Rob Pointon

From impressing the Household Cavalry to bending city streets to suit his own vision, this Royal Institute of Oil Painters member is making his mark says

- STEVE PILL

Born in Stoke-on-Trent in 1982, Rob Pointon was schooled in art by his grandmother from an early age. After a BA in Fine Art from the University of Wales and a postgrad year at London's Royal Drawing School, he embarked on a career as a plein air landscape painter.

Rob has won a number of awards for his work, including the New English Art Club's Haworth Prize, and was elected as a member of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters in 2019. He is currently serving as artist in residence for the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment, working towards an exhibition next October.

What is it that appeals to you about painting on location?

It feels as if there is an honesty to it, everything is a direct response. The brushstrokes tend to be more energised and more directional so that they can communicate speed and flows of energy that you wouldn't pick up on in a static image.

I think you experience more dimensions - the three-dimensionality of things in front of you, the change in weather and light cycles, that subtle movement of the sun as it tracks around the sky - it brings home the three-dimensionality of everything that hopefully you can find a way to communicate in your painting.

When people start out, they often struggle with all those elements you love. How did you develop your confidence in that respect?