En Plein Air

En Plein Air

Reading Time: 3 minutesI have finally manage to do something I have been meaning to do for a while, and actually get out and do some painting outdoors, or “En Plein Air” as they like to call it. I recently made a pocket set – a literally pocket 

Woodland Paths and Welsh Rocks

Woodland Paths and Welsh Rocks

Reading Time: 3 minutesFor what is essentially a fairly unassuming little path, the track that I walked up past The Lizard nature reserve in Wymondham has seen quite a bit of artistic action and has now prompted me to take on a few similar scenes. So after the 

Kendal Lane c.2008

Kendal Lane c.2008

Reading Time: 2 minutesWhile I tend to wait until I am at least part way through a set or project, I thought I would put this up now. This is an idea I want to explore further, based on my Backstreets and Rooftops photographic project from some years 

Verdigris

Verdigris

Reading Time: 4 minutesA long time ago I decided to try and make verdigris. Verdigris is the common and historical name to for a number of salts of copper and acetic acid, or more simply copper acetate. Salts which could be characterised as copper acetate have a number 

Rosa Watercolours

Rosa Watercolours

Reading Time: 4 minutesI have been meaning to try out Rosa Watercolours for a while, in my general quest/obsession to try every colour or preparation on the planet. Rosa are a Ukranian brand, with a good reputation. They are also very inexpensive, and lets face it buying Ukranian 

Idyll

Idyll

Reading Time: 2 minutesidyll/ˈɪd(ɪ)l,ˈʌɪd(ɪ)l/nounnoun: idyll; plural noun: idylls;an extremely happy, peaceful, or picturesque period or situation, typically an idealized or unsustainable one. I have been slowly developing a theme in some of my watercolour work. Talking to some of my musical and lyrical conceptualisation of Hiraeth, these are 

Snowy scenes

Snowy scenes

Reading Time: < 1 minuteI just thought I would post these as I am quite pleased with them and they are the beginning of a bit of a themed project over winter, These are sketches, based on mini-tutorials on https://watercolourlandscapes.co.uk/ on painting snow and mountains. Then I thought I 

Derwent Graphitint

Derwent Graphitint

Reading Time: 3 minutesWhile down in Norwich the other month, I could not of course resist the lure of Jarrolds art shop again. This is alternatively heaven, or a way to spend all the money you don’t have, if you are like me, with a mixture of high 

Trees on Foraged Grounds

Trees on Foraged Grounds

Reading Time: 2 minutesAs I have mentioned, when making watercolours there’s always some left over in the mortar and I like to use this to prepare grounds for future work. These are some recent earths, on the poundland paper which I use for cheap expreimenting. These were inspired 

Plant Pigment Watercolours

Plant Pigment Watercolours

Reading Time: 2 minutesWe are lucky nowadays to have a massive array of complex pigments and dyes at our disposal, both organic pigments such as Quinocridones, Pyrrols, Perylenes etc, and the increasing inoganic metal pigments still being developed – Sicopal Spinel pigments, Zirconium Vanadium pigments, the miraculous Yinmn 

Avocado Ink

Avocado Ink

Reading Time: 3 minutesPrompted by my continual playing with natural pigments in my paints, I made a batch of Avocado ink the other day. This is perhaps one of the better known vegetable dyes, creating a relatively stable and lightfast dusty pink colour. I’ve brewed up a couple 

Micro Landscapes – The Return

Micro Landscapes – The Return

Reading Time: 2 minutesWhile working on some of my recent watercolours I was trimming my paper to the longer format, and ended up with quite a few offcuts. I hate waste, so I thought what can I do with these…. Practice some more miniature landscapes, that’s what! Working