This one's a 144 page paperback and is absolutely packed with ideas. While it's a paperback, it feels more resilient than other paparbacks, with...
Author: ArtisticActuary
Shell Ginger
I thought I'd have a ago at some Jean Haines style painting today by painting a shell ginger flower. The flowers are white on the outside and...
All Roads Lead To Lady Churchill’s Rose Garden
This post was written on 30 July 2019 but is only being released now that the program has aired. Now, this is more like it. Not that I was ever...
Lady Churchill’s Rose Garden, Chartwell
This post was written on 30 July 2019 but is only being released now that the program has aired. I've had an amazing day today as a wildcard at...
Jean Haines’ Atmospheric Watercolours – Book Review
It's back to the watery world of Jean Haines with this chunky 176-page whopper. This book is very much focussed on technique rather than on...
The Essence Of Watercolour, Hazel Soan – Book Review
Next up is The Essence Of Watercolour by Hazel Soan. It's a 128 page paperback. This was a really quick read. I got through it in one evening....
Birthday Book Stash
I got all these nine new art instruction books for my birthday. It may take some time but I'll definitely be reading them all and posting reviews...
A Miserable Night In Torquay
I still have three new books sitting on the shelf and it would be very easy for me to stop painting for a month while I read them all. But then I...
Expressive Painting, Joseph Stoddard – Book Review
My birthday's coming up and I have loads of new art instruction books to look through. First up is this 128 page volume by Joseph Stoddard, which...
Hondo
I thought it was about time I did another Western silhouette painting as they're always popular. Today's painting is based on a still from Hondo, a...
Hidden Village
This one's taken me a couple of days. After reading Ann Blockley's Watercolour Workshop, I thought I'd have a go at painting a random abstract,...
Ann Blockley’s Watercolour Workshop – Book Review
I saw this one the other day in a bookshop in Bluewater and it looked so good, I decided I couldn't wait until my birthday. I had to have it. ...
Last Days Of Summer
Another quite traditional looking painting today. I was watching a YouTube video this morning where Gordon MacKenzie was showing how to paint...
Bledlow Poppy
Well, I had a go at rescuing what was left after those two experiments. I painted over the sky, the trees and the orange background fields using...
Failed Experiment Part 2
So, after that failed experiment, I thought I'd experiment some more. Let's face it, I had nothing to lose. So I had some crumpled aluminium foil...
Failed Experiment Part 1
Today's painting was an experiment that went really badly. I sketched out a composition first. A bit of sky, a field in the background and a...
Broken
It's been brewing for a while but I finally went to the shops yesterday to buy a transparent warm (orangey) red as a potential replacement for the...
I’m on Instagram!
A friend who's a full time artist told me the other day that I really needed to set up an Instagram account and put loads of hashtags against my...
Denali National Park
I thought it was about time I did something more conventional. Nothing abstract, no acrylic inks, no salt. Just a plain simple landscape. And I...
Keep Painting, Gordon MacKenzie – Book Review
This one is 144 pages long and the first thing I notice is that it doesn’t feel like other art instruction hardbacks. The cover is warm and matty...