Colin Ross Jack 

I was born and brought up in Anstruther, a fishing village in the 'East Neuk' of Fife in Scotland. Though returning often to my homeland, I lived in the North West of England since 1970, and now live in Worcester.

I was educated at Waid Academy, Anstruther, Fife, and took an Honours degree in Astrophysics at the University of Edinburgh. I entered the teaching profession, and taught Science, mainly Physics, for all my working life. I am now retired.

Art has been a passion for all my life, and continues to be so. I have used most mediums. Having painted exclusively in pastel for about 12 years, I now paint in oils, which I make myself in the traditional manner. I enjoy the ability to create thousands of colours and tones from a few tubes of paint – many of my oils are painted using nothing but Prussian blue and burnt umber with white, with a few touches of local colour.

My subjects are varied, including seascapes, landscapes, flowers, figures, still life, abstract and more.

No matter my subject, I  always colour the canvas with thin acrylic [colour depending on the subject, then begin with a chalk sketch, refining it with  paint with a small brush.

I then paint an underpainting in monochrome plus white [e.g. Prussian blue, burnt umber or other dark colour], to establish the tones, which are as important as colour.

 I finally paint the picture in oils over the underpainting, varying in texture from impasto with a knife to smooth soft brush work with linseed oil, depending on subject.

I like to try new things, to go to uncharted waters with my work [see my selected quote from Bob Dylan: not to move on, to be reborn, is a kind of death for an artist.]