Original Paintings

John Chapman's paintings cover a wide range of subjects and locations. To help you better appreciate John's work, this section of the site is divided into a series of themed 'Galleries'. To view a particular gallery, please click on the gallery icon.

Lancashire As a native of Lancashire, John has been painting views of the county throughout his career. From the busy streets of its towns and cities to the tranquility of its rural villages, John has captured the county with his characteristic eye for detail.

Railways John has had a lifelong love of steam trains, and they were amongst the first subjects he tackled after taking up painting. John still paints trains but they now normally form only part of a picture, be it travelling through the countryside or perhaps crossing a viaduct with street activity passing underneath.

Classic Cars Drawing and painting cars presents very little in the way of problems as I've been drawing them since I was a child in the 1950's. Although I would love to populate my street scenes with exotic machinery it usually comes down to the humble Austins and Fords to give them period authenticity. However I do like to paint contemporary views of classic car shows where I can combine people and their cars.

Blackpool As a young boy growing up in the 1950�s in Lancashire a trip to the coast was always a treat, being only 25 miles from my home. I visited the resort many times, usually going by train, sometimes by coach, especially to see the illuminations. The trams always held a fascination for me and a trip down to the Pleasure Beach or up to Fleetwood was the highlight of my visit. Today trams in Blackpool just keep to the Promenade but in these recent works I have shown them in their glory days when they went into town!

London Our Capital city has provided me with countless subjects over the years and I�ve probably produced more paintings of London than anywhere else in the U.K. The river Thames has inspired artists throughout time with the constant passage of ships, attendant tug-boats, sailing barges and lighters. All set against some of the worlds most famous landmarks. Sadly today the river is under-used apart from pleasure crafts. Nevertheless London continues to inspire.

Marine Sea and Shore As the British are a maritime nation it must be in the blood. We seem to be drawn to the coast and I'm no exception. Maritime paintings have been a major part of my work,from sea battles in the days of Nelson to quiet harbour scenes in the 21st century. One of my favourite areas for sea subjects is the Yorkshire coast around Whitby, but as a child I often visited Barrow-in-Furness and so witnessed the building of vessels from ocean liners to nuclear submarines.

Rural Some of my earliest memories are of staying on a farm in the Lake District at a time when horses were still being used. Sadly horses can no longer be seen working the land unless you go to a working farm museum. Acton Scott in Shropshire has provided me with suitable subjects and also the events organized by The Northern Counties Heavy Horse Working Society has given me lots of material to compose period rural landscapes.

Streets - scenes At heart I'm an urban person so painting street scenes comes naturally. I have painted many views of our great Victorian cities such as London, Manchester and Glasgow. My favourite period for street scenes is the 1920's when there was a huge variety of transport from horses, motorized traffic, electric trams and even steam wagons. Lately I've been depicting the 1950's a period within living memory.

Villages In these days of ever increasing urbanization the English village is an escape into the past. There are thousands of villages, I've probably painted a couple of hundred. Each county has its own style of building and there is usually a general harmony in the building styles. My favourite villages are in Herefordshire with their timber-framed houses and inns and usually a Saxon Church to act as a focal point.