Artist Michael Murison

My formal art training has been through creative art classes in the Centre for Lifelong Learning at the University of Strathclyde.

In 2015 I reached the final stage of the BBC Little Painting Challenge, and my entry was chosen as one of those exhibited at the Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester.

I mainly paint landscapes, seascapes and cityscapes although I have been known to paint portraits and still lifes.
My favoured medium is acrylics.
I am a realist painter by nature, but I occasionally dip a toe in expressionism and abstraction.
I have found that time spent on composition/design from the outset is the key to a successful painting.

My best work comes from a memory, a favourite place, or a time of year and in sometimes from looking through the thousands of photos I have taken over the years.

I usually start with a thumbnail sketch which helps me develop a composition by rearranging and prioritizing different elements from the very beginning to get a sense of "wholeness."

Next, based on my thumbnail and the pictures, I create a monochromatic underpainting. I find that the value pattern (the way the lights and darks connect and interact) is even more important to the success of the final painting than the colours will be. 

I think carefully about the values of the colours I use to maintain the overall range of value contrasts. I will always go back and re-establish the original value range as I find that the value range always tends to contract during the development of the painting. I like to use lots of colour but keep it subtle by careful consideration of adjacent colours.

My major influences have been been Edward Hopper, Andrew Wyeth, Grant Wood, Richard Diebenkorn and Joaquin Sorolla.

My paintings have been exhibited and sold at;
The ScotlandArt gallery, Bath Street, Glasgow
The Thistle gallery, Glasgow.
ScotlandArtists, Bothwell.
The Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester.
Clarkston and District Annual Christian Aid Exhibition