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;…

Painting: a Battle of Wills

This morning I attempted to demonstrate ‘Landscape Painting in Acrylics’ to a lovely, friendly group of amateur painters in Wallasey. This demonstration was made more than a little challenging by a competing crafting group in the adjacent room, the intense volume of whose chatter made my attempts to engage my audience in a riveting and…

Over There, from Over Here

This panoramic painting, which depicts the Liverpool Waterfront, was completed in a couple of sessions today following a prolonged hiatus post-inception. It was painted from photographs taken on a late winter/early spring day in 2013 at a vantage point somewhere between New Brighton and Birkenhead, looking over the Mersey. I had a couple of sessions…

Leaving it to Memory

This landscape study was made today in Daler-Rowney Georgian oils on 10” x 12” canvas. It was painted from photographs taken on Sunday on a Wirral Walking Festival event – Storeton Village History Walk  – and took a little over an hour to complete. According to our Wirral Archaeology walking guide, who I’ve no reason…

All Teeth and No Trousers

I have recently been doing some research into the working methods of John Constable in preparation for a forthcoming painting workshop, Big Skies, paying particular attention to his oil studies on paper and board. Inspired to give working in oils on paper a go, this oil sketch, made yesterday, is the first result. The paper…