I like to work sometimes with a quite vague, simple idea of a composition, and allow surprises to take the painting in a slightly different direction.  It’s a way of getting some practise at a particular subject whilst keeping it fresh and enjoyable.  Also, any training in ‘adapting to circumstances’ with watercolour is time well […]

Step by Step – Southwold fisherman’s huts and boat. I thought I’d share the process behind this recent painting. The composition was chosen from hundreds of photographs I took on a visit to Southwold and Walberswick a couple of years ago.  I didn’t feel much amendment was needed to the composition, although I did […]

Yep, It’s becoming noticeable, and I even heard a blackbird properly singing the other day. I’m pleased to see some rain, and it’s good to have a mild patch too.   January has disappeared very quickly, and at this rate it’ll be time for me to head outdoors painting again, if we have a reasonable […]

Just past the sewage works – thankfully – I get to one of my favourite spots.  It’s a place I go every year, and I’d like to run a workshop here one day, based on trees.  There are great examples of huge old pollarded willows (I think), amongst other types, set alongside a meadow and […]

This is a view towards Westward Ho! from above Appledore. I was lucky to visit the area for the first time in June this year. In an ideal lifetime every year should be memorable. For me this was the year I went properly professional as an artist/tutor, and therefore it probably will be. It is […]

At long last, a painting I’m properly satisfied with. It is a feeling that was getting worryingly far away, into the past.  The painting is not perfect, of course.  No such thing, but the fact that it is connected with a certain feeling, and just went as well as I could have hoped considering how […]

Low tide at Appledore, Devon. For sale. One of the restrictions I like to impose on myself is to use no more than 2 washes for a painting.  By which I mean, no part of the paper should be returned to and overpainted more than once. It’s simply a matter of retaining transparency and that […]

Here are a few recent demonstration paintings, done for art groups and in one case during a 1-2-1 tuition session. The Lake District one was done on Saunders Waterford, mainly for a change.  Being used to Bockingford I was, as ever, slightly tempted to fiddle too much in the foreground owing to the heavier sizing […]

Time to paint?  Maybe one day soon.  The painting above is not brand new but is a scene from this time of year, based on a stretch of the river Avon near Bradford-on-Avon. Meantime, I thought I’d better try to blog something, as it’s been a while.   Having finally turned ‘full-time’ artist/tutor in September […]

At long last.   I’ve been meaning to try out painting some of my beloved birds, wildlife or other animals for years.  One difficulty was finding my own source material.  That and loving painting landscapes too much.   I’ve now had the idea of making a visit to my local ‘city farm’ where I hope to […]