John Waterhouse grew up in a village in Staffordshire. When he finished high school he achieved an A in O level art and also received the best art pupil prize at school. As his popularity grew and demand for his art increased, he changed jobs from full time to part time, to teaching art to young offenders twice a week. At the beginning he was concerned that if he stopped working elsewhere at the ... read more
John Waterhouse grew up in a village in Staffordshire. When he finished high school he achieved an A in O level art and also received the best art pupil prize at school.
As his popularity grew and demand for his art increased, he changed jobs from full time to part time, to teaching art to young offenders twice a week. At the beginning he was concerned that if he stopped working elsewhere at the same time, he may not be able to cope financially. Finally, the demand for his art became so great that he had no choice but to become a full time artist. At this time he realised that the popularity of his art meant that he was able to cope financially as a full time artist.
Waterhouse says that he discovered a lot of raw talent while teaching the young offenders, which wouldn't have been discovered otherwise and found this job was very rewarding.
He claims that his main inspiration is the countryside, due to his upbringing in the countryside, and the area where he lives now. Waterhouse believes that the English countryside is very romantic and each place he has painted had a character all of its own just like a person does. show less
