Monthly Archives: September 2023

For the seascape above I started out with no agenda, I was just going to play with a few colours. I started out with Winsor & Newton’s Indigo and started painting from the top of the paper. I then used water from a spray bottle (not too much!!) to encourage it to run down the paper a little. I then added some Phthalo Blue Turquoise (DS) because it’s a colour that complements W/N Indigo perfectly. I then turned my paper “upside down” so the colours wouldn’t run down the paper too far, the paper being at a 45°  angle. That was when I could see a seascape appearing…

I decided to “run” with the seascape idea. I added some Prussian Blue and some Ultramarine Turquoise, both by Daniel Smith. I added some more Indigo to create some darker tones and finished off with some W/N Titanium White for the sea spray.

It was painted on Baohong Master’s Choice rough paper and measures 15 x 23 cm. This will go into my sketchbook (with notes) for future inspiration. I may do something like this on a larger scale and maybe experiment with different colour combinations…

Next some sky practice inspired by Lois Davidson on YouTube…

For the moody, stormy sky above I used Cotman Payne’s Grey, Ultramarine GS (W/N) and Raw Sienna Light (DS). I love Cotman’s Payne’s Grey – it’s transparent and I love how the colours separate out when you add lots of water to it. I added a very simple landscape to the bottom just to give some context for the sky. This will go into my sketchbook.

A very simple cool wintry sky above. I just used Ultramarine GS and Raw Sienna Light. I like how these two colours interact together. This sky lent itself to being a snow scene so I added a little building with a fence, to indicate it being surrounded by snow.  Of course, this is not a finished painting – it’s just me putting ideas onto paper.

Another stormy sky above. For this I used W/N Indigo, Jane’s Grey and Raw Sienna Light. I tried to make sure I left some light areas in this sky. I’ve discovered that if you want white areas in a sky then it’s best to leave them white in the first place, rather than lifting out colour afterwards. It’s always very easy to add colour to a white area in a painting, but not so easy to lift it out afterwards… !

If you have a chance, please to take a look at Lois Davidson’s YouTube channel. There’s always lot’s of lovely, inspiring things to watch and learn from. At this point I will mention that, technically speaking, I now have a YouTube channel – which you can view HERE if you wish.  BUT I have no intention of adding any videos! I created it so that if I decided to leave a comment on a YouTube video, then anyone reading the comment can view a page to find out a bit more about me and where I display my art. The only other thing you will see there are a few channels that I have decided to feature as these are the channels I visit most frequently on YouTube.

That’s all for now, and I hope you’re able to find time to do something creative today!