James McNaught

James McNaught was born in Glasgow in 1948 and is known for his paintings of buildings and street scenes which incorporate narrative, figurative and fictional compositions. McNaught graduated from The Glasgow School of Art in 1970, and says he could happily have stayed there for the rest of his life. He uses watercolour and gouache to create his subtle, highly detailed scenes. He balances fantasy with realism to enhance each composition; fantastical figures or impossibly constructed streets are offset with carefully controlled light and shadow. His colours are deliberately muted, adding to the atmosphere of his paintings. He won the Royal Scottish Academy painting award in 1970 and in 2010 he won the Sir William Gillies Award at the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour