From the studio

I recently purchased a few books from the Tate Shop sale. One of them was this nice little collection of artworks on the theme of Spring. It’s divided into six sections: Into the Landscape, In the Garden, Agriculture, Rebirth, Blossoms and Blooms, and Uprising. If you were to make an artwork based on one of…

In class today, we were discussing ways of showing distance in landscape painting. To some extent, the same also applies to portraiture (get that tip of the nose coming forward), and still life. Composing a scene using perspective, and having foreground objects overlapping the ones behind is a good start, but also using warm, intense…

I started a short course in etching this week. It was strange being a student again after all these years of teaching. I haven’t etched for thirty years and have forgotten all the technicalities, which isn’t great when some of the process involves dipping zinc plates into acid! I had a search in my attic…

Tennis Court – 2025 – 45x60cm – Oil on board

Yellow Line – 2025 – Oil on board – 45x60cm

When Studio Fridays artists return to the studio for their first session of the new year, they will start by spending some time reflecting on their achievements and frustrations from last year, then setting goals for the coming year. If you are planning to set some goals for next year yourself, here’s an overview of…

We’ve come to the end of yet another lovely term of teaching on Wednesdays, where students of all abilities come to enjoy the studio, and to learn more about painting and drawing. Whereas half of the sessions each term are given to teacher led workshops, challenging students outside of their comfort zones, the other half…

For this year’s Studio Fridays Christmas dinner, each artist prepared an A5 winter themed artwork for Secret Santa. During dinner, each artist picked from the lucky dip, for a fellow artist’s work to keep. It felt really special. Can you match each artwork to the right Studio Fridays artist (and a mentor)?

Like most people, I like a bit of trompe l’oeil and photorealism. Especially if it’s done in an interesting and original way. I like the feeling of looking, and then looking again, when the brain can’t quite work out what is painted or drawn by the artist’s hand, and what is real life or a…

I send out email newsletters each week during term time, sharing some of the creative things I come across day to day in my world of art and art education. You will find each one that has been sent in 2025 below, but if you’d like to receive them each week by email, you can…