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September 9th 2026:
Finally a bit more free time. Working area now back to normal and thus celebrated with a new acrylic painting. I don't do very much with acrylic but this seascape seemed to work well with it. Derived from several shots of a North Cornwall coastline. A fairly limited palette of colours; ultramarine blue, cerulean blue, alizarin, burnt umber, a little turquoise light and a splash of lemon yellow. Plus white, of course. Various features painted with a little gloss gel and larger waves with heavy gloss gel mixed into the paint. Also in progress at the moment is a small pastel; plus the identical scene being worked in oil-pastel, for a comparison. I want to finish off two oil-paintings as well, which have been lying around waiting for further attention. I hope to exhibit those later in the year.
Boisterous Waters: acrylic on canvasboard 20x16 inches (50x40cm)
August 13th 2026:
A very limited time allowed the polishing-up of a small oil-pastel. I had 'completed' it a while ago but decided to do a little tidying-up of the front section of grass. I have a couple of new surfaces I'd like to try out, they are oil-papers and will handle applications of thin turpsy washes. I need to pick out some suitable references to experiment with.
Finally, my working-area is just about back together again. I'm trying to locate a fan for the room, wish I'd bought one earlier; every shop seems to be out of stock. I'll be sure to find one during the winter months.
Cloudbank, Lundy Lighthouse; oilpastel 12x9 inches approx. (30x24cm)
July 15th 2026:
A chance for photos. Today's small piece is on a canvas that has fine ribbed lines in it. Not my favourite surface but I have quite a few panels with this texture, so don't want to waste them. The image is from the Brecon Canal, Wales. Painted fairly casually, due to limited time; marked as 'in progress' because there are still a few bankside flowers to add, plus a little more work on the curving wall.
In a couple of weeks' time I embark on a re-arrangement of my working-area; replacing the fifty-year-old carpet on the floor with something a little newer (thirty years old) and, from a painting point of view, almost as impractical(!). I have been tempted to keep with bare floorboards but in winter the room is very cold. It'll probably take a few days to do; the time being taken up mainly by emptying the room and putting everything back again. At times I wish it was all downstairs on the level, but that isn't possible now.
In Progress: A view on the Brecon Canal; oils 12x9 inches approx. (30x24cm)
July 2nd 2026:
Time is dragging. Painting getting done in small batches and one or two satisfactory pieces. Not enough free time though to really concentrate. Happily one or two sales in the past weeks, which is nice; including an oil-pastel, a new medium for me.
May 23rd 2026:
Renovation work is late starting. Will go well into June. Today's work is one IN PROGRESS. It's almost there but still needs work on the reeds. This picture was started in late 2023 and had virtually nothing done on it during '24 and '25. I decided it was time to get on and try and finish it.
I'll probably be lucky to get to my paints once a week, for a while. I still battle with over-absorbent canvas and board surfaces, but have some new primer to try out, which---I hope--- will be of greater assistance.
In Progress: The Severn Estuary at Sharpness; oils 20x16 inches approx. (50x40cm)
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April 28th 2026:
Painting is slow but moderately productive. During May I will have very little time to paint since there will be a considerable house-renovation job ongoing; and will take the whole month and probably longer. Three paintings are being aimed at local exhibition in Backwell, Bristol, during late May; they are all featured on the Landscape page here. I have accumulated paintings, over the past fifteen years in particular, and am coming round to the idea of moving them on...quite how I do it I don't yet know but there is still much sorting-out to do.
Meanwhile, as oil on board is drying, I have pulled out the acrylics (something I don't use often) and created an imaginative colour-scheme for an edge-of-woodland tree. It uses metallic paint mixed with several blues, black and a warm brown. Very experimental. I used the mix some years ago to paint similar views.
Tree by Moonlight; acrylic on canvas, 20x16 inches approx. (50x40cm)
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April 5th 2026:
Pastels have been put aside for a little while; they are in need of fresh input, subject-wise. I have re-sorted my oils box and currently have three pictures in varying progress stages. None of them large. I haven't painted on a canvas or canvas-board for many months now and it feels strange, after working on paper and card for so long. I'll see how it goes; a change is as good as a rest.
