Watercolours For Beginners Ebook 157 Pages

Watercolours
for
Beginners
A complete step by step guide

by Yorkshire Artist
Martin Stephenson
Watercolours for Beginners by Martin Stephenson www.artstevo.com

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For Julie Howland

Aileen & Norman Stephenson
Special thanks to
Jane and Mike Lynham, for ‗keeping me on track‘, fed and solvent !
To Rosie McKenzie. For her unbending love, loyalty and devotion, in the face of extreme adversity.
For their technical help, (and logs in the depths of Winter), special thanks to Graham (who did the book
cover design), and Karen Wales, who together, are also involved in the distribution of my book.
And to all the other residents, of Cherkovo, in Bulgaria, both English and Bulgarian.
And finally, to my long suffering kids Ashley, Russell, Kate & Connor and Newest addition Molly Mae.
This book is for you all.
Watercolours for Beginners
Martin Stephenson
Stevo – www.artstevo.com
Thanks, in no small way should go to the people and country of Bulgaria
‘You both inspired me so much’
Thanks to all the owners of the original works for allowing me reproduce them for the purposes of this publication.
All the text and images are subject to copyright law and unlawful reproduction, photocopying, either by way of storage or retrieval electronic systems
or manually without the written prior permission of the owner, are prohibited.
As the artist, I retain the intellectual rights of all of my original art work. Photographs of them, are for purposes of promotion and marketing only.
Original works are just that, and will not be reproduced in print form at any time without prior negotiation with the owners.
THIS E-BOOK IS FOR YOUR PERSONAL USE ONLY, AND IS NOT FOR RE-DISTRIBUTION, EITHER PHYSICALLY OR
ELECTRONICALLY. IF YOU KNOW SOMEONE WHO WANTS A COPY PLEASE LET ME KNOW

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INDEX
Introduction – About this Book
1. What you do and don’t need to know

2. Watercolour—The Theory
3. Myths and Golden Rules to get you started
4. When and where to paint
5. Painting Indoors or Out ?
6. Painting from Photographs
7. Subject Matter
8. Materials
9. Getting Started
10. LESSON 1—ALL ABOUT LIGHT
11. LESSON 2—LOOKING,SEEING AND PAINTING SIMPLE TONES
12. LESSON 3—REALLY LOOKING AND DRAWING WHAT YOU SEE
13. LESSON 4—COMPOSITION
14. LESSON 5—COUNTER-CHANGE
15. LESSON 6—RECESSION
16. LESSON 7—COLOUR MIXING
17. LESSON 8—WHICH BRUSH TO USE FOR WHAT
18. LESSON 9– THE 3 MAIN TECHNIQUES
19. LESSON 10-OTHER TECHNIQUES & NEAT TRICKS
20. LESSON 11-AVOIDING MUD & KEEPING IT CLEAN AND FRESH
21. LESSON 12-PAINTING SKIES
22. LESSON 13-PAINTING LAND
23. LESSON 14-PAINTING WATER & REFLECTIONS
24. LESSON 15-PAINTING TREES, BUSHES & GRASSES
25. LESSON 16-PAINTING BUILDINGS
26. LESSON 17-PAINTING PEOPLE, ANIMALS, BIRDS & BOATS
27. LESSON 18-PAINTING STILL LIFE & FLOWERS
28. LESSON 19-PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER THE PAINTING PROCESS
29. LESSON 20-FINDING YOUR OWN STYLE
30. Presentation
31. Marketing
32. The Paintings
33. The Drawings
34. The Pen and Inks
35. And Finally—Further Help and Support
36. Acknowledgements

