Transparent Orange PO107 from Winsor and Newton is a relative new and uncommon orange pigment in the watercolour scene. Let's explore some of its pigment properties and create a colour mixing chart with some of my favourite pigments. I'll also share my experience using it as part of a limited palette for an illustration.

With my favourite watercolour pigment discontinued and running out, I now embark on a quest to find its successor. With colour mixing charts at the ready and limited palettes to explore, who will be the victor? The warm red throne lay empty, waiting for its new monarch.

Choosing what scanner is best for you is dependant on the characteristics you need. For an entry level scanner specifically for artwork, this is what I chose and my initial results with it so far.

Artist Journal Entry: musings about facing possibilities bombarding you when drawing, navigating choice overwhelm, and how internal skills can be developed alongside art skills. All while sketching a… warrior knight man? Sounds about right.

Watercolour pigments often have a range of hues and properties available, and PV19 is a great example of this. When I was a beginner to watercolour I started with a split primary that used Quinacridone Rose as the cool red. Years later, I am curious about its sister Quinacridone Violet. Both are the same pigment number, but with very different hues and producing different colour mixes as a result. Let’s dive in to some first impression discoveries about Violet-PV19!

Art supplies change or get discontinued entirely more frequently than people may realise. Rather than letting discontinuations be all doom and gloom, I want to share with you all the joy and help that an old pigment has given me in my painting practice over the years. Today we’ll be looking at Transparent Pyrrol Orange by Daniel Smith - but the much redder version that was discontinued before 2019 - and the process of a tiger painting.

A few months ago I changed my watercolour palette set up to see if it would help my painting process and creativity. Now that I have experience using the new palette system in practice, do I think its working for me?

An art journal entry about how I have been practicing comics using tips and exercises picked up from comic authors and courses.

It’s all about my favourite and essential art supplies today, in a Q&A about sketching pencils and illustration supplies.

Have an art question you would like answered? Drop it in the comments! Anything art-related is welcome. From learning art to the creative process to drawing and painting supplies!

Can you create an illustration with three watercolours? Let's find out as I take you through my process of creating my traditional fantasy illustration “An Early Riser”. Starting with the sketchbook process, choosing the colour palette, and then diving into the illustration itself. I’ll share the highs and lows of my creative process, and how through it all I form a consistent art practice.

Watercolour triads are an amazing way to explore new watercolours on a smaller budget, and to increase your colour mixing knowledge through limitation. I selected three pigments I have not used before to create an unusual yet practical limited palette for my self study and plein air adventures. All from a new-to-me watercolour brand Jackman’s Art Materials. Earthy greens mix with rich orange-browns, set against deep purples in this textural trio.

I brought my compact travel art kit with me on a recent search for fossils along the coast of the North Sea. Creative inspiration can be found everywhere, and sometimes can reach all the way back into childhood memories. Join me as I share with you the treasures of the Yorkshire coast from fossils to the folklore-rich Witch Stones (aka Hag Stones, Odin Stones, Adder Stones) and some of the sketches this trip inspired.

A peek inside my thought process for creating a watercolour pet portrait of Bella, a sweet elderly dog for International Pet Day.

Ever wonder what is actually like trying to draw or paint moving animals from life? Join me as I take you through my sketching trip at Yorkshire Wildlife Park, including all the highs, lows, and surprises that sketching outside brings! There are things you can do in advance to help prepare you for success, and to determine what that success even is for you. However, a lot of the skill building will come from actually putting pen to paper on the day itself, despite all the chaos nature and other people may throw at you.

Sketching moving animals from life is a unique challenge, but is there a way to help prepare yourself for it? In this post I share how I prepped for a sketching trip at Yorkshire Wildlife Park, and a simple exercise to do at home that helps bridge the gap of drawing animals from reference images and animals from life. I also talk about how I choose my art supplies for the travel kit, and how preparing my creative mindset is integral to my self-studying practice.

Exploring my new six colour limited watercolour palette with an unconventional split primary yellow. I use Azo Orange for the warm yellow and Azo Green for the cool yellow, and explain how I can mix a yellow from the two. Let’s dive into some colour mixing and a sketchbook test with a leopard portrait.

How do you handle very intensely granulating paints in watercolour? Join me as I walk through how I planned the painting of a lion portrait in watercolour and gouache to account for the heavy granulation of French Ultramarine PB29 by Schmincke.

How I identify and use my fears in art to figure out what to create and study next. Art fears often are the origin of “art block”, an umbrella term encompassing many causes and types of creative blockages and things that cause an artist to not create the pictures they want to make. By recognising fear as a helpful tool in my creative journey I can use it to identify areas that may become potential blocks towards what I want to create, and instead formulate a plan to pursue art in that direction.

Art supply recommendations can be overwhelming and confusing, especially to beginners. There are so many opinions, and often contradicting information. Rather than adding another list of supplies to the noise, I offer a list of seven things to consider before buying art supplies to help you navigate all the information online.

If you spend time around art communities you may come across Draw This In Your Style challenges. In this blog post I share my approach to hosting my own DTIYS challenge using a recent ink and watercolour character illustration. I also explain what the challenge is, and how you can host your own.