Preview our most recent tutorials

Every two weeks there is a new tutorial for you to enjoy.

Fun, challenging and something you'll be proud to say is your painting.

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TUTORIALS WITH LIGHTER COLOURS:

Oct 23 2021

79. CONTEMPLATION

This is a fantastic painting for our advanced (or daring) students, this is "contemplation". We use a lot of wet into wet here and its a long one at 2 hours and 15 mins so get comfy maybe with a glass of wine or a beer and enjoy this fantastic tutorial. The result is well and truly worth it.

Oct 9 2021

78. PROMENADE COUPLE

This week were painting a subject we’ve painted before, but from a different photo and using just two main washes to try and create a vibrant painting you’ll be proud of. This is a great piece for all levels and at just over an hour long its one you can practice a few times.

Sep 25 2021

77. SUNNY GIRL

This is a great piece for all abilities. “Sunny girl” was taken near Kew Gardens in London a few years ago and is a great way to hone your watercolour skills, especially maintaining a lovely warm but bright highlight on our main subject as well as soft backgrounds that hint at the setting without doing every tiny detail. Enjoy…

Sep 11 2021

76. WALKING THE DOG

This is a fantastic beginner/intermediate piece. Its based on a photograph from San Francisco a few years back that I caught sort of by accident, its a woman walking her dog and i immediately loved the pose she was in. Rather than being pulled along by the dog she was in compete control and mid stride which gives quite a serene feel. I’d love to see a few of your own dogs instead of the drawing for our more experienced painters. That’s if you’re up to the challenge?

Aug 28 2021

75. THE YELLOW PARASOLS

Welcome to my 75th tutorial. This is a big one and has been requested by members many times, so here we go... This is "The yellow parasols", a bright and vibrant painting you'll be proud to hang in your home. We use all our normal techniques and the final result is incredible. It’s an advanced tutorial, over 2 hours long, so get comfy and break it down into manageable stages. You'll really enjoy this one.

Aug 14 2021

74. TEXTING IN THE SUN

This is great for beginners and above. It’s a common scene we see today; “Texting in the sun”. She’s sat reading her phone, as we all do, so I thought it was just an interesting shot of everyday modern life. This one’s nice and quick at just over an hour so you can try it a few times to see how much you can improve each time.

Jul 31 2021

73. LATE SUNDAY AFTERNOON

This week we are undertaking a more advanced tutorial, this is ‘Late Sunday afternoon’ and is just over 2 hours so its not for the feint of heart. But the result is an incredible painting with sharp chromes in our ice bucket and lovely soft sunlight on our main subject. You’ll really enjoy this…

Jul 17 2021

72 TWO BOYS FISHING

Today we’re painting this charming scene of two boys fishing in the rock pools of Tenerife. It’s a lovely beginner tutorial for all levels to have go at and produces really fantastic results in just over an hour. I’m sure you’ll love this one…

Jul 3 2021

71. GIRLS TAKE A BREAK

This week we’re painting ‘Girls take a break’ a photo taken in sunny Tenerife. This is a nice intermediate piece that can be tried by all. We’re using a nice three colour wash to start and moving to six colours for our sharper detailed washes. It’s a great painting to really practice leaving those crisp brighter areas and then choosing which ones you want to soften. Give it a go and enjoy…

Jun 19 2021

70. THE SLEEPING CAT

We have a real challenge this week, this is one of our more advanced pieces called 'The sleeping Cat'. It's a beautiful image and I've added a cat in the drawing as it just fits so well in the scene. Lots of wet onto dry and those highlights are all important here, a fantastic result and well worth the time, have fun...

Jun 5 2021

69. SAN FRANCISCO LADY

Today we’re painting “San Francisco Lady” and this painting “has colours run like watercolour in the rain” as the great Al Stewart once sang in 'Year of the cat’. This is fantastic for creating fast paced soft blending using colours to create the effect her dress. We use the reflective tones to create a soft fabric feel in the bright sunlight. This is an intermediate piece and most of all its a fun one…

May 22 2021

68. CYCLIST IN THE SUN

We've painted a version of this scene a long time ago but I think its worth revisiting, this time we have a great dark background, using all six colours blending together and a foreground with a lighter sandy tone for the pavement. Its one to do a few times and perfect for beginners.

May 8 2021

67. THE JAZZ SINGER

This piece is a great exercise in learning to add colour to a black and white photo. You don't have to stick to my colours here, have some fun with this fun painting. Try to stay loose and get nice and expressive here, I can't wait to see your submissions for this one.

