It’s One Way to Paint

Held at the Community Centre in Hoylake, Wirral, the majority of my weekly painting classes commence with a brief demonstration by myself. New students often have a tendency to approach the creation of artwork as though ‘painting by numbers’ i.e. ‘draw it out’ then ‘colour it in’. My demos are not intended to be prescriptive;…

Where’s Bert?

This painting, made in summer 2016, depicts a Humboldt penguin colony. It is based on reference photos taken on a trip to Gweek Seal Sanctuary in Cornwall on a beautiful summer’s day in May 2013. Three of the penguins occupy themselves on dry land whilst their friend takes a dip. The painting was made in…

Learning from the Old Masters

While normally strongly discouraging my students from copying directly from published copies of other artists’ work without purpose, I do encourage them to experiment with approaches to painting. Practical, directed learning is beneficial if it provides illumination into alternative ways of working. A study of the work of an Old Master painter offers this opportunity….

Over-ambition and Over-expectation

Prior to painting workshops I endeavour to produce example paintings. Photographing such work throughout their production, I then compile step-by-step guides for students to help them through the reproduction of the painting. In doing so I hope to demonstrate a logical path from start to finish and hopefully introduce students to some new ways of…

Dreaming of Amaryllis

I’ll be taking part in the Oxton Art Fair at the Williamson Art Gallery & Museum in Birkenhead in late November, which is a splendid chance to exhibit my paintings in an august venue. My work has previously been exhibited at the Williamson, in Wirral Society of Arts shows and the like (and my cards…