In his retirement, Lee took up painting and life-drawing, hobbies he had wanted to pursue since his days demonstrating to students at the Slade. He was tutored by the late Fred Sinkinson, former President of the New Forest Art Society in Lyndhurst, Hampshire. He also started to work with a close family friend, the British artist Pauline Keaney, who lives and works on the Greek island of Hydra, where Lee and his family have spent summer holidays for over two decades. Fred and Pauline persuaded him to enter "Kamini Boats" for the John Moores Contemporary Painting Prize, for which he was short-listed in 2006.

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Over the years, he has developed a strong, distinctive and painterly style in his canvasses. He often uses thick layers of oil paint applied to large canvasses with a palette knife or large brush, giving a strong sense of depth and texture. These textures are further worked and filtered through layers of thinner paint; washes and glazes. He also uses elements of collage and other mixed media in his work. He still works mainly in oil paint on canvas, brown paper or board, also making significant use of oil pastels and sketching in pencil; pen and ink and charcoal, often tinting his sketches with an oil wash.

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www.leeillis.com