Hey, what's up, it's the Artistic Actuary here. After portraits of a music reactor, a mathy, a physicist, a chess nut boasting in an open foyer...
Posts that are not about paintings
Artist Of The Year
I've submitted my entries for Landscape And Portrait Artist Of The Year. The PAOTY deadline has been and gone and the judges are currently looking...
The Artist’s Complete Guide To Drawing The Head, William L. Maughan – Book Review
I only discovered this book on Amazon a couple of weeks ago and it didn't last on my wishlist for long. The style of drawing that it describes is...
Painting Watercolour Snow Scenes The Easy Way, Terry Harrison – Book Review
I bought another book this week. It's been down near the bottom of my wishlist for a while but when the price suddenly fell to £7.41 I jumped in...
Landscape Artist Of The Year
Just six days to go until episode 4 of this series of Landscape Artist Of The Year and my second appearance as a wildcard. It's on Sky Arts,...
The 2023 Colour Palette
This week I've been thinking about the colours in my watercolour palette. My 2022 palette included three Daniel Smith primatek colours as special...
The Natural Way To Paint, Charles Reid – Book Review
Not a Christmas present, this one. It's a book I've been after a while and that I've been watching out for using the CamelCamelCamel website,...
Supergranulator Swatching
For my second and final set of swatches today, I turned to the supergranulators. Now being the owner of three sets of Schmincke supergranulators,...
Artgraf Swatching
It's a new year and I want to be out painting as soon as possible so that I can get a set of paintings worth including in an entry to Landscape...
Critiqued By Liron Yanconsky!
Today I was honoured to have my work critiqued on YouTube by Liron Yanconsky, an artist that I hugely admire. The link...
Realistic Portraits In Colored Pencil, Karen Hull – Book Review
And here's the last of my Christmas books. It's a 144 page paperback, slightly oversized at about 9 inches by 12. The book can be divided into...
Landscape In Ink And Coloured Pencil, Helen Hanson – Book Review
Here's the review of the second of the three books on coloured pencil that I got for Christmas. It's a 160 page paperback and is not just about a...
Drawing Animal Portraits In Coloured Pencil, Lisa Ann Watkins – Book Review
I've finished reading the first of my Christmas books. This was a 144 page paperback, one of those paperbacks with the glossy covers that are a...
Christmas Art Stash 2022
Happy holidays everyone! I thought I'd put up here all the new art gear I've been gifted today as it's a bit of a sneak preview of what to expect...
Watercolour Nature Unleashed, Jane Betteridge – Book Review
This book keeps popping up on my Amazon recommendations. When I took a look inside, I immediately recognised it as a repackaged version of Jane's...
Masterful Color, Vibrant Colored Pencil Paintings Layer By Layer: Arlene Steinberg – Book Review
Ok. I've been looking for a while for a book on coloured pencils that was suitable for a complete beginner after the Encyclopaedia Of Coloured...
Upchurch Art Exhibition, 8-20 November
From 18-20 November, some of my work will be exhibited at St Mary's Church, Upchurch, Kent. The exhibition from 10 to 4 every day. There's a...
Summer 2022 Poll Results
I messed up slightly with this poll. About half the paintings in it were of naked figures and I think this is why 26 of the first 40 people to...
The Summer 2022 Artistic Actuary Poll
I'm needing some help again please. It's been a busy Summer and I already have another 50 works that I'd like to put t the vote so I've set up a...
The Encyclopaedia Of Coloured Pencil Techniques: Judy Martin – Book Review
And here it is, the last of the books I got for my birthday to be reviewed. It's a 176 page paperback. It's a book of two halves, with about half...