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Awarded The Artist prize at the annual Royal Institute of Oil Painters’ (ROI) exhibition, self-taught Belgian artist, Valérie Pirlot works predominately in the great outdoors. Depicting the essence of

Gouache is a versatile, opaque medium providing great covering power and the ability to correct errors very easily. The range of colours is relatively small compared to other media, but gouache colour

Gouache is a versatile, opaque medium providing great covering power and the ability to correct errors very easily. The range of colours is relatively small compared to other media, but gouache colour

Awarded The Artist prize at the annual Royal Institute of Oil Painters’ (ROI) exhibition, self-taught Belgian artist, Valérie Pirlot works predominately in the great outdoors. Depicting the essence of

If you can’t paint your garden walls or fence, you can still add interest by using outdoor textiles to inject some colour and pattern. Dig out tester pots or leftover paint to jazz up plain planters.

A lot of people who are very good painters still hanker for a looser, more abstract approach to painting landscapes, but how do you stop yourself from wanting to copy every detail of your source photo