Text from "Leisure Painter" Magazine - Jan 2007. Written by Robin Capon.

Alistair Butt remembers first being interested in painting at the age of six, when he accompanied his father to a local art group meeting and watched a watercolour demonstration. This was in South Africa, where he was born. Later, when he was thirteen, the family moved to Derbyshire (the birthplace of his parents) and, from school, Alistair went on to art college for four years and subsequently studied Technical and Scientific Illustration.

He then worked for two advertising agencies as a graphic designer/illustrator, at the same time continuing to paint in watercolour and beginning to establish a name for himself. Eventually his success in selling work at the Granby Gallery, Bakewell encouraged him to leave the advertising industry and paint full-time.

For several years now Alistair's paintings have been included in the Royal Society of Marine Artists annual exhibition at the Mall Galleries, and he has also occasionally shown work at the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours exhibitions. Other exhibition venues include, for example: Lincoln Joyce Fine Art, Great Bookham; The Wonderwall Gallery, Cirencester; Duckeries Art Gallery, Worksop; Granby Gallery, Bakewell; Spencer Colman Fine Art, Lincoln, Stamford and London; Kendall's Fine Art, Cowes; Century Galleries; Michael Pybus Fine Art, Whitby; and Patchings Art Centre, Calverton. He has been a finalist in the RI Young Artist Award; an exhibitor in the UK section entitled "Master Painters of the World", of the International Artist Magazine; and he was selected as one of the top "50 Masters of Watercolour" in Europe, for the French magazine Pratique des Arts.

Subjects:
Alistair Butt’s paintings are principally of coastal and landscape scenes, with a distinctive feature of his work being the skilful way that he includes interesting detail yet without compromising the sense of mood and the special qualities of light. His style is true to the great traditions of British landscape painting, and indeed all his inspiration comes from subjects within the UK. “From Cornwall and Kent to Cumbria and the Yorkshire Dales, each area provides an endless source of material for my paintings, and each has its own identity and feeling,” he says.

“I don’t know whether it is due to my South Africa upbringing or perhaps simply an inherent part of my nature, but I have always appreciated the landscape and loved being outside. I especially like being near water. From my studio in Nottinghamshire I frequently make sketching trips to the Peak District or parts of the Yorkshire dales and moors, and additionally I organise weekend, week-long and other trips to different parts of the country. Other favourite areas include Cornwall, East Anglia, the Cotswold's and Wales, and of course the north Yorkshire Coast at Whitby and Staithes.

“Usually it is a certain type of light and its particular influence on the subject that provides the starting point for my paintings. The shimmering light on a stream, for example, the long shadows from a low winter sun on snow-covered ground, or sunlight streaming through spring or autumn trees – these are the sort of effects that attract me and that add impact and mood to the landscape. When I set out on a sketching trip I never know what I am going to find, but somehow, instinctively, I seem to discover plenty of exciting things to paint.

“On location I make sketches, and take lots of photographs. When I was young my ambition was to become a photographer, so I have a special interest in this medium and I like to make good use of it. These days, with a digital camera, you can get all the information and detail you need whilst not forgetting the sketches, which are equally helpful. The exact form of the sketches depends on the time available, the subject matter and the type of reference material I think will be useful. Sometimes I rely on a few two-minute sketches, not every situation or light effect allows for much longer, while on other occasions I produce much more resolved drawings. I can usually tell immediately which subjects will make good paintings, and I concentrate my reference material on those.

Studio Work:
“Back in the studio I look through all the location work and assess how I can develop some of the ideas as oil or watercolour paintings. There may be subjects that are particularly suited to a watercolour technique, perhaps because of a certain quality of light or a greater emphasis on detail. Alternatively, there will be others that I instinctively feel will work best in oils – usually those with deep darks or which involve textures or require a more painterly treatment. I always start with a fairly detailed drawing to plan the content and composition of the work.

“My watercolour paintings are made on 250lb (535gsm) Bockingford or 300lb (640gsm) Saunders Waterford paper. I find that even this heavy quality paper is liable to cockle slightly under the initial general washes, so I always stretch the paper first. My standard palette consists of lemon yellow, aureolin yellow, cadmium yellow, yellow ochre, raw sienna, Naples yellow, burnt sienna, Indian yellow, cadmium red, cobalt violet, cerulean blue, cobalt blue and French ultramarine. This is essentially a primary palette which enables me to mix any colour I need.

“With watercolour I sometimes start with an overall variegated ‘ghost’ wash or at least I will work a weak wash over the sky area to indicate the type of light and mood I want to develop. I will already have a detailed drawing in place and, if necessary, will have applied masking fluid to certain areas. I rarely place the actual colours straight away. Mostly I use a sequence of washes to build up the required tonal variations and degree of detail. The majority of the work is done with No.3 and No.6 Winsor & Newton Series 7 brushes, using the full body of the brush for wash effects and holding it vertically, with just a gentle pressure on the tip, for details and fine strokes.

“For the oil paintings I may use canvas or perhaps one of the many boards I have in stock. These are prepared with three coats of acrylic gesso with texture paste added to the second coat. My oil-painting palette is very similar to the watercolour one except that I prefer Winsor yellow and Winsor lemon instead of aureolin and lemon yellow. The support is prepared with a ground colour – either a warm brown or a cool blue/grey – and I start with a loose brush drawing to indicate the main shapes.