Getting to know your materials

Every painting’s varying subject matter and scale offers us distinct opportunities and challenges. Before I start any project, I like to consider what I want to convey, what opportunities and challeng

I STRUGGLED INTO MY LAYERS, picked up my light sketching kit and off I went up into the hills behind where I live. I wasn’t the first to arrive; halfway up the hill I could already hear the cries of e

SOMETIMES MAKING LIFE SIMPLER FOR YOURSELF and avoiding overthinking a process gets you further. In painting terms, using flat colours does exactly that and it may even prove to hold the key to more c

The word is enough to send shudders through many painters, and not just beginners. For me, an understanding of perspective was absolutely fundamental in allowing me to create an accurate drawing and p

Into the white - negative painting for dramatic brightness This time I am looking at uses of ‘white’ paper in a painting to suggest a light source, exploiting the benefits of light bouncing back from

Autumn brings a splash of golden warmth, when leaves start transforming from green to rich golds and russet reds. It can be quite daunting to know where to start when interpreting a mass of foliage wh