Thousands of mobile phone cameras captured the royal visit in Canberra last week, but amongst the iPhones was an artist with his paintbox, brushes and easel, taking his time to capture a remarkable scene.

The King’s private artist, Warwick Fuller, was patiently working at the entrance of the Australian National Botanic Gardens, capturing the Waratahs in front of a gum tree. No selfies, no paparazzi shots, just nature in Canberra’s naturally-sunlit gardens.

The outdoor painter (Warwick refuses to use the French term “en plein air” because, well, he’s Australian) accompanied the King and Queen on their Canberra tour and despite the whirlwind itinerary, he managed to paint two landscapes while at the Botanic Gardens.

I asked Warwick how long it took to capture a scene during such a fast-paced tour.

“Each of them took about 45 years and one hour,” he said. “To be able to paint a picture in an hour or an hour-and-a-half probably, it’s taken a lifetime of dedicated work.”

While at Canberra’s Botanic Gardens, Warwick also painted a view inside the gardens of a couple of magnificent old gum trees and some new plantings near the volunteers’ lawn.  Canberra’s unfiltered sunshine put on a great light show for this modern impressionist artist.

“I went to the gardens earlier whilst the King and Queen were at the War Memorial. That gave me time to paint two pictures and I was all tidied up again and ready to jump in the motorcade as soon as it arrived to pick up the King and Queen,” Warwick said.

And just between you, me and the King, one of the paintings completed at the Australian National Botanic Gardens was the King’s favourite (Warwick painted 15 pieces on the tour, including in Sydney).

“One of them was one of his favourites,” Warwick said. “He never does quite say which one he’ll take. He looked at them all and the Waratahs was probably his favourite painting of the sites we looked at.”

Warwick will give one painting to the King, in return for being included in the King’s royal tour.

“That’s all he’s ever asked for in return for his generosity in taking me along, which he pays for out of his own budget, out of his own income,” Warwick said. “It’s not part of the government allocation.”

Keeping up with such a frenetic tour keeps Warwick on his toes and he proudly admits he’s the same age as the King – “if he can do it, I can do it”.

Warwick received two books of itinerary for the eight-day tour, where every detail was planned to the minute.

“It is absolutely amazing to see how it works,” Warwick said. “I’ve got to be part of that, if I don’t fall into line with the process, nobody’s thinking about the lowly artist, it’s all about the King, heads of state and all the rest of it. It’s a wonderful precision calculated from start to finish.”

Whilst flying with the Royal couple on an Royal Australian Air Force plane, Warwick had to pack his bare necessities – a lightweight paintbox on a tripod, a drawing box capable of carrying 20 wet paintings safely – but no flammables.

“Worst of all is I use pure gum turps as a medium for washing brushes,” Warwick said. “And they’re illegal to take on the plane so I’ve had to arrange a pick up in Canberra. I had to get them to deliver a container to the hotel I was staying at, ready for me to take with me when I went to the gardens.”

When I asked Warwick how he felt about the proliferation of instant photos, he said oil paintings were best.

“It always sounds like an artist trying to prove that what they’re doing is the best way, but a photograph just doesn’t do it justice,” he said. “The sort of effect that an oil painting has is a quality that just can’t be transcribed in a photograph. A photograph just doesn’t get the nuance and the subtlety.”

Warwick prefers to paint from life, he doesn’t paint in the studio except when finishing off the royal tour paintings.

“I’m in the studio now but that’s just a matter of necessity. When the King calls, you don’t say what you like to do, you just do it.”

To date, King Charles has purchased 11 of Warwick’s painting over the years (Warwick’s been on four royal tours as a royal artist) and Warwick has gifted three.

“The ones that he takes, they hang in his residences,” Warwick said. “I once quipped that he must be putting paintings under his bed by now. He said, ‘Oh no, I’ve got yours all hanging up in my rooms. We have one in the bedroom.’”

Just think Canberra, an oil painting of our very own Australian National Botanic Gardens could soon be hanging on the King’s bedroom wall.

Warwick Fuller’s Lost Bear Gallery is in Katoomba. Visit warwickfuller.com