Like most I suspect, our 2020 holiday plans have already been thrown into disarray. Earlier in the year our much anticipated trip to Valencia was cancelled, as was my masterclass with Alvaro Castagnet, and our regular camping jaunt to France has also had to fall by the wayside. This isn’t to say that I’m not… Read More
A sunlit train station and a big sky: watercolour paintings
After all the restrictions of working on the perspective of last week’s train station painting, I was keen to liberate myself with something altogether more free and easy this week. A weekend or two ago I had to return north to scatter my mum‘s ashes. One of my favourite parts about returning to the ancestral… Read More
Venice fish market watercolour, in triplicate
There are some subjects that just seem to attract watercolour artists, and I think the fish market in Venice is one of them. Off the top of my head I can vividly recall paintings set here by Joseph Zbukvic, Alvaro Castagnet, Keiko Tanabe and Gary Tucker to name only a few. Often, if you’re anything… Read More
See my watercolour interview and demo
On Saturday 16th May I did my first ever Instagram live interview and watercolour painting demonstration! Here’s how it looked on screen with Philippa (aka @5ftinf) and I deep in conversation! For better of for worse – you can still see the entire interview and demo on Philippa’s IGTV channel. View this post on Instagram… Read More
Strangely strange but oddly normal
First off, I would like to thank everyone that sent such kind, warm and supportive messages following the death of my mum on the 16th April 2020. I really appreciate everyone of them and found the support so incredibly helpful at such a difficult time. The funeral was last Friday, the 24th April. Six people… Read More
Watercolour paintings in pairs
Looking on the plus side, had I been on holiday in Valencia this past week, I wouldn’t have been able to do as much painting as I have during my enforced staycation! That said, the time I have for painting still feels like snatched moments in between trying to keep an energetic young child entertained!… Read More
A new watercolour brush!
In my defence, it’s been ages since I bought a new brush. This still doesn’t mean that I actually needed this latest purchase, but I’m delighted to have been able to add it to my collection. This arrived last week, just as I had to make another mad dash north to be with my mum… Read More
White tablecloths, Bologna, Italy
As the repercussions of the Covid-19 virus impact on every imaginable walk of life simultaneously across the world, I can’t deny feeling quite overwhelmed! The trials and tribulations of my watercolour painting seem rather insignificant at the moment, so I’m finding it difficult to work up the enthusiasm or the sense of purpose to write… Read More
Am I an artist?
This post will be more brief than most for reasons that, at the risk of over sharing, I’ll spell out later. I started this post a long time ago, when I first heard that the fabulous Timothy Spall was to play the role of the artist Lowry. He seems to be making a habit of… Read More
Same bar, similar view, different, watercolour painting
After last week’s watercolour painting I was in two minds about whether to tackle this subject again. After reasoning to myself that there were good elements to try to replicate, and other areas to try to improve on, I decided to have another go, but this time from a marginally different angle. To start with,… Read More