Gardening can teach many life lessons, perhaps especially the arts of timing and nurturing – and today I realised that trying to grow tomatoes in less-than-ideal weather has offered me a new perspective on creativity and the artistic journey. Imagine a garden where the tomatoes, heavy with promise, cling to the vine. The weather, however, […]
Ripening Creativity: The Art of Switching Styles Read More »
How I Fell in Love with Acrylic Markers Sometimes all we need to get our creativity fired up is for something new to happen. What happened for me a couple of weeks ago was receiving a package from Lightwish, which contained a set of acrylic markers. Coincidentally I’d just watched a Danny Gregory video where
Love at First Sight? Read More »
Seven Hours of Non-Stop Christmas Watercolor Tutorials – in just Two Videos! Our latest LOOONG video is now up for your enjoyment! Last week we collated eleven of our most popular and fun Christmas videos from previous years into one four hour long video for your convenience and enjoyment – and today we’re bringing you
Everything You Need for your Christmas Paintings in one place! Read More »
Why you shouldn’t listen to me! I spend quite a lot of time – probably too much – reading other artists’ blogs and transcripts to their videos (I rarely listen to them talking, they take up too much precious time and I can read quicker than I can listen!) And one thing I would like
10 Reasons Not to Listen to Anyone Else Read More »
Here’s Part 1 in the series: How to Paint in Watercolor (part 1) Here’s Part 2 in the series: How to Paint in Watercolor (part 2) Let’s get started! So today’s the big day and we are going to start to paint in watercolor. Or maybe you are going to start again. It’s not unusual
How to Paint in Watercolor (part 3) Read More »
I have too many materials. Too many paints to expect to ever be able to use them all up. And I don’t think I have anywhere near as many paints as many people if the studios I’ve seen online on YouTube are anything to go by. I sometimes wonder why I and others are seemingly
Are you a paint junkie? Read More »
Watercolor brush sketching is a technique I’ve recently developed that involves creating quick, spontaneous, and expressive artworks using watercolors and brush pens of various types. It captures the essence and impression of a subject with loose brushwork and powerful line work. It’s minimal but strong on detail, and focuses on capturing the overall mood or
Watercolor Brush Sketching Explained Read More »
I found this Sea Biscuit on the beach in the Bahamas years ago and have carefully kept it with my collection of found shells. I didn’t know it was called a Sea Biscuit and thought it was a Sand Dollar, but they are actually quite similar. I decided to paint a meditative painting of them,
Sea Biscuit Meditation Read More »
Don’t watch this video if you are looking for slick polished content with not a second of breathing space between words! Don’t watch if you want to see a performance of dazzling skill, impressive mastery of a demanding medium over a tricky subject, or a humbling demonstration of nineteen different tricks you should have known
Don’t watch this video! Read More »
Most of us say these days that we paint for relaxation, don’t we. We used to talk about our hobbies, but nowadays you rarely hear that term used, as young people love to consider their mental health, their need to relax, the pressure of life and social media, and much much more. Long gone are
Why do we love to paint? Read More »
I have only recently discovered Gelli plates, and even more recently started to experiment with using them for creating backgrounds and images. The whole idea of gelli plates is widely covered on YouTube almost exclusively by artists using acrylic paints, maybe various acrylic inks and similar, but I soon discovered that doesn’t mean you can’t
Gelli Printing with Watercolor Paint Read More »
Adding a bit of whimsical fun to your animal paintings is a great way to make them truly special. If you’re looking for a creative card or gift idea, try adding a few whimsical animals to your work. A delightful creature can really bring a painting to life and give it a unique feel. Whether
Exploring Watercolor Animals Read More »
We all need more time to relax in our lives nowadays and what better way than letting the paint flow and the brush glide across the watercolor paper? In this video I’m going to talk about how to create a simple abstract without stress. In fact, the whole process is pleasurable and relaxing. What’s not
Let’s get Abstract! Read More »
This landscape is ideal for all beginners, and for anyone wanting to move from painting flowers and leaves into the slightly more challenging field of landscape. So let’s break all the rules – of composition, color theory, and technique – and paint a luminous, evocative landscape we would all love to live in! This landscape
Easy Landscape for Beginners Read More »
Learn to paint watercolor the fun and easy way In this video I show you how to choose a colorscheme from your Kuretake paint sets, plus ways to use a brush, different types of brushes, water control and much more. Plus you are going to create a super attractive abstract piece of art that will
Beginners Start Here! 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 »
