When we get a new set of paints, one of the first things we want to do is try them all out. It’s become quite the “thing” to “swatch out” your new box of paints in squares or rectangles to give you a record of what the colors look like, full strength and watered down. […]
Relaxing Golden Doodle Circles Read More »
We all love flowers, and what is more delightful than to paint a bouquet of summer blooms? Here is a simple, loose, easy summer painting for you to enjoy. Flowers look their very best when they are painted loosely and with expression, and they are most forgiving, allowing you to freely redesign their leaves and
Watercolor Summer Flowers Read More »
Landscapes are daunting. No doubt about it, with all that perspective and the arrangement of the features you want to include. Then there’s scale, and tonal values, and proportions, and and and…. But there is an answer. Why not try my two-dimensional fun landscape of your village or townscape? For this painting I used a
Today in the post I received my order of a set of Kuretake Gansai Tambi Graphite colors. I have been the proud owner of a set of Starry Colors since Christmas when I couldn’t resist the idea of using gold and silver on the cards I was making. But when I saw these Graphite colors
Kuretake Graphite Colors and Circles Read More »
Exploring your paintbox can be an exciting experience especially if you decide to pick out all the bright and cheerful colors and paint a loose rainbow! Use the resulting splash of color to form the background for an ink drawing and make lovely bookmarks and greetings cards galore! Or use it in your journal as
How to Paint a Rainbow Read More »
How about this little Home Sweet Home landscape to use as the jumping off point for greetings cards? Ideal for a New Home or First Home message, which you can personalise to include all the features of the home of the person who is going to be thrilled to receive it! And no need to
Home Sweet Home Greetings Card to paint Read More »
Here’s a fun sheep painting ideal to while away a few idle moments before you go to bed and maybe help you sleep at night! A great one to do with the kids and perfect for a card for your friends! Add your own personal touches to make it yours! The great thing about this
Whimsical Sheep for you to paint Read More »
If there’s one thing that’s bound to cheer up a petulant painter who can’t think what to paint, it’s got to be flowers. Dubbed a “perennial trending” subject, flowers can be guaranteed to lift the mood and raise a smile! Just like the feathers we did, the great thing about flower painting, which I only
Summer Flower Power – A Festival of Fun Read More »
Yesterday I found four little feathers in the field where my studio sits, and couldn’t resist the temptation to paint a few feathery friends – after all, we’ve been painting a bird a day for a month now, maybe time to add a few fanciful feathers? The great thing about painting feathers like these is
Paint Fancy Feathers for your Junk Journal Read More »
I was reading a book by David Attenborough this morning and he mentions that only 3% of the wildflower meadows of England remain. I find this utterly tragic. But today I’m going to paint a relaxation exercise based on the notion of a field or meadow full of a large variety of blooms. One of
Relax in a Wildflower Meadow Read More »
I’ve got a new hobby! To my surprise I have started a Junk Journal. And what fun it has turned out to be. Why I haven’t done this before I can’t think. It combines everything I’m interested in – paper crafts, sewing, painting, decoupage, collage, and many other crafts – so I’m painting a little
Dragonflies for your Junk Journal Read More »
Paint this little fishing village harbour scene complete with boats and lighthouse in your Etchr sketchbook. Using A. Gallo paints and a Sakura Micron pen you can make up your own details to reflect your own experience of villages like this. Let’s go paint! What’s more delightful than hanging out by the water, and gazing
Watercolor Fishing Harbor Scene Read More »
Here’s a sweet meditative and relaxing warm-up exercise for you to achieve two things – practice watercolor techniques and create a little gift in the form of these Simple Olive Leaf Bookmarks! All you need is your watercolor set, a brush and a fineliner. Plus half an hour of your time and away you go!
Simple Olive Leaf Bookmarks Read More »
Some days it’s hard to raise a smile, let alone a chuckle! But if you can manage to find a paintbrush and stir your stumps as they say in the navy, then you can get your mood to lift and you might even laugh out loud! These pretty butterflies with their simple embroidery-styled embellishments are
A Kaleidoscope of Butterflies! Read More »
This month we are running a series of tutorials to help you beat the blues and create. What better to lift your spirits than a little bird – or two, or three … So today I’m going to feature the Imperfectly Perfect Circle Birds. You’ve heard the expression “I can’t draw a straight line” and
#Paint a Bird a Day Series Read More »
If a quick floral is what you are looking for then look no further than these flowers, made simply and without stress to create a stylish image ideal for a greetings card, bookmark and more. The great thing about these flowers is they are totally undemanding and unthreatening. All you need to do is pick
Turning Circles into Roses Read More »
Sometimes we just don’t want to paint anything particular. For example, we have kids to entertain and couldn’t possibly concentrate on a proper painting. Or we have a headache, or it’s just one of those days. This is when a Galaxy of Abstraction comes to the rescue! This painting can be as much or as
A Galaxy of Abstraction Read More »
Along with flowers, birds are top of most watercolorists lists of favorite subjects to paint. And the way to paint them ranges all the way from literally painting every feather on a bird (not my style!) to loose impressionistic renditions of the “essence of bird!” I prefer the essence of bird approach and I also
Three More Wet-in-Wet Birds Read More »
