Blog

My name is Les Darlow and I am an artist, Illustrator and designer. My specialist area is Soft Pastels although I paint watercolours, oils and acrylics. I was born in Blackpool in 1961. Although being trained as a technical Illustrator, I have now managed to free myself of the technical preciseness of a photo realistic painting and paint free and expressive, creating paintings that are based on feelings and moods. I have a love and passion for landscapes and most of my paintings are subjects that are close and dear to me. I think that one can paint the same scene over and over again as light and weather change the subject every minute that passes. I love painting skies and i think they are the key to a great landscape. I have a fascination for storms and extreme weather, whether that is a sunrise at -20 degrees in winter, a stunning sunset or a growing supercell in the height of summer, these are the key elements to my painting. I work very quickly trying to capture these weather phenomena, usually no more than 50 – 80 minutes. I feel this speed of free painting helps capture the movement within a landscape.