Since 2007 I have been concentrating solely on animals and in particular wildlife but I wanted the work to have my own style and technique. Every project I work on I try to push materials and substrates a bit further.

I had been experimenting with erasing techniques and building up layers and textures whilst working on a small painting of our Border Collie Meg, I discovered that the highlights were so much more realistic when removing paint rather than adding more.

This was my ‘eureka’ moment, a combination of the right paint (E'tac fluid acrylics and ink), the right surface (Kaolin clay covered board from Ampersand Art) and techniques with the airbrush and various erasers and blades, since then I have developed these techniques further to produce the kinds of textures and ‘life’ I had been looking for.