Hello there, I'm Stewart Hall, a Fine Artist Painter working in Sussex, UK.

I've been a professional artist specialising in portraits of celebrities & figurative painting for many years.

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Here's some early memories I have that give an insight into the background that shaped my career as an artist.

Or just skip to the end where it says "Today" for more recent information...

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​A bit about my journey:

As a young boy I used to love reading comics and sketching super heroes.

 I drew figures all the time & doodled all through school lessons & all over textbooks!

After school I would go to the library to read and sketch from all their art & history books.

At school I was lucky to always have such fantastic art teachers who were both enthusiastic & knowledgeable.

I attended art club after school & enjoyed painting alongside talented older students. I got much praise.

Teachers asked me to design various school brochures, leaflets and posters & I filled them full of figures!

At age 15, the school's Head of Art, David Hopkins, asked me if I would like to join his life drawing classes at Brighton Polytechnic.

This was an amazing opportunity to help develop my figure drawing further.

However  I was under the age of consent & went to a Roman Catholic school so I would need to get permission to attend the adult classes from the strict, religious Headmaster Anthony Smith. This was an unprecedented request. 

One day during a school lesson I was dramatically summoned by the Headmaster to his office & all my classmates & I thought I must be in so much trouble to be pulled out from a class. I knocked nervously on the Headmaster's door & was told to come in & sit down. Rather surprisingly I was not told off. Instead he gave me a very interesting, long lecture on the traditional practice of art students studying the naked body throughout the ages. I must have nodded in all the right places because at the end of his talk the Headmaster shook my hand and said he gave his permission & blessing for me to attend the adult life drawing classes. I was gobsmacked that I had gained his approval & found it hard to find words to express my gratitude.

I had to pushbike miles from home in the dark to get to the evening life drawing classes at the Polytechnic but I was always so excited to get there. Most of the models were women with gorgeous figures & I felt very privileged & honoured to be able to observe & draw them.

I could already draw figures from my imagination but to be able to draw 'real' unclothed models in the flesh pushed me to a much higher level. The models were put in all kinds of poses to challenge our drawing skills further. I drew & painted on large paper during the sessions which forced me to make quick, decisive marks & develop better accuracy with proportions and foreshortening.  I also learnt how to reveal the contours of the body using light & shadow to make a figure look three dimensional.

 

Three years later I left school to attend Brighton Polytechnic(now Brighton University), to study Art & Design full-time.

Here I was really able to fill my boots with numerous life drawing sessions throughout the day. I also often attended evening classes in various locations around Brighton after college finished(still push biking miles to get there!).

However, Art college had so much more to offer me than a plentiful supply of life drawing classes.

There were very affordable, good quality art materials from their own shop on site, a huge library full of art books & magazines,

famous guest artists who came in to give talks, a woodwork department where you could make your own canvas stretcher frames,

a book binding department where you could make your own sketchbooks, a photography department where you could borrow camera equipment, & make B&W prints in their darkroom. You could also use their studio & lights to photograph models, so I persuaded fellow students to pose for me. There were also numerous student parties & much socialising. Omg I thought how could life get any better?! 

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After leaving art college I served a brief apprenticeship with a famous portrait painter & published artist in print, Tommy Merryfield. My favourite artist from childhood was the surrealist master Salvador Dali. By coincidence he was Tommy's hero too.

When Tommy was younger he rode a motorbike from the UK to Spain on a quest to meet & work for his idol Salvador Dali.

Working for Tommy gave me a tenuous link to Salvador Dali. Maybe I too could have (push)biked to Spain, knocked on

Mr Dali's door and been accepted as the sublime master's new studio assistant! 

When I joined Tommy he had about 15 portrait commissions on the go including high society sitters Prince Charles and Lord Beaulieu

& his family. Tommy's paintings were on huge canvases so I could see he needed help to keep up with demand.

I was to assist mainly by filling in background areas & laying paint down on bare areas. Tommy's studio reeked of linseed oil and turps, but I actually found it intoxicating! I would paint with him for hours in his calm studio listening to classical music on Radio 4(I was actually a Radio 1 'Pop' listener at the time!). A valuable lesson I took away with me was to paint over the edges of different areas rather than to the edges. Tommy said knowing how to apply this can often distinguish between a professional and an amateur painting.

Tommy was very kind & encouraging to me but he would later paint over most of what I painted so I questioned what real use I was to him when his painting ability was on such a higher level than mine?

