My latest commission, finished for Christmas 2024. A large red kite painting inspired by Wales’ national bird. Painted for a client with a passion for Wales’ red kites and to remind him of seeing these wonderful birds in and around south west Wales. My client and I designed it together, adjusting and fine tuning the […]
Red Kite Painting Commission Read More »
Skokholm Island Bird Observatory Paintings. As is the tradition on Skokholm Island, where I spent 7 wonderful days last week (May 2022), the finder of rare birds paints them for posterity on the toilet wall (These days, due to renovations and modernisation of the observatory buildings, the ‘toilet wall’ is a removable board that hangs
Skokholm Bird Observatory Paintings Read More »
Whether you paint with oils, acrylics or watercolours, having to leave that last bit of good paint in the tube because you simply can’t get it out, is annoying. Even if paint was cheap, which it isn’t, it always seems very wasteful to me to start a new tube and abandon that last bit of
How To Get All The Paint Out Of A Tube Of Paint Read More »
Last night I had arranged to give my daughter’s best friend some tuition. She’s crazy-keen on art and had been given some acrylic paints but didn’t really know what to do with them. I work in oils and watercolours. I have some acrylics but they remain unused in a drawer at the moment. I hoped
The Painting Glass Is ALWAYS Half Full | Guest Post by Artist Ian Holtedahl-Finlay Read More »
I was recently commissioned by the Elenydd Wilderness Hostel Trust to paint ‘Ty’n Cornel’, one of their hostels high up in the Cambrian Mountains of Mid Wales. Ty’n Cornel has been called the most remote hostel in Wales. It lies next to a stony track across the mountains, from which there is little sign of
Elenydd Wilderness Hostels Painting Commission Read More »
We recently took a boat trip to wonderful Skomer Island, an island off the coast of Pembrokeshire, here in west Wales. Skomer is known as one of the best places to see puffin worldwide, and we weren’t disappointed; there was literally 10’s of thousands of nesting pairs. Suitably inspired, I’ve been busy painting puffins ever since, using
Puffin Painting in Oils, Stage by Stage. Read More »
What is a pochade box? Unless you paint, you’ve probably never heard of one, but the term ‘Pochade’ is derived from the nineteenth century French verb Pocher, meaning to sketch. A pochade box is essentially a small box, usually made of wood, that has 3 unique properties. 1. It has a hinged lid that acts
How To Use A Pochade Box, And Where To Get One Read More »
Like most other professions, hobbies or pastimes, oil painting comes with a overwhelming array of extra equipment, accessories and latest must-haves, that the art magazine advertisers will say you need if you’re serious about making great art. But like most other professions, hobbies or pastimes, you need very little of it. In fact, you can
How To Start Painting With Oils – 3 Things You Need Read More »
Hi Everyone, and a warm welcome to my painting blog. You may have gathered from elsewhere on my website, that I was overseas painting in New Zealand for a few months over Christmas and New Year. I’m back in my studio in West Wales now, and although as keen as ever to get back into it,
How To Paint Loose Paintings. Read More »