How do you handle very intensely granulating paints in watercolour? Join me as I walk through how I planned the painting of a lion portrait in watercolour and gouache to account for the heavy granulation of French Ultramarine PB29 by Schmincke.

How I identify and use my fears in art to figure out what to create and study next. Art fears often are the origin of “art block”, an umbrella term encompassing many causes and types of creative blockages and things that cause an artist to not create the pictures they want to make. By recognising fear as a helpful tool in my creative journey I can use it to identify areas that may become potential blocks towards what I want to create, and instead formulate a plan to pursue art in that direction.

Art supply recommendations can be overwhelming and confusing, especially to beginners. There are so many opinions, and often contradicting information. Rather than adding another list of supplies to the noise, I offer a list of seven things to consider before buying art supplies to help you navigate all the information online.

If you spend time around art communities you may come across Draw This In Your Style challenges. In this blog post I share my approach to hosting my own DTIYS challenge using a recent ink and watercolour character illustration. I also explain what the challenge is, and how you can host your own.

Explaining my self studying method to prepare myself for painting animals from life this year. I share my process and thinking by talking through a recent pencil and watercolour sketch I did of the polar bear Hamish. The goal-focused method involves considering the materials, conditions, time constraints, and approaches required when painting a moving animal on location.

After a surprise visit to the Ruskin Collection in Sheffield, and taking my sketchbook out to draw there, I ponder the benefits of observational sketching, developing and artists eye, and creating our own collections of oddities and curiosities for still life studies.

A peek into my creative process of taking a sketch from my sketchbook and turning it into ink and watercolour illustration. I’m only using one pen for inking the lineart of this medieval era inspired elf character.