The ink has dried, the leaf is ready for some colour. Using a very soft brush (synthetic squirrel is a good option) and working wet-in-wet, I am using Yellow Ochre as a base, with some Hansa Yellow Light and Burnt Sienna. I had originally planned to use Quinacridone Gold but decided later it wasn't needed.… Continue reading Ginkgo Leaf part 3 – Watercolour wash
I started a series of downloadable PDF tutorials for sale in my Etsy shop. They will all be coded in different categories, such as watercolour techniques, art materials, drawing, painting, ink etc. So you can pick the ones you want and build your own course folder. The first one is a painting tutorial of a… Continue reading Painting tutorials in my Etsy shop
There is something quite magical and romantic about a dip pen with a beautifully marbled handle and a gorgeous nib. The feel you have as you dip the pen and make a mark on the paper with the liquid ink cannot be matched by a felt tip pen. For this ginkgo leaf I have chosen… Continue reading Ginkgo leaf part 2: Ink
I have been painting a lot of Ginkgo biloba leaves, some from my own tree in the garden, others from the beautiful pair of trees outside the orangery in West Dean Gardens. There is something fascinating about a prehistoric tree. You can just imagine it surrounded by Diplodocus and Stegosaurus in the fading Jurassic light,… Continue reading Ginkgo leaf part 1: drawing
When I started painting, there was no comparison between sable and synthetic brushes. The sables were much higher quality. There was also this idea going around that you were not a proper artist if you didn’t have the most expensive sables in your toolkit. This view is now obsolete, but myths are hard to kill…… Continue reading The best synthetics brushes
Hi everyone, My new article is out in the October issue of Artists & Illustrators magazine. It is a tutorial for painting a pumpkin, in time for the gorgeous Autumn colours. I filmed the whole painting so at some point there will also be a YouTUbe video. It just takes a while to do the… Continue reading Pumpkin tutorial in A&I Magazine
I have a new video on my YouTube channel. Last Bank Holiday week-end, while we were having a mini heatwave, I spent some time in the garden and mixed some colours for forget-me-nots and Violas. It was a sunny, warm and beautiful day. I sat under the birch tree in the dappled shade. It turns… Continue reading New YouTube video – Watercolour sketches in the garden, 2 blue flowers
