Colour! That’s what initially grabbed me about this painting, but before I get into it – let me tell you about this painting.
On the left, sits his mother and the on the right, his father – reading an art & photography book.
The painting was completed a year prior to his father’s death, which makes the portrait all the more intimate and tender.
What was it that grabbed me?
I’ve already mentioned the colour – but it’s more than just colour.
I love how he strikes a balance between a graphic, illustrative style, and yet he is very sensitive to the light, the folds on the material and the way they sit in the space.
If you look at the interplay of light, shadow and texture in the the rug you can’t call the painting naïve.
I think it’s beautiful. You can see the affection he has for his parents and their quiet retort.
How does this approach inform my style?
Colour obviously, but more importantly Hockney is a cerebral painter. He is interested in how we see a space, how we move within it.
His landscapes don’t take a single viewpoint, he moves the viewer around the space.
This challenges convention, and importantly in a world where a small screen dictates so much, I think it’s more important than ever to think about the real world and look beyond first impressions.
He forces me to challenge myself, not just to paint a faithful representation of what I see – but go deeper into and around the space.
About David Hockney
David Hockney < Check out his website
Friday 12th June 2026
There will be innumerable well-written eulogies about the powerhouse of art that was David Hockney, and deservingly so, but I couldn’t not say a little something about my first art hero.
I heard the news today about his passing, and it hit me like a ton of bricks. We’ve all felt it: a reduction of colour in the world, the amplification of bad news because the algorithm can sell more that way. And today, with the death of David Hockney, we have confirmation that the world is suddenly a lot duller.
He’s been my inspiration since my GCSE art days.
Initially, it was his art. The colour. It was just so West Coast Cool. But in recent years, I’ve watched more of his interviews and learned that his thought process was what made him truly unique. He looked at the world differently, and not just slightly so.
His lens on the world went deeper than anyone else’s. If the universe is a simulation, then David’s vision was a scalpel that dissected the world presented to him to understand the code.
The word “genius” is overused, but David Hockney was a true maverick and genius. He was a force for positivity in a world with a rudder heavily biased toward menace and threat. David’s art pushed against the spine of the world, plotting a better course.
Please remind yourself of the man’s work, and look beyond the immediate. Stop, ponder the world, and see it in the colour and shape that David did. His art was a beacon of hope; let’s celebrate his legacy by borrowing his vision a little.
Don’t be at-all surprised if I take a little side-step in my Panopticon series to paint some work to celebrate the man.
