Ramsay Derry

Some lovely painting here of wildlife and nature scenes ..though the script by Ramsay Derry seems a little stilted and pedestrian. I liked Robert Batemens' own descriptions (of his paintings) better. I've always liked the paintings of Andrew Wyeth and I can see the debt that Bateman owes to Wyeth. Mostly, the work that I liked was the realist wildlife and bird paintings but he also has a number of paintings of embankments, and grassland ...some of reeds that was meant to have a bird in it but he liked it just the way it is...and I agree. It's lovely. I was particularly taken by some of his detailed explanations of the embankment vacated by nesting swifts. Clearly he does have a very good grasp of geology and soil science. I also liked the sketchbook though I would have liked to see the actual development of one or two of his works through the various stages.......maybe in his next book. He strikes me as still getting into his stride and there is almost an air of self-consciousness about some of his work...though with other paintings ...like the one of the bear emerging on the rock there is a confident maturity in the painting. I especially liked the occasional close up as in the one on p88 (Marginal meadows) ...they give me hope that maybe, just maybe, one day I might be able to paint something like this. Clearly he paints on a large scale and reducing the size of the originals for the book concentrates the details. Makes them appear more detailed than they actually are ...but then they are really good paintings. Overall, I loved the work. Happy to give it 4.5 stars.… (meer)