The picture today is a very simple one, more of a drawing really, in oil-paint. It's on a gesso-board, a very nice smooth working surface for oils and also acrylic.
Browns Gatehouse, Wells; oils on gesso-board, 8x8 inches approx. (20x20cm)
Not sure how long this oil-phase will last, but the change of direction helps to stimulate new ideas for other paintings, whatever the medium.
February 28th-March 1st 2026:
Today's picture has been done in a limited number of colours, reflecting the darker winter days when moorland trees are seemingly lifeless and the rivers flow slowly like a sleepy silver ribbon. It is on PastelMat paper that has been re-purposed and lightly coated with a fresh layer of clear gesso to provide tooth.
I have another, smaller pastel that needs a few finishing touches; before moving on with a new work, in oils on gessoboard. Another picture from last year, done with oil-pastels, has also been completed and currently sits over at Reddit in the oilpastel section (will post here in a short while).
River Parrett in Winter; pastel on pastelmat card, 13x9 inches approx. (32 x 24cm)
February 5th 2026:
A terribly slow start to the year, so much bad weather leaving me unable to photograph my newer pictures outdoors. I have one pastel completed, with a second one requiring just another half-hour or so. Lots of other pressures on daily life too, tending to sap the available working-hours. A few lightweight sketches that may become paintings in due course.
The image today is fairly sketchy, done in watercolour on Langton Prestige paper. It's a flat moorland view with a church hidden behind trees. I don't think I'll be taking the work any further than this, it does all I wanted it to do; which was the sky colour and flatness of the scene. A little bit of white gouache and Neocolor watersoluble crayon was added in places.
Nash Church, Gwent Levels; watercolour 11 x 8 inches approx. (29 x 20cm)
December 31st 2025:
After a number of days offline due to poor internet links, finally back, for the time being. I'm rounding off the year with a pastel produced in brown and blue-greys, but with a strong light-source. As said last time, I've had to scan it in two halves, then join them together...not an easy job and the join is still visible to those with sharp eyes. However I can photograph it next year when the daylight is better. This painting was created from an evening photo and recollections of the shadows produced by buildings. The main feature is the sky, so all other elements needed to be more sudued. I have another similarly-toned landscape approaching completion; and a third one that will be worked through during a mix of art-meeting time and my own. Looking forward now to seeing what comes forth during 2026.
St. Ives at Sunset; soft pastel on Pastelmat card, 14 x 10 inches approx. (35 x 25cm).
December 4th 2025:
Well that's the November exhibition over for another year. Time to tidy up the workroom, de-frame a few items and decide what will be painted next. I have one picture awaiting its photography session; I normally do these outdoors but winter isn't a good time unless the sunshine is bright. I have hopefully fixed my scanner now and may use that but the painting will have to be scanned in two halves....not the best of methods. If successful, I will put it up here; or maybe another smaller work, before the end of this year. At present I'm working through a small pastel painting with sharp contrasts between light and dark. I also have another one of similar nature and size, but can't quite decide yet whether to make it landscape or portrait orientation---or even square. In the end I might get more than one painting from the reference material.
November 4th 2025:
Another gouache painting, again this one has appeared over at Reddit, in the Gouache sub-reddit.
Autumn Portrait; acrylic-gouache on paper, 7 x 10 inches approx.
Acrylic or acryla gouache is an acrylic paint that dries with a matte finish, very much like traditional water-based gouache colour. This is a quick-ish work on hot-pressed paper, of an autumnal tree, first seen on a canal-side verge. I am busy now framing pictures for a local exhibition at the end of November, but will still be tackling some new ideas; things seem to be 'on a roll' with gouache paint at the moment, so I am continuing with the medium. It dries quickly and can be used on paper or board; I use acid-free mountboard.
October 17th 2025:
Another gouache painting, again this one has appeared over at Reddit, in the Gouache sub-reddit.
Cornish Rocks; gouache on mountboard; 8 x 5 inches approx.