Apr 24 2021

66. THE BEACH BOY

Todays tutorial Is “The Beach Boy” and has been requested by lots of my students that wanted a piece they can practice again and again to help master some of the techniques before moving on to more intermediate and advanced pieces. So give this a go, its a nice fast piece only 40 minutes and if you’re not happy with it you’ve enough time to give it a few goes. Enjoy…

Apr 10 2021

65. CATTLE DRIVE

Welcome to “Cattle Drive”, it’s one that people have asked for a lot and it looks even better in real life. We’ve lots of wet brush work to create a dusty feel and we keep this really loose, we’re not counting legs, we want more of a feel of movement and action. Give this one a go, you won’t regret it…

Mar 28 2021

64. BOAT AND TRACTOR

Today we’re painting something a little different, we don’t have any people in this one. We’re painting ‘Boat and Tractor’ and this is a challenge to keep the colours vibrant. Try to keep moving with your brush and grabbing colours, don’t get too hung up on following every colour I use, this is about blending colours on the paper to make the desired effect. If you want to take it a little slower you can play the video at half speed if you need.

Mar 14 2021

63. New York Walk

We're back in New York and this time we're out for a walk painting "New York Walk". This is great for refining details on people. We use the normal six colours to create a soft background with some detail and then focus on our figure. It's great to hone your detail work on figures themselves. Happy painting.

Feb 27 2021

62. Hot Day for a Hot Rod

Todays tutorial is this fantastic Hot Rod. This is an advanced piece and it's not for the feint hearted. We are going to use softening to create the shining chrome effect and I've changed the background to something that’s a little nicer on the eye. Feel free to change it to your own, maybe the desert or perhaps someone will put it on the famous route 66?

Feb 14 2021

61. SIMPLY VENICE

Today we’re in Venice, “The Floating City”. And we're looking out over the water (so get those blues ready) towards the Il Redentore, one of the iconic buildings of this lovely city. This is a nice beginner/intermediate piece with lots of soft backgrounds and our focus is on what is a regular site, a Gondolieri crossing the water. Enjoy…

Jan 31 2021

60. SWANNING AROUND

Today we’re painting something a little different and fun. My horses (Tutorial #56) were so popular we thought we'd give you another animal to try. This time its called “Swanning around”, a picture of a swan taken in the Lake District (UK) and there’s a reflection to deal with so its definitely an intermediate piece. But don’t be afraid to give it a go! Happy painting …

Jan 17 2021

59. TWO IN A CANOE

Welcome back everyone, I thought that now all the new year festivities are over we’d get back to painting something more down to earth and this one is a nice quick one to get the creative juices flowing and it’s only just over 1 hour. We are painting ‘Two in a Canoe’, a great exercise in reflections in water, keeping the shadow areas light enough, whilst staying clearly shadows and it’s and intermediate painting. It’s a really enjoyable one and you’ll love the finished effect.

Jan 2 2021

58. NEW YORK FOR THE NEW YEAR

HAPPY NEW YEAR ! This weeks tutorial is based on this incredible photo of New York. It's the Statue of Liberty with a beautiful boat in the foreground.  I love the water in this and we use a new technique with our ruler to create a detailed rigging effect on our boat to draw the eye. I know you'll all love this one !

Dec 19 2020

57. IT’S SNOW FUN

Merry Christmas everyone ! This week we're painting 'It's Snow Fun' a fantastic winter image. I've turned to the dark side and used some masking fluid (I know, I know) but its really the best way to create that fluffy snow texture as it gets thrown into the air. We then soften things down a little with a damp brush to create those lost edges. Enjoy this during some downtime over Christmas.

Dec 6 2020

56. TWO HORSES GRAZING

I don’t normally do a lot of animals but I took this photo nearby and I loved the fact you could switch in your own background. There’s a nice wet into wet wash with our three colours to start and we move onto some fantastic details and bright tones in the horses themselves whilst preserving the all important whites of the paper. I can’t wait to see what backgrounds you all use. Happy painting.

Nov 21 2020

55. BLACKPOOL TRAM – PREVIEW

I'm home ! We're back in Blackpool, Britains most famous seaside town and we are painting this stunning tram scene which is a daily sight here. The iconic Blackpool tower fills the skyline behind and we will use lots of wet into wet adding some lovely detail in our tram lines. We will have lots of fun with this one.

