Oil on Gessoboard 6″x 6″ My Studio is based in Henley Village a few miles outside of Ipswich. With my daily painting goal in mind I headed out there over the weekend and did this little study. I like these ‘contre jour’ set ups, meaning against the light. Also I liked how the blue from the sky gets picked up around the shadows – a nice contrast to the orange in the satsuma.
SOLD – Oil on board 6″ x 6″ I was really please yesterday to make my first sale of my pomegranate painting! – It was nice affirmation that starting up my daily painting practice was a good move. This was my study on Friday at my Ringshall class. I was talking about composition in my class. Although this is quite a central symmetrical object, I think the three satsumas create a nice triangle of interest to keep the eye moving.
Second study, this time a pomegranate one of my students brought along to my woodbridge class. At the start of this term I did a session on drawing books and cubes in perspective – with that in mind I really did my best with flat panel the pomegranate is sitting on. The great thing about a shape like that is that it gives some tonal contrast – but also the perspective helps describe three dimensional space. I am also enjoying going using Ampersand Boards again.
Back in 2009 I had my first go at daily painting. I even started a blog and posted some of my paintings on ebay! – I was doing quite well however after a while and I had built up a nice little collection, I got them framed and started looking for places to sell them. In the process I lost contact with the daily painting aspect. Looking back I can see this is where the magic lies – the act of aspiring to paint small and often and uploading the work where people can see your progress! So I thought I would give it
In this video I demonstrate a simple colour chart exercise for painters, inspired by Richard Schmid’s Alla Prima – Everything I know About Painting. Colour charts are one of the best ways to understand how pigments really behave — how colour, value, and temperature shift as you mix. This exercise removes guesswork and builds a reliable foundation for mixing colour with confidence. The emphasis here is on clarity and observation, not shortcuts: seeing colour relationships clearly mixing deliberately rather than intuitively creating a reference you can return to when painting. This demonstration is suitable for beginners, but it’s equally useful for experienced painters who
I was really happy to get an email today from South Africa with this nice little study – credit to Lizette Marais. I thought it would be nice to film a quick feedback session as if Lizette was at one of my classes.
One the best ways to learn how to paint is to simply watch great painters! Not just what they paint but how the start, the marks they make, the way they hold the brush. These are three of my favourites from youtube! Have you stumbled across anything good recently…why not share in the comments?
I was half way through sixth form when I attended my first life drawing class. However it was whilst at Suffolk College and was studying art full time, that it really clicked what a valuable and enjoyable practice it was. I started going to evening classes and have tried to attend classes on and off ever since. I have now been running life drawing classes for about 3 years as well, there is always more to see and to learn. For anyone who wishes to develop their painting and drawing skills I would strongly recommend the practice of regular life drawing. These are
Many adults remember how they loved to paint and draw at primary school. They’d like to try it again, but then performance anxiety kicks in. Fear of making fools of themselves keeps many people away from art lessons. In fact anyone can learn to draw well – you don’t have to be Leonardo or even particularly talented. Drawing is a skill which is picked up with practice: the key is learning to look carefully at an object (we can all do that) and then putting down what you see rather than what you expect to see. Once you can draw, you are three quarters of the
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Being An Artist Is About Taking A Journey…