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Later after leaving Tommy's studio I befriended another well known artist who was also published in print, Max Brandrett.

His prints of horse races sold world wide and he captured the silks of the jockeys and the sheen on the horses with a super slick technique. I collaborated on a painting with Max. He also overpainted most of what I did so rather than work with him I decided to take a few lessons from him instead. Max taught me to look at nature rather than rely on photographs for references. I asked him once how does he come up with such fantastic cloud formations in his paintings. He pointed up at the sky & I was stunned to see the most beautiful red, fluffy clouds for real in the sky! He could easily paint convincing looking Dutch old master winter scenes just from his imagination.

Max had been tutored by the master forger and tv personality Tom Keating. So Max also reproduced high quality old master paintings.

Max was a colourful character with riveting art stories that would not be out of place in any Lovejoy episode!

He drove around Brighton in a white, vintage, convertible Morgan adding to his charm, & making him memorable wherever he went.

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I learnt a lot from just being around both Tommy and Max. Some how they rubbed off on me & it elevated both my painting skill levels and expectations. It convinced me I needed my own studio with space to have lots of paintings on the go.

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I went out into the wide world, rented an art studio & set myself up as a full-time freelance artist.

I was enthusiastically looking forward to changing the world through the power of my art.

From studying art history and visiting fabulous galleries for years like the National Gallery & Tate Gallery(now Tate Britain)

in London, I had the notion that real 'Art' was only applicable to huge figure paintings and to nudes in particular.

Leonardo da Vinci believed the figure was the most noble subject & all the mysteries of the universe could be found in the human body.

So initially I only painted nudes on large canvases in garish colours(unfortunately at this time, my use of colour was more to do

with how I was feeling than any proper academic understanding of colour theory!).

Nobody wanted to purchase my large, colourful nude paintings! Potential clients would say my paintings were good but ask if I had

any other paintings like a vase of flowers? I would reply that my paintings were real 'Art' & that a twee painting of flowers was not!

After awhile I realised most people wanted safe paintings they could display on their walls. And they did not want a huge nude

painting hung above their dining table that could embarrass the kids or cause offence when Grandma turned up for Sunday lunch!

After months of no sales I could have given up aspiring to be an artist and taken a safe 'normal' full-time job instead. However I was determined to be an artist & make a living from selling paintings. So I reconsidered my markability & forced myself to paint subjects that were more popular than nudes. I also decided to accept almost any type of art commission (other than a twee flower still life!).

 Initially commissions included sign-writing, portraits, pet portraits & house portraits. I then got a client who asked me to paint watercolours of Spanish ladies in flouncy dresses & nude Greek Goddesses, like Diana the Huntress with Borzoi dogs. That led to a

trail of more steady work. Over many years I was asked to paint numerous oil paintings reproducing famous paintings by various old masters. I painted in a variety of styles from all the different eras in art history, going as far back as the early Renaissance period and right up to Impressionism & Modern Art. The subject matter varied but mainly included figures, animals, landscapes & still life.

I had developed accurate drawing skills from years of life drawing but by studying old master paintings and their techniques

helped my painting skills and use of colour improve immeasurably.

I do not reproduce old master paintings anymore as I prefer to concentrate on my own original paintings.

 

 

Today:

I have always enjoyed drawing faces & bodies so most of my original work includes portraits or figures.

I tend to wear rose tinted glasses most of the time as I'm always looking for the beauty in everything around me and in nature.

I aspire to bring out the glamour and beauty I see in my subjects thus painting celebrities, icons and beautiful people

sits comfortably with me.

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My style:

My style ideology is to ramp up the beauty, be bold with punchy use of colour and make a clear but striking design.

I employ solid draughtsmanship in order to give a flattering, recognisable likeness.

I use a variety of brushstrokes, marks and textures to create depth & movement. 

I build up different mixed media to add layers of excitement & aim for an enhanced decorative finish that will give you something beautiful and spectacular to proudly hang on your wall space.

Each piece is unique and has been carefully crafted with passion and attention to detail. 

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 My love for art and creativity started at a young age, and I have been honing my skills ever since.

After over 40 years of being an artist I still get excited by all things to do with 'Art.'

I still sketch every day & come up with endless ideas for new paintings. 

I am proud that my art has been collected all over the world and that I can include the odd celebrity client such as Madonna.

My paintings are a reflection of my artistic journey and my dedication to the art of painting.

 

Please contact me should you wish to commission a portrait or buy a painting.

Thank you for taking the time to view my work.

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