In 1998, Robert Newton gained his Diploma in Fine Art from  Sunderland University.

Newton's paintings are in private collections throughout the United Kingdom,  Australia and New Zealand.

Never afraid to use colour, his work explores both composition and expression and is quoted as saying "I describe my work as 'Painting Nature', as a direct response to my immediate surroundings; exploring colour, composition and expression yet maintaining the very traditions of British painting. Making sketches as well as my own visual notes, I paint intuitively and expressively with bold sweeping brushstrokes that sum up whole passages of the landscape before me. Painting on location and in the studio, I often rework paintings intuitively to produce a completed work."