A B O U T
David Phillips - Portrait Painter
I have always been interested in the way we see people, not simply their appearance, but the small characteristics that make someone recognisably themselves.
Painting gives me the opportunity to explore this slowly. A look, a gesture, the way someone holds themselves or responds to the light can reveal far more than a conventional pose.
My aim is to create paintings that feel natural and individual, capturing a likeness, but also something of the person behind it.
L O O K I N G & P A I N T I N G
Beyond what the camera sees.
My approach combines observation, photography and painting. I create the photographic reference for each commission myself.
Spending time with the sitter allows me to observe them naturally: their expression, the way they respond to the light and how they might sit within the composition, without the need for lengthy traditional sittings.
The photograph provides information — painting allows me to decide what matters.
Details can be emphasised, quietened or removed. Colour can shift, edges can soften and the focus can change. Through these decisions, the finished painting develops its own presence, rather than simply reproducing a photograph.
A LIFE IN IMAGES
A lifetime of looking.
Drawing and painting have been part of my life since childhood. Alongside this, I spent more than thirty years working professionally as a graphic designer.
It was a career built around looking: at composition, colour, proportion and the relationship between image and space. That experience continues to influence the way I approach a painting, particularly in the choices I make about composition and how the sitter occupies the canvas.
Painting is a very different discipline, but the instinct to look carefully and edit an image remains an important part of the way I work: deciding what matters and what can be left unsaid.
COMMISSION A PAINTING
If you are considering having someone painted, I would be delighted to hear from you.
You don't need to have everything decided.
COMMISSION A PAINTING
If you are considering having someone painted, I would be delighted to hear from you.
You don't need to have everything decided.