David Williams (born 1969, Washington, DC) is a contemporary Impressionist painter based in Crozon, France. He has been a professional artist since 1997 and works primarily in oil on canvas. He grew up in the Virginia countryside, where an early interest in art developed alongside a strong connection to the outdoors. Childhood explorations of fields, forests, rivers and the Chesapeake Bay continue to influence his work today.
Williams developed his painting practice through years of working directly from nature and through plein air painting. He paints on location to study light, color and atmosphere, often completing or further developing the work in the studio. This process remains central to his approach, allowing the immediacy of painting outdoors to carry into the finished work.
His paintings are built around simple compositions, major shapes and a restrained palette. Rather than describing every detail, he looks for the essential character of a place through color, light and atmosphere. Broad brushwork and generously layered paint give the surfaces a tactile quality. Saying a lot without saying too much is important to his approach. His work explores landscapes and elements of the built environment with a balance of Impressionism and simplified contemporary form.
Williams is known for landscapes of the American Southeast and the coast of Brittany, France. His work has been exhibited in competitions, galleries and museums across the United States and France and can be found in hundreds of corporate and private collections.
