After leaving the academic world, he set up his own studio near London and concentrated on drawing and painting figures. Within a few years his work was collected throughout Europe and his reputation became firmly established.

Benfield has a natural talent for depicting things as seen. His work is spontaneous and is reflected by his drawn lines and dashes of colour. The figures dissolve in and out of their backgrounds and move across the paper. He paints rapidly and discards most of his paintings and drawings, keeping only those he feels are perfected in their conception rather than overwork those that he feels are not correct.

His pictures represent a discrete world of objects which combine figures, mythology, nature, still life and despite the casual appearance of his compositions, all this imagery is highly organised. After long observation one finds the hidden symmetry of the graphic design.