Summer is drawing to a close and as the Harvest Moon begins to rise in the sky our thoughts turn to harvests of all kinds, seeds as well as fruits. Few natural subjects offer more inspiration to the artist than a hedge or field full of plants which, flowering season over, are turning to the […]
Thinking about Inking Read More »
Dick Blick have got a special price for the Jean Haines All that Shimmers iridescent watercolor set right now – click above to purchase a set that will lift your watercolors into the sublime! Only $36 for six tubes! I’ll be trying them out in a video soon!
Jean Haines Watercolors Read More »
People love dragonflies. They love to paint them, wear clothing with them printed on, hang them in their homes as inspirational art or simply watch them flying around. Why is this so? Well, to quote another writer on the internet “In almost every part of the world, the Dragonfly symbolizes change, transformation, adaptability, and self-realization.”1
Painting Dragonflies: Dragonfly Lore for Artists Read More »
It’s too hot to paint for long! July and August are tough in the northern hemisphere when the heat starts rising. But for dedicated students who want to make progress, daily splashes in your watercolors are essential. So we’ve put together half a dozen short and sweet video tutorials that you can do in ten
Ten Minute Watercolors Read More »
Today I’m painting two of my favourite hens from the garden. Mrs Grey and Mrs White are a pair of characters who have to be different. Here they are, having a chat under a tree, maybe discussing how many eggs they have laid today. I show you the sketch and how to paint the hens
How to paint Hens and wildflowers – easy beginners botanical art tutorial in watercolour Read More »
Learn how to use a natural sponge and watercolour pencils to create the illusion of foaming Elderflowers and add three cute birds to make an idyllic natural world scene.
Spend a quiet moment in the garden and studio with me and a sketchbook. We’ll start with observation of the plant in its environment, then we’ll draw and paint some lavender flowers together, using several different methods. Finally we’ll use spatter and loose watercolour techniques to complete a beautiful spray of Lavender, complete with two
To paint this lovely bee you need two shades of yellow gouache (opaque watercolor) plus black and white gouache, some silver iridescent medium, plus a pencil and silver gel pen. Let’s get buzzy!
How to Paint a Bumblebee in Gouache on Black Watercolor Paper Read More »
Take a stroll through Woodland Grove with me! Let’s draw and paint a foxglove flower together, using the ones that grow in my garden as a model.
How to Paint a Foxglove Flower – Paint the Natural World for Beginners Read More »
I started an exploration of black watercolour paper and gouache today. You can buy really nice black paper by Stonehenge from Jackson’s Art.
Inspired by yesterday’s dabbling in iridescent medium from Winsor and Newton I decided today to jump into blue and paint a Seahorse. There’s something to be learnt from painting in one colour only in a painting. This seahorse is bathed in a loose wet in wet mixture of cerulean, cobalt, caribbean and turquoise blues which
Seahorse in Shades of Blue Read More »
Yellow flowers are the happiest flowers. Yellow is such a sunny colour, bringing a lift to your mood on a dull day. Who doesn’t love the happy daffodil, the cheerful buttercup and the gorgeous yellow waterfall of the laburnum tree flowers? So today we are painting a small section of a beautiful laburnum tree in
Laburnum Yellow Waterfall Read More »
Did you know there is actually a way that you can turn any one of your current watercolour paints into a sparkly metallic version quite easily? It’s done by adding a medium. No, not the kind who will put you in touch with the other side, but a little bottle of something special that you
How to Create a Metallic Version of Any Watercolour Paint Read More »
Another salt and saran wrap background sparks the idea to put a hedgehog amongst the leaves which seemed to have arisen from the loose paint I threw around with gay abandon. So here he is in all his glory, with his friend the dragonfly!
Hedgehog and Dragonfly Read More »
It’s been very blustery here lately, the wind being the latest trick the weather has had up its sleeve for us, following on from drought, weeks of frost, torrential rain and hail – all in May! But the swallows continue to share their aerial displays with us, and delight us that they are back for
Swallows in the Sky Read More »
We have a lovely collection of pansies in our garden. Nothing spectacular, but they self-seed every year and every year they come back with their lovely colours and cheerful faces! So every year I have to paint them, of course! So here is a tutorial for Pansies for Spring!
Pansies for Spring Read More »
This painting came about by chance, as is often the case. I made a few backgrounds using salt and saran wrap (clingfilm) and this one struck me at first as a bit dark and possibly difficult to paint on. But then I realised that a few dragonflies would be just the ticket, and would look
In this tutorial I talk about how to make a simple textured background for your painting, and then how to position the subject easily and effectively on top of that background. Then I show you how to paint a robin in a loose but realistic style, accompanied by his flowery branch of blossom. Why not
Robin in Cherry Blossom Read More »
