What excites me as a painter is the gorgeous behaviour of flowing watercolour pigments. By experimenting freely with rich, running paint, I have developed a technique I call “gravity painting”. This cascading method of applying paint directly to the paper without prior mixing, preserves the paths of mingling pigments in your painting. It’s a sure way to create subtle passages on paper as paint flows and reacts within generous amounts of water.
To free up your own watercolour painting style, why not try thoroughly wetting your support and then dropping in tube paints (diluted to a thick, single-cream consistency). Using deep colours, insures against watercolours paling during the drying process. It also allows you to thoroughly focus on the behaviour of the paint on the paper, rather than concentrating energies on mixing within the palette.
I share my painting techniques with art groups and hold Watercolour Workshops in Bath: Trees & Landscapes (Thursday 9th March 10.30-3) and Beautiful Bath Slopes (Wednesday 5th April 10.30-3) Stourhead Landscape Gardens (Thursday 18th & Friday 19th May).
Combine powerful watercolour techniques with art-filled conversation in a perfect venue on the edge of the heritage city of Bath. Mix wet-in-wet waterfalls of colour directly onto board to loosen up and brighten your paintings. The landscape courses are an ideal way to kick start your painting and suitable for beginners or more experienced painters. The portrait day is more technical and will help more experienced painters explore tone and control more complex areas of watercolour.