Allan Tazzyman
Allan Tazzyman is an Englishman, a native
of Yorkshire in the north of England,
who moved to live on Crete in 2004. He has already
acquired a considerable reputation for painting stunning watercolour
landscapes
in his own individual style which is distinctive and instantly
recognisable.
The depth of colour and the quality of light he achieves in his work is unusual and rare in watercolour painting. Allan has quickly acquired a reputation as probably the foremost watercolour artist in Western Crete and his paintings are much sought after by both residents and visitors to the island. His works are now in almost every country of Europe and as far afield as Australia and the Far East.
Allan paints according to the traditional English school of watercolour painting in that he uses
only the paper, water, his brushes and the paint. In other words, he does not use any artificial aids, such as masking
fluid, to achieve his atmospheric results. He paints only in the open air, as he maintains that if you want to paint a landscape, you have to be in it - to see it, smell it, hear it, touch it and even taste it - to be able to capture the view with any sort of
feeling, that is, you have to be able to use all five senses. This philosophy is particularly apparent in the dramatic skies for which he is noted, here on Crete now as well as previously in England.
His skies are as different as the weather conditions which produce them; as diverse as a brooding winter sky promising the storm to come through to the delicacy of light at the start of a new day in spring. As he paints, Allan aims to capture the atmosphere of what he is seeing and not just the view. As he says, “A painting must have a feeling to it; if it is just a pretty view you may as well take a photograph. His definition of a successful painting is one which makes people feel the scene, feel the atmosphere, feel the weather in it.