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Introduction—About this Book
Welcome, and thank-you for buying my new book, ‘Watercolours for Beginners’, which
is the first, in a series of books, I will be producing in this way.
This book is in PDF format, and has been designed to be read on Adobe PDF Acrobat
Reader. For the FREE latest version please click on this link.
As a special bonus, if you register your copy, at www.artstevo.com ,you will be

provided with a password, to enable you to access the Private Students page, of my
website, where you’ll find lots of extra goodies to accompany this course.
By the way of an Introduction, let me say, at the outset, that I am a self taught artist,
though have I have attended the odd frustrating evening class, and Art Club
(am I anti-social, or do most people want to talk about painting, rather than doing it at
these places) ? I now recognize this phenomenon as ‘the fear factor’) ?
Apart from these dabbles in tuition, I have never studied Art formally.
I am an Art lover, of most mediums and styles, and continue to be influenced by those
around me. You can see a full list of my favourite artists, and further reading on my
website.
I moved permanently to Bulgaria in 2008, having painted and drawn all of my life, as a
hobby in England, and decided to try and fulfil my life long ambition, to become a
Landscape Watercolour Artist in my newly adopted Country, where I found plenty of
inspiration all around me.
During my life here since then, firstly I taught one of my neighbours to paint, and also
did live street demonstrations at the coast, at Galleries, and for
individuals and classes of children, during my first ever Exhibition
in Karnobat, in 2009.
These demo’s were great fun, and gave me the confidence to
paint in public. Occasionally they went wrong, which was also
was a great lesson in humility too !
My activities, my website, followed by my youtube videos, then

the founding of my own Art Club ‘Sryada’ (which is Bulgarian for
Wednesday), have all now culminated in this, my first ‘virtual’
book, and is based on my face to face classes, tuition and
Art Holidays, in Bulgaria. LIVE DEMO AT A BULGARIAN
STREET MARKET
When teaching, is was noticeable that some of my methods were

met with gasps, and comments like ‘that’s so easy’ ‘you make it look so easy’ or more
commonly, ‘no-one has ever explained that to me’, ‘now I understand’ that I realised
that there are so many myths surrounding watercolour painting, that some very
talented people like you, are put off by them all, before they even pick up a brush.
In addition if you are anything like me, (and Yorkshire people have a reputation for
being, let’s say frugal, to put it kindly), so standing in front of a relatively expensive
piece of virgin white paper, can be very intimidating in itself.
That’s why you may notice that I stand up to paint (only sitting down for the finest
details usually at the end of a painting), and also why I only own one fine brush,
usually only used to sign my paintings ! I always use the biggest brushes I can, and
when I started I painted on scrap paper, and used the back of unused wallpaper, and
lining paper, so it would be less intimidating !
Try it at home it’s a very liberating experience !

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Introduction Continued
I also started, as many other people do, by ‗fiddling‘ ! That‘s painting and drawing
with such detail and with very little looseness, fluidity or apparent enjoyment.
I even took my own fiddling to the extreme with very fine mapping pens, though
through this, I did find work, as a part time magazine Illustrator, in Yorkshire.
‗Fiddling‘ don‘t get much fiddlier than this !
If you find that some, or all of these statements are true, then the good news is, that
you have come to the right place, and you are pretty much where I was, when I first
taught myself Watercolours.
Incidentally for the observant out there, I realise that there are several spellings of the word
watercolour/watercolor, and have stuck to my native tongues version, for this book,
though I use all versions elsewhere, like on my website for example,
as it gets me up the Google rankings, whatever they are !
I won‘t complicate matters further by calling it Aquarelle,

as they do in Bulgaria and most parts of Europe.
Unless you are painting next to your pc (bearing in mind that water and computers
aren't usually the best of friends), you may find it useful to print off the pages, and
put in a binder, to use for reference. Whilst my own personal preference for subject
matter is landscapes, the techniques are transferable to whatever you want to paint,
be it portraits, floral painting, still life, whatever ‗floats your boat‘ as they say !
So please ‗settle in‘, and enjoy your own personal Watercolour Journey. I hope you
get as much pleasure from your new e-book as I got from producing it, and all the
paintings it includes, some of which were done especially for this publication.
Above all relax, and enjoy the ride…… this is supposed to be fun !
Martin Stephenson - Stevo

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1. WHAT YOU DO AND DON’T NEED TO KNOW !
And I realise that this page will shock and astound most people
especially fellow artists, and those in the know.
WHAT YOU DO NEED TO KNOW
 Above all else, you DO need the ability to ‘really look’ at subjects, and to draw
them onto paper. The subject of ‘really looking’ is covered in it’s own chapter.
 It will help if you can see a picture in your mind, when you look at something.
 It will help, if you have had some experience with any kind of camera, and are
used to framing pictures in a viewfinder, ( hopefully what you will learn from this
course, will also make you a better photographer too )!
WHAT YOU DON’T NEED TO KNOW
Though if you decide to delve deeper into the following is up to you.
 BUT YOU DON’T NEED TO UNDERSTAND THE COLOUR WHEEL,

