Watercolourist David Work makes it a rule to paint from life, so don't be surprised if you spot him with his easel on a street near you. For the next few months, exclusively for The Journal, he takes his brushes on a tour of the county to capture the essence of our communities, whether large or small (he starts with Bridlington). To set the scene, Debbie Hall went to meet the artist, during a brief sojourn between outdoor painting sessions . . .

David Work doing what he loves best by Beverley Beck

Beverley artist David Work has always been interested in sketching and painting. But what was only a hobby in between his working hours has now become a full-time occupation – although he is officially past retirement age.

Born in Hull, David’s first job after leaving school was in an art studio for an advertisement agency in the city.

“I was 16 at the time – dad had given me the choice of staying on in education but I wanted to get out there and work,” said David, who now lives in Mill View Road, Beverley, with his wife, Diana.

It’s the perfect place to be based, as far as the couple are concerned. Downsizing from a large property with a quarter of an acre in Seven Corners Lane, near the town’s tennis club, about 18 months ago, has made things easier from a practical point of view – “the garden is smaller and the house is very easy to look after,” says Diana.

For David, it’s a location that also makes things easier. “I do a lot of my paintings in Beverley, including Beckside, which is just over there.” He indicates a point beyond the lounge wall. “It’s very handy.”

After a short stint at the advertisement agency, David gave his notice and took an apprenticeship in engineering. “My mother was pleased – she said there will always be a job for an engineer,” said David, who has a bright, north-facing studio at the back of the house. It overlooks the neat garden – “that’s Diana’s territory,” he tells me.

I’m shown the tools of his trade, which are relatively few but all essential when it comes to capturing his latest scene for framing. There’s the foldaway easel, to begin with. It cleverly conceals storage for a paint palette, a limited number of brushes – “they have to be sable for me” – an ingenious, collapsible water pot and, of course, paint.

There aren’t many colours – “they are Windsor and Newton professional paints, and I have about six basic colours. If you have too many colours, it messes up your painting,” David says.

The tubes are joined by a spare bulldog clip “in case it’s a windy day and things start blowing about”; paper and a compass – “a necessity if you are drawing on a sunny day. You don’t want to be caught out about which way the sun was shining when you’re adding in the detail.”

One thing that’s notable by its absence is a stool or chair for David when he’s out and about. “I never paint sitting down,” he says, “it makes your eye level wrong and you paint slower.

“I always try to make it a rule to paint from life, I always get better results painting outside than I do inside.

“I always leave the cars in – it’s the 21st century and they are part of the scenery. I like townscapes; I really enjoy painting buildings and I am interested in architecture so I am always looking at buildings when I am in the car or walking about.

“It’s easy to spot an Art Deco or a Georgian design – or even a between-the-wars building. Oh dear, that gives my age away,” he laughs.

David's view of Beverley

He tells me he ran his own engineering business specialising in cutting tools before taking a sidestep into the restaurant trade. “That was when engineering started looking a bit grim in the 80s. I’d sold my company, but part of the deal was that I carried on working there for a few years.

“We had the Poppins restaurant in Hull for 10 years. Later I went into the catering equipment side of things. That’s the business I sold four years ago when I decided to concentrate full-time on art.”

David, who is a member of the 41 Club (for ex-Round Tablers) and Probus, now paints every day (when the weather allows) and his work is on show at both the Market Cross Gallery, in Saturday Market, Beverley, and at the Myton Gallery, in Hepworth’s Arcade, in Hull. He is currently looking for a Lincolnshire gallery to handle his work.

His choice of medium is watercolour – “I did try acrylics for a while but they didn’t really suit me” – and he takes his inspiration from Seago, Wesson and Yardley. “John Yardley is one of my heroes and probably the greatest living watercolour artist – and he was born in Beverley. He worked in banking until he was 53.

“He didn’t branch out into art full-time until after he got early retirement and every time he does a painting now it will sell for £1,500 – which is nice, isn’t it?”

David said: “I stick to painting fairly local scenes but I do go up to the Dales once a year to paint. It means you can pay for your holiday out of it as well, which helps!

“Sometimes people approach me when I’m painting and ask if the picture is for sale. I take a few mounts and frames in the car with me, just in case.

“Two hours is what I aim for to complete a painting, but if does vary. Three-quarters of that time is doing the drawing first. When I paint, I like to keep a loose style.”

David and Diana, who first moved to Beverley when they married, have a son, Andrew, who lives in Holland. He is self-employed and currently equipping high-speed trains with wi-fi. Their daughter, Sarah, lives nearby, making it easy for their 10-year-old grand-daughter, Annabel, to pop by for visits.

“She is ballet-dancing mad and she has just about used up our on-line allowance over the summer holidays playing chess!” said David.

He learned to develop his own artistic skills from videos and from a local council-run course “with a very good watercolour guy”.

“I like a nice sky and I’ve enjoyed painting the Minster – I’ve sold a lot of limited edition prints of the Minster in the last four years,” said David, who thinks his favourite painting of the moment is a scene showing Beverley’s Saturday Market and the Market Cross.

“I’ve painted all sorts of local scenes, in Bridlington – the harbour is a big seller – Scarborough, Driffield and Leeds, even. I have painted a few commissions as well.” Which brings us to the most challenging painting David feels he has ever had to paint.

“It was of Bridlington and a lady from Dumfries had been to York on holiday with her mother and they had had a day in the town. The lady’s mother had passed away and she wanted a picture of the empty seat, where they had sat, overlooking the sea.”

The picture – it included back views of the lady client and her husband, sitting on the grass beside the seat with their dog frolicking on the clifftop – was duly completed and a great success. “The lady was delighted with it,” said David.

To find out more about David Work’s paintings, contact him at 8 Mill View Road, Beverley HU17 0UQ; call: (01482) 881625. Email: dwork@dwork.karoo.co.uk. Website: www.watercoloursdavidwork.co.uk