Watercolour painting of Frangipani flowers There's something so incredibly exotic about frangipanis. Maybe it's because they conjure up images of Hawaii and garlands of tropical flowers. But then there's also how fragile and pure they look, and their incredible scent. Everyday of my visit to my parents recently I would visit this frangipani tree and breathe in the scent. It was so lovely. I'm really glad I took the time to paint them too. You can paint these too! I took a number of photos of each step in painting these and the full step by step with detailed instructions is ..read more

  Watercolour of Refugio San Vicende, Pyrenees, Spain Lately, I've been loosening up and relaxing a little in my paintings. Having fun and being bold. It's exciting! When I want to let go and paint with abandon, here are few things that help me. I thought you might find something in this list that speaks to you.   Painting standing up ​ When I stand at a distance from my painting, I can’t paint tiny details. I also need to hold my brush further back so I can reach the paper, so my brush strokes are looser. Embracing larger brushes It’s rather obvious that you can’t paint ..read more

  watercolour seascape Join me on my favourite beach on the north coast of Spain. We visit every September and part of the tradition is that David builds these huge rock sculptures and I sketch them. Now you can paint one with me too! Besides the sculpture itself, we have a lovely rainy sky, a sunny beach and a few lapping waves. So a few different elements for you to explore. Also! Make sure you watch right to the very end, as we have a little surprise for you after my sign off :-) Happy painting! Full video tutorial on Patreon and Renee's Studio ..read more

  Watercolour painting of a white egret It's feeling rather spring like here in the Pyrenees, although I think it's only a short spell before winter returns again. I hope the birds know this, because they're wide awake already and the other day we saw vultures building nests and golden eagles doing an incredible mating dance in the sky. The frogs are croaking too, which means we see herons and egrets about. So wonderfully stately and elegant, they are great subjects to paint! For this one, I've recreated a painting I did for my mother-in-law over 20 years ago. We abstract the ..read more

  My quinacridone colours and favourite colour combinations One question that crops up fairly often is why would you purchase quinacridone colours, when other traditional pigments seem so similar? In fact, it cropped up again in my Patreon forum back in December and I've been meaning to write this post since then. You'll have noticed that I have 3 quinacridone colours on my palette - quinacridone rose, quinacridone sienna and quinacridone gold. At first glance these seem very similar to other more traditional pigments - permanent rose, burnt sienna and raw sienna.  Attach ..read more

  Delicate Arch, Utah. Pen and watercolour painting. In 2011 we visited Utah and Colorado on a climbing holiday. The wonderful red rock formations, towers, arches and canyons, all set in the desert, were some of the best scenery I had ever seen.  Long winter evenings right now mean that I've got time to revisit some old memories and paint scenes from photos or from my outdoor sketches. A few weeks ago I painted a little postcard of Delicate Arch - one of the incredible arches in Arches National Park. Someone who saw it online asked if I would do it again as a full tutorial ..read more

  using negative painting techniques in practise Hi everyone, After last week's lesson where we painted the abstract goldfish using the negative painting technique, I thought it might be a good idea to follow up with a quick post showing other ways to use this technique. Negative painting is not just for abstracts. It can be used for ... creating highlights or shapes against a dark background creating a lovely sense of depth painting white objects, where you reserve the white paper painting loose colourful washes or first layers with freedom, knowing you can come on top and cut ..read more

  watercolour goldfish using negative painting Near my house there's an historic lavadero - an very old laundry area and a natural spring. The big, old wash tub is now a beautiful pond under some huge plane trees. Someone put some goldfish in the pond a few years ago and they've multiplied and grown. I love to go sit and watch them. Its calming and meditative. When I thought about painting the fish, I had a number of ideas. One thing I really wanted recreate while painting was the peace and meditation they make me feel. Painting abstracts can feel like this, so does painting vi ..read more

  Paint snowy landscapes in pen and watercolour Grab a hot drink, your paper, paints and brushes, and join me in painting some winter snow scenes. Class dates … Saturday 27 January and Saturday 03 February 2024, 6pm CET (Madrid). Equivalent world times (please check I'm correct!) London: 5pm Los Angeles: 9am Edmonton: 10am New York: 12pm Sydney: 4am (Sundays) Auckland: 6am (Sundays) Small class only. Booking information here ..read more

  Season's greetings and happy holidays! I love this time of year when everything looks so festive and so many people are feeling creative. Are you painting cards for Christmas? Here's a list of the 6 tutorials I have for you... Gingerbread biscuits A robin in the snow A winter scene in 2 colours A deer in the snow 15 minute abstract Christmas cards A cathedral You can find them on Patreon and Renee's Studio. As always, I look forward to seeing what you create :-) Happy painting ..read more