Well, after six month’s of mounting anticipation and fevered practicing – my week of painting with artist and Edward Wesson expert Steve Hall finally arrived. My first ever course of this kind, I was excited and apprehensive. And now, looking back, I’m finding it difficult to condense the experience into a single post. What I …
Notes to self following a fabulous week of painting Read More »
I’m familiar with having ‘bad days at the office’, so I suppose I shouldn’t be too surprised that I also have bad days at the easel. This week has been just such an example. I’ve started quite a few paintings and even some sketches to join in the World Watercolour Month celebrations and they’ve all, …
It’s been a funny old week. Since January this year I’ve managed to put a post out every Tuesday. In that time I’ve had the odd blip of enthusiasm, confidence, material or inclination. But nothing like this. Last Thursday, the UK voted to leave the EU. I, along with many more of the other 48% …
For this week’s post I’m indebted to watercolour artist David Harmer. David was recently inspired to take on a most unlikely watercolour challenge – to paint the Maunsell Sea Forts, named after their designer Guy Maunsell, in the Thames Estuary. These amazing structures were built during the second world war with the primary aim of defending …
I was so excited recently as I had a rare opportunity to get out and paint plein air. Not only that but I had in mind a view that I’ve long admired. Furthermore I felt I was riding the crest of a watercolour wave that could see me overcome any challenge (except perhaps that of …
Oh what a delicate and fragile flower confidence is Read More »
So, after last week’s foray into the layered washes of Rowland Hilder, I thought I’d do a quick compare and contrast of techniques. Recently, Edo Hannema mentioned the name of Aubrey Phillips to me and he’d written a whole blog post about how much his eponymous book, ‘Watercolour Painting with Aubrey Phillips‘ had been an inspiration …
In an exchange of comments following one of my recent posts, the great watercolor painter Edo Hannema mentioned Rowland Hilder in relation to his ability to layer multiple washes but retain a magically luminous quality. I’ve always been a great fan of Hilder’s work and it reminded me that it’s been a long time and …
…and so little time to say it in! This is one of those weeks when I’ve managed to squeeze in some time for painting but left so little time for writing about it, so apologies in advance for the brevity of this post. (Although I’m sure that this will come as an absolute blessing to …
After reaching some kind of satisfactory conclusion to my mum’s birthday present dilemma, I felt a tremendous sense of unburdened freedom as I sought out my next subject. So it was without any surprise that I found myself pouring over my favourite Edward Seago book for inspiration. It was however a complete surprise (and, in …
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try and try again. So the saying goes. I can’t decide whether the originator of this simply cracked it after three attempts, or the recommendation is that you give something three attempts and no more, or if the three attempts is just the beginning and that you should …