Sometimes you get a painting that paints itself...this one was almost effortless. It will join the other seascape below in local exhibition in a month or so's time.
October 2025:
I've been back to playing with gouache paint, for a while, since it is almost as immediate as pastel and gives a fresh approach to images. This one has been doing well for views over at Reddit, in the Gouache sub-reddit.
View from Porthmeor Beach, Cornwall; gouache on mountboard; 8 x 5 inches approx.
I'm using mountboard, which is acid-free and provides the smooth surface that I prefer to work on with this paint I currently have paints from Schminke and Winsor&Newton, plus a few old Daler-Rowney designer range; however I avoid ALL the fugitive colours such as B permanence and lower-grade, so that my pictures stand the best chance of retaining their colours for many years to come. Gouache was a favourite with the poster-painters of the 30s-40s, etc and it creates a distinctive flat, matte image. For the painter, even a small finished piece can have the potential to lead onto a larger work in maybe oil or acrylic, since the colour-schemes have already been worked out. I think this one might head off for local exhibition just before Christmas.
August-September 2025:
Soft pastel on dark-toned PastelMat card, approx 14x10 inches.
Evening Sails; oilpastel on Canson paper; 12 x 12 inches approx.
Some while ago I tried a similar view in soft pastel; this week I tackled it again using oil-pastel. I am actually happier with the oilpastel result, which is again on Canson sanded Touch paper. There is some experimenting going on with gouache and acryla-gouache; I am trying out papers and card for their suitability with these two media. Gouache is one that reflects light very readily, rather like soft pastels and I'd like to try them again for small studies. Acryla gouache is a fast-drying acrylic-based medium, and was used for three pictures currently on the gallery; it has final effects that are similar to gouache, drying flat and matt in surface sheen. I'm short of certain colours in both ranges, so will be doing some shopping this week (not an easy task in the current economic climate).
August 2025:
Soft pastel on dark-toned PastelMat card, approx 14x10 inches.
Rocks at Northern Point, Lundy; pastel on PastelMat paper; 14 x 10 inches approx.
The island of Lundy, situated in the Bristol Channel, has many fascinating rock formations. This one is at the north end of the island, near the light-house; seen on a bright but very breezy day. Most of July has been spent in rest-mode, with just one small watercolour being experimented with prior to holiday-time.
June-July 2025:
Another oil-pastel, this piece also on Canson "Touch" sanded paper.
Marwood Hill Gardens, Devon; oilpastel on Canson Mi-Teintes-Touch paper; 13 x 9 inches.
I spent a long time sorting out the greens on this one, because although I have a good selection of colours some of the garden greens vary between pinkish, greyish, and even orange. The types of paper do affect the outcome and I'm still trying out new surfaces. So far I'm pretty happy with oil-pastels and they are offering a lot of opportunity to experiment. Really hot weather now, so I won't be taking them outdoors! Meanwhile, soft pastels are just having a quiet back seat; something is in progress, however and I may get the chance to put it up here next month/August.
May-June 2025:
Today's piece is in oil-pastel worked on a grey-blue sheet of Canson "Touch" sanded paper. It started off as a meadow with a building in the background, but as the work progressed I became increasingly dissatisfied with the building....so two-thirds of the way through the session I pastelled the whole thing out. In its place I worked an evening sky; this being done with careful use of a turpentine-dampened smooth cloth to wipe over the building; followed by a little drying period before adding new oilpastel for the sky.
Rough Meadow; oilpastel on Canson Mi-Teintes-Touch paper; 18 x 14 inches.
The process involved three grades of oil-pastel; firstly some harder cheaper ones, for marking the main masses in and getting a head start on the large grassy section of foreground; followed by medium-hard oilpastels to build the substance. Then alternate use of these with the softer, oily-grade oilpastels.
The work came out unexpectedly larger than usual, I think due to the sweeping strokes added for the grasses. In all I am very happy with this piece and feel that I am slowly getting to grips with the medium; which is generally snubbed by the art world for some reason.
I have completed a second piece and a third is underway also.