Eilean Donan Castle

Love my new No.20 Round brush. It holds paint well and is a beautiful weight. Most of the sky and mountainside was painted with it. It is very versatile and as well as delivering great washes, it can cope with slighter detail too.

Eilean Donan Castle

Bye bye Blackbird

Had quite a time with this work. Sometimes it is a struggle when you bring different references to one picture. The sky, the blackbird and the hedgerow are all separate references and quite difficult to bring together to make a believable work.

This work was for a very lovely person who is mad about the Beatles. She first asked me to do a picture 18 months ago and to my shame, it was only on the cusp of her departure from the agency that I finally got on with it. Now it has a good home and that’s all that matters.

Blackbird singing in the dead of night

South Fambridge by the Crouch Estuary

Early morning on the Crouch estuary, South Fambridge

Having not picked up a paint brush for a couple of weeks, I felt  I needed to produce a quick study from a photo I took while on a walk along the footpath beside the River Crouch at South Fambridge this week.