New Book

101 Top Techniques For Artists

I have just received my advance copies of the new SAA book '101 Top Techniques For Artists' for which I am one of the 101 contributing artists. It will soon be available from the SAA priced £14.99, signed copies are exclusively available from me...... if you would like your copy de-valued? I have some now!

Vectis Artisans

Vectis Artisans 3rd Exhibition

I and my friends The Vectis Artisans have an exhibition of our work at Quarr Abbey from Thursday 20th of March until Tuesday 25th of Mrch from 10.30 to 16.30 daily. It will be a great mix of mediums and styles including stunning photographs great paintings and fantastic sculptures! The Artisans are myself, Becky Samuelson, Kate Bolton, Robert Jones, Sheila Luke, Juliet Collins, Pamela Stirling and Brian Gilbert. We are all full time professional artists and share a love of the Island and its inspirational land and seascapes.

Low Tide, Brook Beach

TV Demonstration

Pastel Painting On 'A Splash Of Paint'

I will feature on next weeks episode of 'A Splash Of Paint' (Monday 24th March) where I paint a sunset at Freshwater Bay from one of my friend Sheila's photographs. If you view it please make allowances for the 25 minute time limit for painting it. It is painted in real time so it is what it is, warts and all!!

It is view-able on Sky 192, Freesat 402, on the SAA Online channel (via their web site www.saa.co.uk) or on Youtube after Monday 31st of March.

Chateau De Gurson Ruins And Old Prison, A Pastel Painting.

The Beauty Of Gouache

What Is Gouache?

The question I am most frequently about Gouache is what is it? The short answer is that it is posh poster paint or opaque watercolour is made using pigment and gum Arabic. The pigments used are very high quality and the result is a strong level of opacity with a soft, matt finish, it is not suited to delicate transparent washes as you can achieve in watercolour. So what about painting with Gouache? I hear you ask... It is great for working from dark to light with many subtle attributes which can be employed and has a delightful soft surface and as it is opaque and matt makes it a terrific medium for reproducing whether it be scanned or photographed. I will be running some Gouache workshops in the near future so if you are interested drop me an e-mail and I'll keep you informed, in the meantime here are a few Gouache paintings, I especially like working on the black paper, it makes bright colours seem even more vibrant.

Kingfisher on heavy black paper

Driving Home For Christmas

Ann Hathaway's Cottage

 

Shorland Old Farm, Exmoor

Drawing And Sketching Holiday

There are still a few places available on my sketching and drawing holiday at Shorland Old Farm at Challacombe on the Devon side of Exmoor. A chance to be creative on a very relaxed and highly informative  holiday in a beautiful, picturesque part of the west country. Shorland Old Farm is a charming 17th century farm house a wonderful subject in itself. Sandy and Mark are our genial hosts and the food which Sandy creates is a culinary voyage of indulgence. A truly delightful holiday venue, Shorland Old Farm is geared up for creative holidays, why not come and join us! 1st to 7th of March 2014 

For more details and to book go to :- http://www.shorlandoldfarm.co.uk/art-holidays-courses/

'Seaspray' A Study In Pastel

The above scene of a wave breaking over the rocks was painted in Artists soft pastels, to this stage as a demonstration to the lovely Black Cat Art Group of Shanklin I promised that I would finish it off and put it here on my blog so that everyone could see the finished painting and below is the finished piece.

'Seaspray'

This photograph of the finished painting is closer to the true colour though is not quite right. The first stage painted as the demonstration took around two hours and the finishing of it took a further 2.5 hours. It is 47 x 33 cm in size and is painted mostly with Unison soft pastels on Pastelmat charcoal grey pastel paper. 

Pastel Painting Workshop

Borthwood Copse

Hidecote Manor Wild Garden

I am running a two day pastel painting workshop on January 25th and 26th at Quarr Abbey from 10.00 to 16.00 both days (lunch 12.30 til 13.30) at a cost of £60 per person. I have a few spaces left, if you are interested in joining us please let me know ASAP and I will book you in. This is a wonderful medium and one that is forgiving and very expressive! You don't have to have any pastels to come and have a go!

TV Debut

My first demonstration for Television went out today on the SAA's 'A Splash Of Paint' programme. I paint a sketch of Dartmoor in Winsor and Newton's 'Artisan' water-mixable oils which  though I was dreading seeing for the first time, was better than I imagined it to be. There will be other appearances in weeks to come so stay tuned as they say.

Viewable on Sky 191, Freesat 400, on the SAA website :- www.saa.co.uk and on youtube (next week).

A studio painting from the sketch produced on TV

'Sophie'

'Sophie' Artists soft pastel on Pastelmat paper

Sophie Rolf and Kissy Puppy

Many of you already know all about Sophie and Kissy Puppy but for those of you who don't; Sophie was a beautiful and very brave little girl who very recently passed away, she had an agressive brain tumor. Sophie and her parents started a charity here on the Isle of Wight called 'Kissy Puppy' originally set up to raise funds to enable Sophie to have some magical experiences. Kissy Puppy continues and is raising money for a childrens care department at The Earl Mountbatten Hospice in Newport, hitherto children and parents had to travel to Winchester for palliative care for children and with facilities for parents to stay. Kissy Puppy is doing wonderful work here on the Island for the future care of terminally ill children of which there are fifty on the Isle of Wight alone. This painting is my tribute to Sophie, an incredibly brave little girl. I was inspired to create this painting for Sophie's parents as my little tribute. If you would like to make a donation please check out the web site www.kissypuppy.co.uk on which there is much information and the contact details for your donations. Thank You!

Pen and Ink/Line and Wash

Drawing Styles

'An Old House Of Much Wenlock' (after Miss Wayne)

Technical pen on 140lb Saunders Waterford hot pressed watercolour paper.

'Porlock Weir Beachside Cottages'

Technical pen and watercolour wash on Saunders Waterford 140lb hot pressed paper

 

'Mary Ardens House'

                       Caran Dache water soluble graphite pencil and technical pen on                                   Saunders Waterford 140lb hot pressed paper

If you are interested in drawing and would like a little tuition why not sign up for my one day Drawing and Sketching workshop at Quarr Abbey on January 11th 2014, only £30 for the day. I am also running some more one and two day painting workshops at Quarr in January and February in various mediums, for further details check my tuition listings on the SAA website ~ www.saa.co.uk