Before working on a really large painting, I usually like to create a mini study to get an idea if the composition and colours will work together. It also gives me something to reference (and reassure myself that things will pan out ok in the end!) if I have a smaller version on hand. The following are examples of what the mini study (painted with acrylics on paper) looked like first, before painting on polycotton canvas. The same brand and colour paints are used, so that I c

I've only recently discovered the artwork of Cressida Campbell, a prominent Australian artist. Her unique way of creating art appealed to...

How creating a likeness in a landscape painting can be a very similar process to painting portraits

Find out more about the inspiration behind this artwork that was a finalist in the Noosa Art Prize 2024

I have an obsession with weatherboard buildings. There. I've said it. I don't know where it comes from really, perhaps it's from holidays...

Bubble wrap. An environmental no-no, but unfortunately essential if you want to post paintings long distances without worrying about...

Recently on Instagram I asked people what they thought about framed and unframed stretched canvas paintings. I was curious because one of...

Trying to find a replacement varnish for the Golden ones I've been using

5 reasons to use a coloured ground instead of working straight onto a white canvas

Using water to help acrylic bleed at the edges

Whenever it's time for me to varnish my acrylic paintings, I get a lot of questions from people about what an isolation coat is. In...

In an effort to try and make my larger paintings as texturally interesting as my smaller paper works, I looked at Golden's Fiber Paste to...

This list of the obligatory steps in the Creative Process has been doing the rounds on the internet for quite some time now, and every...

The perils of scaling up Translating a small study up to a larger painting has always been a huge challenge for me. There are several...

I’ve listened to this book twice now, and simply want to tattoo its entirety onto my soul for future reference. I never knew how much...

I know it’s fashionable (and enviable) these days to just pour yourself onto a canvas without any planning and see where it goes, but...

When I was younger, I used to lie down in fields during summer time (this is England, where you can lie on grass without getting mauled...

The series secret A secret that experienced artists often tell you, is to work on more than one painting at a time, that way when you get...

I was chatting with a friend today about painting, and why she loved painting loosely and why I enjoyed a tighter polished picture. My...

Finding flow Often associated with sports stars, dancers, musicians, drivers... flow is the state you’re in when you lose sense of time...