PERSPECTIVE, EYE LEVELS, OR EVEN VANISHING POINTS
YOU JUST NEED THE ABILITY TO BE ABLE TO COPY WHAT YOU SEE REASONABLY
ACCURATELY, THAT’S ALL !
DO I HEAR SIGHS OF RELIEF NOW….. YES I THOUGHT SO IT INTIMIDATES THE HELL

OUT OF ME TOO ! ALL YOU NEED IS THAT ABILITY TO SEE AND COPY & THAT’S ALL !
If you have ‘really looked’ and copied what you have seen, how can the perspective,
the vanishing points, and eye levels be wrong, you just copied what you saw ?
‘The Old School Doors, ,

Cherkovo’ An example of just looking
Bulgaria 2009 and copying perspective
Now in Private Collection
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2. Watercolour—The Theory
‘I realise your about to skip this bit—but please don’t’ !
THE ‘GOLDEN’ TIME EXPLAINED

One of the many beauties of Watercolour Painting is the
WATERCOLOURS
immediacy of the whole process. Unlike all the other
The theory of Watercolour
painting mediums, it‘s quite realistic to be able to paint
painting is that your light
a picture and have it framed and on the wall the same
areas are pre-worked out, and
morning or afternoon, and in fact I have.
are unpainted or lightly tinted,
This is because the carrier of the pigment (the paint)
using see through paint and
is water, so the picture can be finished in the time it
thin transparent washes.
takes for the water to evaporate, and dry
It’s exactly this theory that
on the paper. I would advise you to check
scares most budding
what this time is, in your painting location,
Watercolourists off, to start
because ‗your Golden Time‘ will depend on
with, and this perceived
many factors, including the thickness of the
apparent inflexibility of the
paper you use, how wet you work, the
medium itself. But if you read
temperature, and even the time of day or year.
overleaf you’ll see that most
of this perception isn’t true at
‗THE GOLDEN TIME‘
all, and is, in fact myth !
And usually it‘s literally a few minutes, is the time when
the paint is fluid on the paper before it starts drying.
DURING THIS TIME AND THIS TIME ONLY IT‘S
POSSIBLE TO ADD OTHER COLOURS, AND GENERALLY
MANIPULATE THE PAINT. ONCE THE PAINT LOSES IT‘S
SHEEN, (AND YOU CAN CHECK THIS BY LOOKING AT IT
AGAINST THE LIGHT) ONCE THIS HAPPENS,
YOU MUST STOP PAINTING IMMEDIATELY !!!
You can then, only carry on painting the next part,
when this first part dries, naturally or otherwise.
By contrast you can see that this wet in wet Watercolour of mine As you can see with this half
is built up, using delicate layers of transparent washes. finished acrylic painting it‘s
The lighter parts of the trees and roof being only slightly tinted built up in layers, and in
and almost pure unpainted paper. places applied with a
palette knife
OILS AND ACRYLICS

With conventional painting
mediums, like oils or
acrylics you paint dark to
light and paint layer upon
layer with solid opaque
(none see through) paint.
So frankly, you can cover
up mistakes, and decide to
change tones, darks and
highlights at anytime.
Even whole paintings can
Wet in Wet Misty Field and Tree Study
Bulgaria 2009—Now in Private Collection
be painted over, with
another painting.

