April 2024 – Richard Cave

Richard Cave from the Reading Guild of artists visited the society in April 2024.  

Richard has drawn and painted from childhood winning prizes for art on television and at County Art Shows whilst still at school. He discovered a love of watercolours at school and later developed a facility in this medium and in perspective drawing to use in his professional life as an architect.

Many of the techniques adopted for the production of rendered perspectives, both for his own use and for others, were used for personal pleasure in painting ‘en plein air’. This often provided an alternative to ‘holiday snaps’ and have provided real memories of places visited. The process forces an observation of subjects which involves both the temporal nature of the subject and the quality of changing light. This gives the image a unique quality which cannot be reproduced by the camera, and forms the basis of all the subjects and techniques of Richard’s painting.

Influences are wide and varied but amongst the watercolour heroes are Seago, Yardley, Blockley, Chamberlain, Russel Flint and Hilder. Richard could not be said to paint in the style of any of these artists but all have contributed in some way to his view and technique of painting, which is uniquely his own.

Richard selected a seascape for his demonstration in watercolour.