All of my art works are original pieces which were either painted on site or painted from photo references I took myself. I am largely a representational artist but I do not believe that you should copy a photograph. My goal is to relay to the viewer the key points that attracted me to make the painting in the first place. I do not make duplicates of the same scene in the same media unless conditions (such as lighting) have changed. I do reproduce the same scene in different media. Each media is so unique in its properties that the subject matter will appear quite different from one artwork to another.

My preference is to paint the subject directly whenever possible. This allows for more spontaneity and I am less likely to add too much detail.  My preferred medium is oil.  I use both Winsor Newton Artists Oils and their Griffon Alkyd line.

My artistic influences are numerous. I greatly admire the Group of Seven and had the pleasure of meeting A Y Jackson in Kleinburg near the end of his life while on a high school art field trip to the McMichael Gallery. I also like the work of Tom Thompson, Emily Carr and David Milne.
My mother encouraged my earliest artistic dabbling and somewhere along the line I attended art lessons at the Fred Landon Branch Library. I had David Mason as my art teacher for five years in high school. I remember him as a very soft spoken person who pushed us to do the best that we could.

Since my return to the art world I must thank my late wife, Lynn, who stood behind me all the way. My friends who meet every Friday and are known as the Crouch Library Artists are another source of support for their encouragement and constructive suggestions about my art and for their support throughout Lynn’s illness and passing-. I also belong to the Gallery Painting Group who meet and paint outdoors from May to October, and to the Brush and Pallette Club which paints in the Byron Library on Thursday afternoons, holds workshops throughout the year and has a sale in April.

Of the workshops and classes I have attended in the last few years I have found Cheryl O and Kim Harrison to be the most useful. I particularly like Kim’s classes Monday mornings at Lambeth United Church. His insights and constructive suggestions are very helpful and he does this within the context of each person’s style and abilities.

Allan Hood
March 2009

View Allan's Art