In a career spanning 20 years my painting style has evolved from a literal, more traditional depiction of the Scottish landscape and skies, to non literal. Colour is used more to suit an idea than the subject itself.
My work explores cloud cover and its effect on light and colour. I paint transitional skies as a metaphor for light from darkness, in keeping with the overarching themes of hope and optimism.
My inspiration comes from three main sources: Turner for atmosphere, Matisse for colour and the Expressionists for their freedom of paint application.
Matisse said, “I don’t paint things. I paint the difference between things”, a sentiment I agree with wholeheartedly.
Inspiration
I get inspiration through flying a drone across the Scottish landscape. At first, the drone was simply another way to literally look at the world differently and to expand the possibilities of impossible vantage points. Latterly, the abstract forms that revealed themselves from high altitude began to resemble mark making I used to describe foreground at ground level, bringing about a theme of fractals.
Scott Naismith Paintings
I then went on to produce a body of work I called ‘fractal landscape’, where altitude became ambiguous. So, The viewer would question whether or not it might be an aerial viewpoint or ground level.
Scott Naismith Website