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3. Myths & Golden Rules
MYTHS DISPELLED
Lets start with these, and hopefully you will see that a lot of the ‘fear factor’ associated
with starting watercolour painting, is actually myth.
 ‘You only have one chance to get it right with Watercolours’ - Myth
Because of the medium of watercolour, and the fact that water is mixed with paint,
means that it is also water soluble. So it is entirely possible to remove a whole section
of a painting, and even the whole painting itself, leaving only a faint mark.
I call it the ‘sink treatment’ which involves soaking the whole painting in the sink, or
bath, and gently removing the painting or section with a course paint brush, once the
painting is softened.
When I painted this watercolour of a famous Fishing College below, I wanted to start
with a tint on the paper, to give it a stormy atmosphere.
I got quite some way through the painting, and then didn't like the overall effect I was
getting, so it got ‘the sink treatment’ ! The resulting tinted paper, accidentally gave the
painting it’s subtle tones, which have been much admired.
Sozopol Fishing College—Bulgaria 2009

Original in Private Collection
This first painting of this scene was painted 1/8th sheet size, as an initial study, for a half sheet
painting sold at my Exhibition and now in a Private Collection.
In my view the new version (inset) never captured the atmosphere
of the original after the sink treatment !
 ‘It’s impossible to cover up your mistakes with Watercolours’ - Myth
Because of the very nature of the medium, explained above, if acted upon quickly
most errors with the painting process, can be covered up, or removed altogether.
There is an example of a glaring potential disaster, on the next page, and I think most
people would be hard pressed to spot it. Before you read the associated text with it
overleaf, cover it up, and just look at the painting and see if you can spot it ?

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3. Myths & Golden Rules
MYTHS DISPELLED Continued
 ‘It’s impossible to cover up your mistakes’ - Myth
Can you spot the disaster in this picture ?

Read below for the answer
View over Karnobat—Bulgaria 2009

Original now in Private Collection
If I tell you that I renamed the picture ‘The eye of an Eagle’ that may be a clue !
Right at the very end of this painting, and preparing for my first ever Exhibition, I was
painting the foreground, right hand side, bare bushes. I was using either a stick, or dip
pen, in very dark paint, when it flicked a drop of paint into the sky area !
So I turned it into a soaring Bird of Prey !
If you splash onto your painting, it is also possible to lift it out, with a fairly dry, but
moist brush, which mops up the paint. A subsequent application with clean water, will
make it almost impossible to spot.
This technique is called ‘lifting or mopping out’ and is discussed in detail later.
 ‘Watercolours don’t last’ - Myth
Most quality ‘Artist Quality’ paints, whether in tubes, or pans (blocks), are guaranteed
for 100 years and all the great Masters works are still in tact.
Obviously it would be prudent, not to hang any painting in direct sunlight, though in my
experience, the mounts fade quite quickly, but the paintings stay fresh.

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3. Myths and Golden Rules
I hope you agree, that some of that ‘myth busting’ was surprising, and may allay some
of your fears. I also hope that the Golden Rules below, will show you that, with just a
few guidelines, it will give you confidence not to waste that precious paper eventually!
There are other painting guidelines later on, but try these for starters, and ‘get loose’ !
GOLDEN RULES
You may notice that I
1. Start by painting on cheap paper avoid giving you lists of
2. Paint with big brushes specific colours, like
3. Use a limited palette lower down here.
4. Paint standing up
5. Paint simple subjects Colour comes later, and
besides, if you havn't
got the colour I suggest
it only gives you a
reason not to try !
SO GO ON, BE BRAVE !
Turn to page 41
to have a look at
how easy this is
to paint, in about
20 minutes, or
watch it on
youtube first, and
keep stopping the
video.
This way you can
work at your own
pace. The
important thing is
‘Snow scene Karnobat’ to have a go !
Bulgaria 2009
This is a simple snow scene, originally painted small for a Christmas Card, and uses a
limited ‘Wintery palette’ of just five colours Black, Blue, Brown, Tan and Red, and is a
great one to start with. I realise that nothing gives as much encouragement to a
beginner, as seeing a finished painting, and to this end I have posted this tutorial on
youtube So if you have access to the Internet click on the blue link and watch it now.
It’s in 3 parts and includes my commentary, but don’t let that put you off watching it !
The great thing about snow scenes, is that most of the paper is left white, and will help
you appreciate the order in which to paint things too.
If you feel it’s too early to try a painting, and would prefer to build up to that later ,
that’s fine too, and a good place to start is in section 12 ‘All about Light’ where you will
also find a two-part tutorial, on you tube, about painting an orange !
There are other rules relating to the actual painting process which we will cover later,
one of the most important of which, is how to keep your paintings fresh clean and mud
free ! But more on mud later …...

