Billy Munden

Billy Munden is an extraordinary painter, who at just 19 is creating work with such maturity and beautifully developed style that it seems he has been painting for one hundred years. His quiet, reflective observations of people, objects & landscape give an immediate sense of lengthened space and time & invite the viewer to be still in a moment with the subject.

Billy has always lived in Falmouth, Cornwall & with both parents working in theatre design, art has always been very present in his life. With drawing becoming a primary focus, Billy switched from his A Levels to start a Diploma in Art at Truro College in 2019. He is now thoroughly enjoying immersing himself in his practice.

‘My focus is on representational painting, from direct observation. Still life, portraiture and landscape are all part of my practice.

I try to at least draw every day which I view as being very important - drawing is central to how I paint. 

Sometimes I paint quite fast, making pictures in  one sitting or a few and sometimes my practice is more indulgent; using lots of measurements and quite slow, careful observation over a number of sittings. I think these different ways of painting inform and improve the other, and both are connected by an attempt to record quite accurately what I see in front of me. 

My influences include contemporary painters and painters from mainly the 20th century.’