Tony Paul was born in 1944 in Poole, Dorset. His ability in art was revealed at his first school – Courthill County Primary in Parkstone and during his secondary education at Henry Harbin Secondary Modern School (now Poole High School). His burgeoning talent was developed further by a helpful art teacher.

He left school at fifteen and started as a trainee with Rodway Smith Advertising in Bournemouth, but left to go to college a little over a year later. At Bournemouth Municipal Art College, the strict and academic regime concentrated Tony Paul’s mind. He gradually became proficient at drawing and enjoyed pottery, clay modelling, print making and lettering. Upon leaving college, Tony Paul went back into advertising, this time with Henbest Publicity, again in Bournemouth.

In his spare time, Tony Paul became involved in teaching art through the Adult Education system with a range of classes – Oils, Watercolours, Portrait, Life, Landscape, A-level Art, etc.

Having worked largely in acrylics since college, after seeing and exhibition of Andrew Wyett’s and David Tindle’s tempera work at the Royal Academy in 1980, he began to work in egg tempera, and with this medium became successful in exhibiting in prestigious galleries such as The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, The Royal Society of British Artists, The Royal Society of Marine Artists and the Laing Competition. His work was bought by such notable collections as the Duchy of Cornwall, the Chartered Institute of Insurers and Bournemouth Corporation.

In 1992, Tony Paul began to write for Leisure Painter magazine and has been writing for them ever since – usually two or more columns per month.

Many readers of his column “Colour of the Month” suggested that the thirty-six articles should be compiled into a book. Tony was fortunate in selecting New Holland who made an excellent job of producing the book. “How to Mix and Use Colour” was published in 2003. New Holland suggested that this could be the first of a series of books and so, within two years, three other titles were produced – “How to Create Light in Your Painting”, “How to Create Texture in Your Painting” and “How to Paint from Photographs”.

Since the mid-eighties, he has taught on residential courses, first at the Kingcombe Centre in Dorset, then at the Earnley Concourse near Chichester and, finally, at West Norfolk Art Centre and, to date, teaches at least one course at each venue.

The latest excursion into teaching is his work on cruise ships. The painting sessions are undertaken on days when the ship is at sea so, depending on the amount of sea days, there may only be three actual classes, the first of which is normally a demonstration, but Tony Paul is happy to help with advice at any time on the cruise.

Tony Paul enjoys the challenges of painting in all the media. Each has its advantages and disadvantages. Perhaps his favourite medium is egg tempera, a medium with great textural possibilities. All of his Royal Academy summer exhibition exhibits have been in this medium. His initial commercial art (graphics) training taught him to be versatile so it is difficult to pigeonhole him. He works in many different styles and has a great interest in, and understanding of, the techniques of the past and often uses them in his work.