As with many artists, Neil Dawson had always loved art as a child and while growing up at school. He continued his formal artistic education at Central Saint Martins College in London and continues to learn on a daily basis in the studio. After the spell at art college he went on doing a degree in economics and a job in banking and he did not pick up a paint brush for many years. It was an extended period of travel that rekindled his loved of art. Whilst travelling, his camera became his artistic outlet as he tried to capture elements of new, exciting surroundings. As he got home he dusted off the palette and paints in an attempt to recapture some of the sights and feelings from his time abroad. He quickly realised how much he had missed creating art and have not looked back since.
 
He is a very visual person and his ideas tend to come from what he sees around him. In everyday life - flicking through papers, watching TV, walking around town - images, compositions and colours can trigger chain reactions, sparking ideas for future paintings. He is always finding torn out references from magazines or scraps of paper with notes and sketches made in moments of excitement and inspiration days or weeks ago, that serve as starting points for new work. A great deal of inspiration comes from the development and evolution of his own work. He is on a constant learning curve with his painting, even in a disastrous piece he can usually find something - whether a colour scheme, method of mark making and paint manipulation.