I've often written about fountain pens, which I have always loved for their feel, their performance, their permanence and so on. However I also use felt-tip pens and they can be very useful for writing or sketching due to their convenience. I write a lot. I keep a journal that I update periodically; I use a paper diary that I use to plan and record all that I am doing in a day, a week, a year; I use a notebook for the French lessons I do every day; I use sketchbooks to record my explorations, and I write letters! For many of these tasks I use a fountain pen, but for some I also use coloured f ..read more

I love wood, silk, wool, cotton, linen, leather, and other natural products, and will choose long-lasting natural products over plastic or synthetic wherever possible. I also love pens and paper, notebooks, journals and inks.  A number of years ago I found that shares a similar range of interests, making gorgeous, well designed leather and wood products for writing and journalling. It is Galen Leather Co. This is a company with a beautiful, though sad story, that was started 2012. You can read the story here as it is their's to tell. I have bought a number of products from Galen Leat ..read more

I made a video painting out a range of blues to show a range of what is available, rather than just the ones I use or recommend. I have made similar videos showing greens and earth colours, though as there are so many more options I have focused on my favourites for those.  You can see all these blues and more on my website here, where they are arranged by pigment number. Here are the ones I chose for the video, which can be found here. I plan to create a number of YouTube videos this year, sharing more about colours but also sketchbooks, techniques, brushes, inks and so on.  The ..read more

I was sent a lovely collection of Blue Pine Arts handmade watercolours from Trupti in India. There are some really playful colours that were fun to paint out. I have more to add to this post but will publish the colours so you can see them this festive season. Blue Pine Arts Watercolours - Alphonso Yellow, Sunset Ibis, Quin Gulaal, Rosamarine,  Lady Marasaki, Butterfly Ultramarine. The effects of the two pigments in Alpine Lake green and Nebulla Green are lovely.  Blue Pine Arts Watercolours - Trupti's Indigo, Old Jeans, Alpine Lakes Green, Berylmarine,  Deodar Green, Nebula G ..read more

I received a collection of handmade watercolours from India, created with love by Tripsi. It's taken a little while to paint them all out and scan them to share here.  I scan the swatches with a Canon LiDE 400 scanner, and crop and eventually individually colour match each swatch as closely as I can. However the colours are still not perfect - especially some of the yellows and yellow oranges. They frequently distort again when loading them onto this blog. I haven't had a chance to individually colour match the full range, but want to at least share the colours this year! These are reason ..read more

Daniel Smith Gouache has been in the pipeline for some years, with the first 22 colour selections now available. Made with concentrated pigment and gum Arabic, these paints can be used straight form the tube and dry with a matt finish. Titanium White and Buff Titanium lend themselves to gouache as they are more opaque pigments. The yellows give a cool, medium and warm option which is very useful for mixing. Daniel Smith Goauche - Titanium White, Buff Titanium, Hansa Yellow Light,  Hansa Yellow Medium, Hansa Yellow Deep. The scan doesn't capture the vibrancy of Pyrrol Orange. Pyrrol Scarl ..read more

I've heard about the French Escapade workshops for a number of years and am really excited to have been invited to lead a group in Costa Brava, Spain, in May 2024. How glorious!  Join me from 19th to 26th of May 2024. The itinerary is wonderful and can be found here and includes the chance to sketch beaches and cliffs, the botanical gardens, gorgeous architectural details, Dali's Surrealistic World, gorgeous white-washed houses and so much more. You'll learn how to create the perfect colour for all you see, how to work from life, sketching on location with pencil and pen ..read more

In July 2024, I'm looking forward to participating in a really exciting group workshop (like a mini symposium!) at the Madeline Island School of Arts in Wisconsin USA.  Sketching Haven: A Summer Retreat with Tour Internationally Renowned Artists.  I'll be joined by three terrific sketchers from the Urban Sketching community - Eduardo Bajzek from Brazil; Oliver Moeller from Austria and Nina Johansson from Sweden. We'll be exploring the island and the Bay Area, working in our sketchbooks in pen, pencil and watercolour. This is a 5-day workshop, with gorgeous facilities and a vari ..read more

I wrote a blog post in 2015 Custom Watercolour Mixes - a question of Greys about creating various mixed greys, without the use of black or white pigments. Daniel Smith Art Materials created Jane's Grey - the lovely mix of Burnt Sienna and Ultramarine - as a signature colour in 2019. From 2018, I've also been working with their wonderful chief chemist on some interesting mixed blacks. We looked at an earth grey as well, but as a three pigment mix it was rather complex. We also looked at a Red/Blue mixed black but eventually narrowed down to just two. Jane's Black R/G (Red/Green) began last cent ..read more

Dirty Blue watercolours are 'handmulled with lots of passion and even more pigment' in The Netherlands. They are available via Etsy. These are mostly single pigment colours, with lots of special rare or hard to find colours. I enjoy watching all the explorations on Instagram and YouTube. The pan labels are hand-painted and the pans themselves have been 3D printed with the pigment number on them - as you can see below. Now that is dedication! There are also tiny pans available with just a dot of some colours. If you want a palette set, there is a great mixing set of 14 available too. You a ..read more