Nov 8 2020

54. THE STREET BUSKER – PREVIEW

This week we’re painting this fantastic 'street busker'. It’s a great painting to understand shadows, the hat he’s wearing creates a great shadow straight across the face and allows us to show the features of his face in both light and shadow using warm and cool shades to bring forward the subject matter where needed. You’ll love this one.

Oct 25 2020

53. HER FIRST BIKE – PREVIEW

This fantastic picture of a girl riding a bike is todays tutorial. It has a great shadow cast onto the pavement where we will use some lovely darks to create a deep yet colourful shadow. There’s some lovely fine detail to do on the bike and we have to keep some areas sharp using our dry brush techniques and some softer using wet into wet. This is a gorgeous painting to hang on any wall, I know you’ll love doing this one.

Oct 11 2020

52. THE BLUE BOAT – PREVIEW

Today we’re painting “Blue boat”, this is a boat with lovely reflections, sat on a bed of sand in a natural marina. It’s a great way to practice getting colours right for reflections and shadows along with a little bit of detail. Its great for all levels so grab your brushes and enjoy.

Sep 13 2020

50. THE LONG SHADOWS – PREVIEW

Today we’re painting “The Long Shadows”, this is one of my favourite things to do, big long shadows cast from direct sunlight, and two detailed figures walking with a soft out of focus pavement behind them. This is so much fun because you can hang this painting in any direction, you’ll see what I mean at the end, but before you sign it, decide which way up you are going to have it. Enjoy!

Aug 30 2020

49. LOST IN THOUGHT – PREVIEW

Today we’re painting “lost in thought” a single figure, sat alone on a quayside contemplating life (we think). This is a great painting to dip into when you have a spare hour to paint. It’s a brilliant piece to try several times to improve your techniques and lays the foundation for the larger paintings we do. Theres use of highlights, shadows, wet into wet and dry brush techniques. You’ll enjoy seeing the improvements each time you do this one. Enjoy.

Jun 7 2020

45. RODEO – PREVIEW

Yeehaw, this week were painting one of my favourites. It’s a rodeo scene of a cowboy riding a bull. This is a really exciting subject as we have to create the effect of dust and movement in the foreground whilst keeping our focus on the bull and cowboy. Were using our pallet of three to start and moving on to all six colours for the detail, you’re gonna love this one…

May 2 2020

44. WALKING AND TALKING – PREVIEW

Today we're in the world famous Liverpool. This is a photo of my own with great shadows to really show perspective in the painting. It’s two people ‘walking and talking’ in everyday life, a typical everyday scene that could be from anywhere in the world. We are going to use three colours for our initial wash, and then six colours for our detail. You’ll really enjoy this one!"

Mar 14 2020

42. WHATS OUT THERE – PREVIEW

We are going to Spain... This week we have a more in depth tutorial that focuses on two women sat on a wall looking out to sea. It's a great exercise in using wet in wet technique as we need a nice blurred background from which we can build detail into the main focus which is the two women discussing "Whats out there?"

Feb 29 2020

41. DONT DO THAT – PREVIEW

This week we're having a little fun. This is a composition of my own with a woman, hands on hips, looking on with disdain at a little dog spraying her luggage. It's a light hearted but great beginner/intermediate tutorial for you all to have some fun with. The reference image doesn't have a dog in it but I thought adding it made it a better composition, plus you get the chance to choose your own dog, search for one on google, or use the one in the reference drawing. I'd love to see a few different types of dogs in the gallery so go crazy and indulge yourself.

Feb 15 2020

40. THREE MEN WENT TO SEA – PREVIEW

Welcome to Tenerife, This week we're painting from a photo I took of three men going out on a boat for a days fishing. It's a scene you see a lot in the small fishing ports and is great fun for all levels of artist. We use the three base colours for our under wash and move to all six for our more detailed work. This is a great painting and I hope you really enjoy it.

Feb 1 2020

39. TETE A TETE – PREVIEW

Bonjour, we're in France. A typical small cafe, to be specific, with a couple sitting enjoying a drink. This is a great painting for all levels and we've had some long tutorials recently so this is nice change of pace running a little shorter at just over an hour. It's a great use of colours in the shadows and washes then using precision to create the pavement and the shutter effects. I hope you really enjoy it.

Jan 18 2020

38. POOGANS SMOKEHOUSE – PREVIEW

We're in Charleston, South Carolina, and we're outside the famous Poogans Smokehouse. This is a challenging and in depth painting that creates a wonderful finished painting worthy of anyones wall. I've broken it down in to several sections and we will work through it logically, Don't worry about counting those bricks in the background, I'll show you a great way to create the brick effect. It's a really fun painting that you'll really enjoy.

