Sit Down With Our #090 Featured Artist

Matty Burnham

Featured Artist / #121 ScrawlrBox 

Matty is an ink and watercolour illustrator originally from Cumbria now living near Leeds in Yorkshire; so he feels at home in both the Lake District and the Dales. These beautiful local landscapes are a significant inspiration for him, however he also loves visiting (and illustrating) less familiar areas such as the incredible Northumbrian castles or the lochside cottages of the Highlands. Adopting the philosophy that life is too short for grey shadows, he mixes blues and purples to create shade, cast-shadows and, subsequently, the sunlight which is the focus of his work.

We love your distinctive style, what draws you to coastal villages, cottages, castles, and moody landscapes?

The landscapes I choose illustrate tend to be the landscapes I like to spend time in. I grew up on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park and feel much more at home in quieter rural areas. As using observation skills is such an important part of landscape painting, it’s a really good way to appreciate the beauty of an area in a way we might not have done previously.

Your work has a luminous, almost cheerful light—has that tone always been intentional

Yes, it’s intentional. Although I really appreciate and enjoy gloomy and bleak landscapes paintings by other artists, I have been naturally drawn to sunnier and cheerful scenes for my own work. An advantage of watercolour over other mediums is the ability to achieve vibrant and transparent washes. I try to be conscious of this and try not to over-work my paintings in an attempt to retain the luminosity

You began art seriously during the pandemic—what initially drew you to ink an watercolour?

Before the pandemic I hadn’t done any art since school. I initially started by using a painting app on an iPad before a friend suggested I try watercolour painting. I was fascinated by the different techniques, however I also remember feeling very frustrated that I wasn’t able to replicate what was in my mind onto the paper! Due to this, I practiced frequently. I began introducing ink to my work 6 months later when I discovered ‘line and wash’ and never looked back. For me, nothing beats the tactile and satisfying nature of painting with watercolour onto rough cotton paper.

How do you start a new piece—do you sketch on location, work from photos, or let intuition lead?

I usually use a combination of a photos and imagination and finds this works well for me. I use the main components and basic composition from the photo, then make my own alterations, additions and omissions. This means I am still developing my observation skills, but I also have lots of freedom to create something that is unique.

Have you ever painted something and then couldn’t part with it? What’s the story?

No, I tend not to get too attached to my work. Most of my paintings are just kept in a drawer, so I’m happy to see one go off to a new home where hopefully it will be enjoyed and appreciated much more.

What’s the most underrated tool or material in your art kit?

Good question! In terms of underrated, I’d say masking fluid. Now that I have learnt to use it effectively, I love the stuff! It enables me to protect selected important areas of white paper allowing me to use a much bigger brush and prioritise looser and cleaner watercolour washes. But if I was asked what my most important material is, the answer would be the paper I use.