The flying dandelion

I AM A COLOURIST PAINTER. With brushes and oil paints, I depict a world that’s more beautiful than it is in reality. My favourite painting subjects, where I can truly let loose with colour, are still

REFERENCE PHOTO My photo shows a small hamlet nestling in the Yorkshire Dales in England. My inspiration was the sun catching on the stonework and slopes, contrasting with the dark storm cloud above.

REFERENCE PHOTO My photo shows a small hamlet nestling in the Yorkshire Dales in England. My inspiration was the sun catching on the stonework and slopes, contrasting with the dark storm cloud above.

Placing key elements in the centre is not always the best option and can create a lack of visual interest. A common way to organize pictorial elements is to geometrically divide the picture plane into

When I go for a walk on a hot summer’s day, I search for a route that has lots of cover from trees and tall hedges that line a path or lane. In that way, strong rays of sunlight are broken by shade fr

In the August 2025 issue, I spoke about the subject of using photos as reference material for paintings. I talked about the advantages and some of the challenges that they may present to the artist. I