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4. When and where to paint ?
When and where to paint, really has much to do with your personal circumstances, on
a practical level, as it does to do with any artistic considerations. All I can do here, is
give you pointers, as to what you’ll need, and what works for me, in my circumstances.
It goes without saying, that every artist dreams of having a studio, with perfect light,
heating, ventilation, water supply and with everything to hand and walls adorned in
one’s own art work, for all the world to see. And I am no exception.
‘My Proposed New Studio’ ‘And My Existing Studio

Artists Impression in The Kitchen’
Though the reality of my situation is somewhat different. I use my kitchen table, and
because I paint full-time, my stuff dominates the kitchen, and stays there, though I
know this arrangement may not be practical for you. You may have to fit around
family, partners , pets and work. All I would say, is that if you can leave work out,
somewhere, it would be better. Many times, I have looked at work with a fresh eye
after a goods nights sleep, and made changes.
Living and working in a hot country, like Bulgaria, suits me (especially in Summer).
To be able to just get up as soon as it’s light and paint is a joy. If I have been
considering a subject, as is normal, I leave everything ready just to get up and paint.
This room, that doubles as my makeshift studio, has two East and South windows and
gives me perfect light by which to paint.
Especially appreciated in the early morning,
before the direct sun comes around.
It’s also adjacent to my sink, water supply and

a rubbish bin, all of which is important, though
not imperative. I also have a tendency to dance
around whilst stood up painting, and listening My makeshift Studio
to loud music, which seems to help my on my Kitchen Table
creativity, and I know amuses my foreign
neighbours !
Oh well, eccentric Englishmen are nothing new

I suppose !

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5. Painting Indoors or out ?
This is a very tricky subject, and one with very strong plusses, and minuses, on both
sides. I love to paint outdoors (and in fact love being outdoors generally).
Some of the places I have turned up, and painted live in Bulgaria !
I think that demonstrating live is pure exhilaration, and is in the realms of the
theatrical. Don’t get me wrong, having to think on your feet, in less than ideal
circumstances, say in poor light conditions (painting at night, say under street lights) is
the thing of nightmares, for an average artist, and certainly gets both the adrenalin,
and the brain cells firing on all cylinders, and working on overload.
For those demo’s I have paired down my kit to a bare minimum, and everything I need
fits into my very small and battered old briefcase.
In theory, painting outdoors is great. Find your view, set up your easel, and your off !
My own experiences are a little different. Firstly one is confronted by the amount of
equipment one needs for such a ‘field trip’. Easels, boards, tackle boxes, water
containers and the like. And that’s before you've considered lunch and cold beers !
Not small considerations when on Public Transport, in a hot country .
For me personally, indoors is best. Sure, experience the scene, remember the
atmosphere sketch it, feel it, smell it, and photograph it, in great detail.
Don’t get me wrong there is an immediacy and freshness about ‘plein air’ as they
trendily call it these days.
The advantages of painting outdoors, are, in my humble opinion, far outweighed by the
disadvantages. Paper too white, weather too hot, too cold, too windy, too sunny, too
dull, rain, and that’s all before we start on the attentions of well meaning humans.
Then there are the unwelcome attention of animals, insects and birds, and their
droppings ! So for me studio painting is my preference.

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5. Painting Indoors or Out ? Continued
Another consideration, when deciding to paint outdoors or indoors, is the quality of

light available.
It is said ‘never to paint under artificial light’ and I am a great believer in that.
I would never hope to achieve a satisfactory painting, painted other than in natural
light. All that said, I did however, stumble across a painting technique that I devised,
whilst painting outside, in low light conditions, and in fact it will appear again later on,
as it’s a great way to start painting.
Without giving too much away now, I call it my tonal paintings and it’s a fantastic way
of starting to paint, because it makes you concentrate on tone, rather than getting
involved too early, in colour representation. The circumstances that lead me to this
improvisation, were that I was painting outside, and the light was fading, but I wanted
to continue, as the tourist were unexpectedly, heading out into the streets. So I started
painting in a sepia kind of way, as I found it easier to judge the scenes, and tones, in
the fading light. Surprisingly, they are very easy to do, and turned out to be quite
commercial too. So I re-create some of them for you, below.
Examples of Sepia type

