Kearns
Every night, I’d immerse myself in lessons, then put what I’d learned straight onto the canvas. I experimented, failed, improved, and slowly started to understand the craft.
Discovering Alla Prima
Then came a turning point. I picked up what I now consider the most influential book in my painting journey:
“Alla Prima II - Everything I Know About Painting and More” by Richard Schmid.
That book completely shifted the way I looked at the world and how I approached art. Schmid’s insights gave me not just techniques, but a new perspective on light and colour.
I also discovered the "Alla Prima II Companion" by Katie Swatland, which went deeper into practical studio tasks and built upon Schmid’s teachings. Together, these books became my foundation - and to this day, they’re the first resources I would recommend to anyone wanting to learn oil painting.
Falling in Love with Landscapes
As I practiced more, I naturally gravitated towards landscapes, especially Scottish coastal scenes. I’d always loved the sea - family holidays spent visiting relatives in Crail, in the East Neuk of Fife, and Portsoy, further north in Aberdeenshire, gave me a deep connection to these places.
Capturing the shifting light, reflecting on the sea, and the ever changing cloud formations in the sky felt natural and deeply personal. I wanted to try and capture it like a snapshot of a memory.
Soon, I began selling my first paintings. Then came commissions - portraits of children, grandchildren, and even pets. While I appreciated those, my heart always pulled me back to landscapes. That’s where I felt most at home as an artist, and where my style began to take shape.
Growing Confidence
The more I painted, the more I started to believe in myself as an artist. I was still largely self-taught, but each painting brought a little more skill and a little more confidence.
That growing belief eventually pushed me to do something I never thought I’d have the courage to try - applying for Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year in 2016.
Coming Up in Part 3
In Part 3 of this series, I’ll take you behind the scenes of my experience on Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year - from the nerves of painting in front of judges and cameras to the moments of validation that changed how I viewed my art forever.
It’s also the story of how I finally made the decision to leave web design and development behind and pursue painting full time — and how my work has continued to evolve since.