IN CONVERSATION
Inspired by food, sea life and nature, Lucy Clayton works in watercolour with a blotted line technique. In 2021 she won The Artist Magazine Award at the Royal Society of Marine Artists for her painting Spider Crab No. 9 (above). Lucy recalls always enjoying drawing and making things as she grew up in South London. ‘I was very fortunate to attend schools where teachers encouraged art. I remember especially at primary school we drew pictures in maths and English to accompany our written work and it was always my favourite part of a lesson. Growing up, however, I didn’t realise that you could do art as a career until my O-level and CSE choices.’
Colour in layers
‘After O-levels, I went to Croydon College and studied BTEC general art and design. It was a great course and, as well as having a good introduction to a variety
of techniques including printmaking, photography and sculpture, there was a strong emphasis on developing drawing and painting skills. We spent weeks working through different exercises that involved life models and
