Painting in Portugal

What a lovely week I had in Portugal last week, we soaked up the sun like lizards and did a little painting as well! We stayed in this pretty hotel which was also a farm, fresh eggs in the morning and peacocks on the roofs - it just had to be my first demo.

There was also a natural swimming pool, when I say natural, it was man made, but the water was pumped around channels and filtered through plants, it was so clean that there were terrapins in it... can you imagine, swimming with terrapins? It was a little bit too chilly but I bet its fabulous in the summer. People were a bit sceptical when they saw the terrapins, but like I said, there are fish in the sea, so whats the difference?

The coastline was fabulous, really dramatic sea stacks and tiny little beaches as well as long sandy beaches, real contrasts.
This little beach was a bit special because only three of us made it down there, you got to it by going down steep steps then going through a tunnel adjoining one beach to this one. We felt like it was a secret world, I could have stayed there and painted all day!

It wasn't all wall to wall sunshine all week though, we had two overcast and showery days when we painted under cover. 

There were oranges dropping off the trees in the orchard so it seemed like such a perfect opportunity to paint wet into wet bright colours and enjoy the morning.

In the afternoon we focused on figures and various ways to paint them using watercolour as well as water soluble pencils.

This was my little demo using my Classic brush to suggest different figures.

Our subjects during the week were varied, we visited towns,  harbours, beaches and dramatic coastlines. At the end of the week I asked which was the place people liked the most and they were all different, everyone found something to enjoy painting or sketching and the week was a lovely one.

Painting Landscapes workshop

Its was a glorious morning yesterday as I drove in sunshine across country to Napton where I was to tutor an acrylic workshop for the day. What a lovely group they were too!

There were 18 painters, a mixed group from beginners to advanced. One lovely lady had her arm in a sling, but nothing was going to stop her having a good day. Everyone was so keep to do well and the room was buzzing with expectation as we began.

We all had different acrylics, a mixture of brushes and all of us had various choices of subjects but the one thing we all had in common was the will to succeed.

I completed my painting in stages throughout the day, giving tips and ideas to everyone as the day progressed.

The techniques we used were all similar, in that we analysed our tonal values first before adding lots of colour and details. This was a new approach for the group which I have to say they embraced whole heartily with super results.

We were all thrilled with the results and a really lovely day was had by all. Thank you to everyone who attended the workshop and made the day such a success!

This is the way I paint, especially if I am outdoors and it is a technique which works well for me, I paint in a very logical way, I don't chop and change my mind through the painting process which I believe keeps my work fresh and lively. Of course we all work differently and I can only show what works for me.

Step 1

Step 2

My final painting