Dec 21 2019

36. HAND IN HAND – PREVIEW

This could be anywhere in the world, it's a painting of a couple holding hands walking down a promenade next to a beautiful blue and green sea. We use lots of colours in our shadows, whilst retaining the highlights using the white of the paper. Our background wash creates a grounding for our subjects feet, through the use of the sunlight casting shadows, and the lovely blurred background is created using wet in wet technique. It's a really fun painting that you'll really enjoy.

Dec 7 2019

35. TWO IN TENERIFE – PREVIEW

This painting is a little different. We have two people, two trees, two pigeons, it's two in Tenerife. An advanced tutorial for those who really want to get stuck into using multiple washes using our base three colours and then using all six colours to create a deeper more detailed tone for our subjects. We break this down into multiple sections to create a methodical approach to the painting. Enjoy.

Nov 23 2019

34. SONNY MACK – PREVIEW

We're in Memphis. Beale Street, the world famous home of Jazz and we're painting Sonny Mac mid performance. This painting only uses three colours to create lovely darks and a shallow depth of field for our background. Then we split the painting of Sonny himself up into nice easy sections before coming in with the final detail at the end. This is a really challenging tutorial but the result is an incredible painting you'll be really proud of.

Nov 9 2019

33. BACK WITH NOTHING – PREVIEW

We're on holiday in Tenerife watching the boats go by, but this group of fisherman have come back with nothing so that's exactly what were calling this one, "back with nothing". This painting uses lots of the tip of our large brush as well as some fun background washes that bring really vibrant movement to the foreground. Plus we have a nice out of focus feel to the sea behind the boat. The hero of the piece is the two fisherman dragging back their empty net. Enjoy.

Oct 26 2019

32. GOODBYE SUMMER – PREVIEW

This week we're in South Carolina and painting a fantastic photo by Lorri Wilson. It's a great look at using wet into wet technique for creating interesting backgrounds and has some finer detail in the figure and items she's carrying, It's going to be a fantastic one to paint and perfect for those long Autumn nights. Enjoy.

Sep 28 2019

30. BUSKERS IN THE SUN – PREVIEW

This tutorial is a lovely image of two musicians in a market square somewhere in sunny Spain. In the painting there is lots of wet into wet, lots of dry brush technique and also the importance of leaving the white of the paper for the highlights. It's all about brush control, water control and lots of colour. Plenty to get stuck into!

Aug 17 2019

27. BUCKET AND SPADE – PREVIEW

This tutorial is a lovely image of two kids playing with a bucket and spade on the beach. A great painting for those of you who like to paint people but don't enjoy painting faces as there is very little detail. This is a tutorial we can all have a go at with confidence.

Aug 3 2019

26. BOY SPINNING TYRE – PREVIEW

Hi all, this short painting uses a slightly different technique; working wet onto dry for the first wash, and then working wet onto wet in some of the shadow areas. It is a lovely little painting to do and I hope you are going to enjoy painting along with me.

Jul 20 2019

25. SINGLE ROWER – PREVIEW

This tutorial is a lovely image of a rower on the River Thames. Some great early morning light creates some fantastic reflections on the water surface. This is a relatively simple painting but the reflections and capturing movement create some interesting challenges.

Jun 22 2019

23. 4TH OF JULY – PREVIEW

This week's tutorial is a young girl pushing a bike celebrating the 4th of July - US Independence Day. There is a lovely field of daisies, lots of nice glows and lots of nice white highlights, combined with the warm yellow sunshine and vibrant reds and greens. This is a great subject so come on and let's get started.

Jun 8 2019

22. STREET FOOTBALL – PREVIEW

This weeks project features a group of kids playing football on a hot day in a city location, most likely in southern Spain, Portugal or Brazil. What attracted me to this scene was the vibrant colours, strong crisp shadows, high contrast and sense of movement coming from the kids.

May 11 2019

20. FIRST PAST THE POST – PREVIEW

Hello everyone, here we have a painting tutorial that is jam packed with loads for you to get stuck into! The horses riding at full gallop provide loads of movement for you to capture and the exciting, vibrant colours really bring this race to life. So let's get started!

Apr 27 2019

19. COWBOY – PREVIEW

Here we have a painting of a Cowboy rounding up cattle. This scene has beautiful natural sunlight creating lots of lovely warm tones and shadows. Not too much detail in the background allows us to focus on the Cowboy, the horse and the movement in the cattle. I'm sure you will enjoy this one.