Following the spell of hot weather at Ross-on-Wye, a Malvern artist has captured a moody aftermath in a cloudy painting which has awed residents on social media.

Malvern artist Lawrence Morgan, has been working in the education sector as a creative director in graphic design for 15 years.

Lawrence’s most recent work is in the world of commercial graphic design, but has taken some time to go back 30 years to when he last painted. However this time, it’s a digital composition; whilst the style of the piece strongly imitates oil on canvas, the entire work was completed on a digital drawing tablet. The intention was to create something as dynamic as an oil painting, but on a digital canvas.

The painting was created from a number of photographs taken around Ross-on-Wye and from them, ideas and perspectives could be formed.

Pieces by Lawrence are deliberately evocative, designed to provoke an emotive reaction from the viewer.

He told the Gazette: “Okay, so this is a pretty painting, but I still want to throw something in there that provokes a reaction, because that’s what art should be. It’s got to provoke an emotion or a reaction, otherwise it becomes indifferent, it becomes boring, neither good or bad. That’s what I’ve found with my career in graphic design, especially in the education sector, if you couldn’t grab the attention of the 14-year-old student, you weren’t doing your job properly, so you had to do something slightly odd-ball to make them look twice.”

The heavy presence of the sky is to draw the viewer into the piece, paired with the reflection of the clouds in the river Wye, it frames the town.

Three other paintings of Ross were created by Lawrence, but have not evoked quite the same reaction. Lawrence believes that the dramatic effect of the sky is the reason behind this.

He said: “I’m contemporary, that’s my background, and I like contemporary art. I’ve had to hold back a little bit, if you go to my website, you’ll see that I’m slightly ‘odd-ball’ so the Ross-on-Wye and Malvern aspect is to gain traction.”

He hopes that the appeal of the more traditional works can generate some revenue to help fund his place at university.

Other works Lawrence has become known for include a set of darker pieces which focus on Welsh miners - it has a number of silhouette figures, atmospherically lit from behind as to evoke an almost spiritual aura around the camaraderie and brotherhood developed by those working in the mines.

At 61 years old, Lawrence is still expanding his artistic skill-set and will be studying photography at Birmingham City University. To promote his work, in the hopes of making some cash to go towards his tuition fees, he has set up a website at artyfarty.studio.