Arthur wasn’t diagnosed as colour blind until secondary school. He submitted an unintentionally green-tinted portrait in his portfolio for the BRIT School. Once accepted and subsequently diagnosed, he pondered whether the art department suspected his red-green colour blindness. Or were they enamoured by his brave and unique use of colour?
This month at art-K HQ, we’re celebrating the journey of Arthur, Club Manager of art-K Beckenham, in the month following his experience as a contestant on Portrait Artist of the Year 2025. He shares meaningful insights into growing up with undiagnosed colour blindness, dyslexia, and ADHD. Read the epiphany moment when teachers broke through to him and taught him in a way that his creative brain could finally understand.
“Attending the BRIT school was transformative… The English teachers, maths and science teachers were all musicians, actors, and artists. My English lessons became performing Shakespeare and analysing Eminem lyrics, and suddenly I was an engaged student.” – Arthur
Prior to that, his experience at school was starkly different. He shares his struggle to sit still in class, “I was a feral child. I bit a teacher once, threw chairs, and looked forward to being sent home from school. That was exactly what I wanted! I later found out I am dyslexic and ADHD, big surprise”.
Looking back, the teachers who constantly dismissed Arthur for bad behaviour would be pretty in awe of him.
You may be the parent of a child like Arthur, or recognise these experiences yourself. ADHD typically affects around 4-5% of children and adolescents. Yet, medical records in England showed that only about 1% per cent of children in England are formally diagnosed. That means, based on these stats, 4% of children may be being excluded from learning, without a proper diagnosis or support.
Likewise, according to Dyslexia Action, the percentage of people on the dyslexia spectrum is as high as 10-15% of the UK population. Even with this awareness, 80% of dyslexic students leave school undiagnosed. That means that, according to research, there are between 800,000 and 1.3 million young people in education in the UK with dyslexia. Many of whom are not receiving the adequate support. [1]
Art helped everything make sense to Arthur, even before he was diagnosed
Creativity was an outlet for him, “I filled my schoolbooks with no notes, but pages of doodles.” Then, with the right support in secondary school and a stronger focus on what he excelled in, he was empowered to succeed.
“I started to feel proud of my art skills… and I started to enjoy school!” – Arthur
Interestingly, a UK Institute of Employment Studies report on arts & crafts graduates found that 18% had dyslexia. Whilst the Royal College of Arts (UK) estimates that 29% of its students identify as dyslexic. Both of these statistics are notably higher than the national average of 10-15%.
Fun fact: Although diagnosis was rare historically, many well-known creatives reportedly had dyslexia or dyslexic traits, including:
- Picasso
- Leonardo da Vinci (based on retrospective neuropsychological analysis)
- Andy Warhol
Art has been shown to help neurodiverse children succeed in school. As one example, it provides an alternative channel for learning, reducing stress associated with literacy-heavy tasks. Perhaps that hits home for you, or your child. If it does, we’d love to hear from you in the comments below.
Arthur on Colour
A big life question I’ve heard people ponder is: “Do you think we each see colours uniquely. For example, what if the sky is actually a different colour for you and I?”
Arthur has always seen colours differently. Yet, during his early years, no one knew he was colourblind. He has red-green color blindness, the most common variety of color deficiency in humans.
“I applied to the BRIT school, unaware I had colour blindness and had some unintentionally green-skinned portraits in my portfolio. Looking back, the BRIT art department may have thought that was a very original style. But in fact, I struggle to distinguish subtle shades of red and green”
– Arthur
In Arthur’s early work, an acrylic portrait of a friend painted at age 16, he highlighted how much it stands out to him that he was struggling with colour due to his colourblindness. He draws attention to the face in the top portrait, as it appears unintentionally greenish and the hair has an intense red tone.
This is a test used to detect colour blindness. You can find out more here.
When Arthur was first diagnosed, he limited himself to using red, white and black in his portraits. Gradually, as he learnt more about colour theory, he began injecting colour back into his paintings. Now, you’ll find a technicolour of hues in his work!
Arthur’s Top 3 Tips for a Colour Blind Portrait Painter:
- You can make great monochromatic portraits and that’s a good, safe place to start in order to lock down all the other techniques.
- In a full colour painting, Arthur usually sticks to using 5 colours. At the moment, he likes carmine, yellow ochre, phthalo blue, burnt umber and white.
- Avoid “muddy” colours. That’s not to say stick to bold colours, but if you want to use a greyish-brown mix it and apply it very deliberately, wash your brush well and don’t let it sneak into all your other colours. Arthur also likes to use a warm coloured base coat, as it gives everything a warm undertone to prevent sickly green skin.
