Born in 1947, Roy started drawing and painting as a young child and never stopped. He studied art at school, but apart from a brief dalliance with Hornsey College of Art, had little formal training. He taught himself through a process of trial and error and of observation. Influenced by a variety of artists and especially moved by the Fauves, Kandinsky and Kokoshka. Roy would say that he is the archetypal amateur painter and has always thought that painting is too good to leave until you retire. Roy has now retired, however, and is painting full time.