Passionate about plein air, painting outdoors gives Tom Marsh the purest sense of immersion. Capturing the magic of a fleeting moment at speed is the key skill of a plein-air painter and one that fuels his excitement and love of painting. He paints exclusively with oil paint and approaches each new piece with the same excitement and uncertainty. Over time he has gained confidence in knowing what to exclude. ‘A good painting is like a tightrope, the rope being the line of truth and direction of a positive outcome. Fortunately, oil painting is a forgiving medium and lets you fall and get back up again, you can scrape it off or paint over an error. A really key point is that we learn from our mistakes so oil paint gives an artist a very viscerally felt pathway to a successful painting.’
Composition remains a fascinating and elusive subject for Tom. ‘For me the composition always comes first. I do not personally believe there is a magic formula. Paintings that follow classic composition can lead to very dull paintings.’ Tom has little expectation of the end result when he begins painting. His interest and energy is drawn to finding the composition withinpaintings. Even a failed painting can contain a successful element and after some reflection he may crop to this one section.