Fast forward to 2025
Arthur had set his mind on being an artist from a young age. Today, Arthur is a participating artist and teacher. Undoubtedly, he’s shown that he’s continued to overcome the challenges he’s faced since school – whether it’s through colour mixing or huge milestone applications and projects! Now, he helps others to do the same.
“I have always been very motivated by challenges such as creating a portfolio for the BRIT School or creating a submission for the Portrait Artist of the Year. These are things that motivate me to up my game as an artist. But they don’t have to be extravagant goals.” – Arthur
It’s important to pause for a moment and acknowledge that Arthur makes a really important point here. Whilst the extravagant goals we set are important, the everyday goals (and barriers to achieving them) are just as important to acknowledge. After all, for Arthur, he notes the turning point when he was diagnosed and finally given proper support in school. It’s especially poignant when so many children leave school undiagnosed with Dyslexia and ADHD.
That being said, this year, Arthur took a big plunge, motivated by his adult students, to apply to Portrait Artist of the Year 2025. And we’ve already shared the spoiler: He was accepted on the show. The episode aired on the 15th of October 2025 on Sky Arts, as he captured Billy Porter in paint.
We were curious, what was the application process like?
“As a teen I secretly wanted to apply, but was not ready. Then, when I studied art at Uni, I forgot all about the show. It was then at art-K that some of my students told me I should apply. I had to submit a self-portrait. I knew that lots of incredible artists have applied many times, and it is tough to get selected. So I pulled out all the stops for my submission.” – Arthur
We wondered, when painting Billy Porter in front of the cameras, what’s the best process for getting to know the sitter and deciding how to represent them?
“The first thought is what the painting is for, where will it go? …And as a portrait is made to last, I like to ask, in 10 years, what will you look back on and feel strongly about. What are we commemorating or celebrating? Then we get into the nitty gritty of, is there a place that is significant, is there a style or clothes that are important to you right now, etc…” – Arthur
How did taking part in Portrait Artist of the Year shape Arthur’s confidence and direction as an artist?
“The two big things to come from it are: 1. It has given me more confidence to call myself a portrait artist. And 2. It has been an incredibly valuable challenge to teach myself to paint under time pressure. I feel like I have learned a lot and evolved as an artist because of this experience.” – Arthur
So, what advice does Arthur give to students at art-K Beckenham and beyond?
Arthur hopes we will all spend less time on our phones to make room to practice more art or simply daydream. The average person now spends about 6 hours 45 minutes a day in front of any screen. [2] Meanwhile, time on smartphones alone averages 3 hours 43 minutes daily. [3]
“What you set your mind to is what your mind becomes capable of, and if that is watching videos on a phone, you miss the opportunity to practice creativity.” – Arthur
As Arthur motivates us to exchange phone time for art time, we end on the question: What does all of this mean in the age of AI and smartphones?
The significant shifts in technology, especially in the time since Arthur has grown up, make a slower, deliberate art form feel all the more important.
“We are overwhelmed with images, flickering through our attention on screens. They are small, digital and fleeting. Oil portraiture is slow; every brush stroke is placed carefully… In a good painting, you can discover more and more the closer you look. You can relate to the artwork, connecting with the character in the painting and the artist.” – Arthur
Arthur’s story is a real reminder of what we see in articles about the rise of AI. Whilst technology is undoubtedly changing the jobs we do, it’s not replacing us. As Arthur says, it only shines more importance on distinctly human capabilities like creativity and problem-solving. Just like Arthur shared, the goal doesn’t have to be huge; a daily moment of creativity is a great place to start.
So, take a mindful moment away from social media to look at Arthur’s work and see what you can spot! Share a comment below!
Context: Arthur painted a portrait of him and his wife for their wedding. It took weeks of work, but it is all the more meaningful because of that. It is a physical artwork, painted with love. It captures that moment, and their story for decades, perhaps his grandchildren will inherit as a piece of family history!
Follow Arthur on Instagram: @arthurbloye
He’s teaching at art-K Beckenham – Find Art Classes for Children in Beckenham | Times & Prices | art-K
Find your nearest art-K and read your local teacher’s story: Book Art Classes, Workshops & Parties | Find Your Nearest art-K Studio – art-K
Written by Molly Huxley
Edited by Emily Harper
Sources:
[1] Teachingtimes.com and Hansard
[2] https://www.demandsage.com/screen-time-statistics/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
[3] Latest Smartphone Usage Statistics (2025 Data & Trends)
[4] The human edge: Why soft skills matter more than ever in the AI era