‘Tonal Paintings’
‘Dusk at Sozopol Fishing College’

Bulgaria 2009
ALL NOW IN PRIVATE COLLECTIONS

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6. Painting from Photographs
Photographs, are a great way to record a scene and all the details, but it can never
take the place of a sketch, done in situ.
It’s possible to record a massive amount of information on a sketch, particularly about
mood, which is always lost, in all but the very best photography.
With a photograph, you are recording what’s there, but with a sketch it’s possible to
use artistic license to change things, to make a better, or more harmonious paintings.
We will be covering things like composition thoroughly, in a later section.
EXAMPLE—’TRABBI FALLEN ICON TO CHICKEN SHACK’

In this example, of an abandoned Trabant car in our village, the chickens were using it
as a shelter, but they were getting in through the window on the other side of the car.
I thought it would make a better picture if they were going in through the door, on this
side of the car. So I had to imagine, what the door would look like, if it was open. Also
if the door was going to be open, I also needed to sketch the layout of the dashboard
for accuracy. What initially attracted me to the scene, was that the car looked like it
had been speared with the telegraph pole, but I decided to move that, as I wanted the
emphasis to be on the novelty, of the car being used for the chickens.
And the final painting, with all

it‘s many ‗modifications‘ all in
the name of a better picture,
using very extensive
artistic licence !
The Original Photograph
I also ‘moved’ the car to a better part

of the village, removed the tyres, and
included a number plate from another
‘Trabbi’ in the village.
I hope you agree that this example
shows what can be done with ‘artistic
licence’ and maybe how photographs
can be useful all the same.
The original painting held in the fond
memory of most Bulgarians that see
it ,surprisingly remains unsold.
The painting was used on the front cover of The Wartburg and Trabant owners Club
Magazine called ‘Knight Rider’ in the U.K. in December 2009

15
6. Painting from Photographs Continued
In this second example of painting from photographs, of the oldest house in our Village
(originally an ale house), I loved its decaying pink plaster walls, and went home with
my sketch, and immediately experimented with colour, to try and accurately portray it.
Though not lived in, the owners still use the garden, to grow their annual crops, tend it
every weekend, and return in The Autumn for the harvest.
This type of subject, with it’s faded, though still elegant façade, remains one of my
favourite types of material, found in abundance in Bulgaria. I again used Artistic
License on the perspective of the building, to make it look slightly more skew.
It shows how a combination of sketch and study photographs can be combined to give
a pleasing painting.
See how I took a photo

study of another roofs
tiles, so I understood
how they interlocked.
I also took a piece of

broken roof tile home,
so I could get the
colour just right.
‘Snow scene Karnobat’

Bulgaria 2009
‗Dilapidated House—Cherkovo‘
Bulgaria 2009
ABOUT PHOTOGRAPHY
I am a keen photographer, so tend to use the 1/3rd rules on composition, which you’ll
learn in the later lesson, and it may help you when taking your own photographs.
I rarely go anywhere without my trusty digital camera, and it’s invaluable, to quickly
record a scene. I also keep a small notepad and pencil with me, on most trips, just to
do quick sketches, wherever I go.
As a general guide, I was always told to ‘record the scene’, so that’s without any zoom,
just try and keep the camera still, you can always zoom on the p.c. later. But only If
you have a sharp image to start with. And don’t forget to look behind you as
sometimes it reveals the best photographs too.
The Watercolour painting above could have been sold many times over.

16
6. Painting from Photographs Continued
In this last example, of a panorama in Sozopol, in Bulgaria, I wanted to show you how
to record a scene from several photographs ‘stitched’ together, as it were. You can do
this to paint a wide panorama, as with this one, but the technique can also be used if
your in a narrow street say, or trying to record a high building.
I had painted this scene over breakfast at the Kalithea Hotel and Restaurant, which has
an almost arial view over the panorama of Sozopol. It’s a subject I had painted at
different times, and had also taken overlapping photographs, so when I was
commissioned by the Hotel, to paint this scene, I already had the material I needed.
Several smaller paintings of

Sozopol Bay and Marina,
and the finished Panorama
Bulgaria 2009
All now in Private Collections
The Original sketch done

over breakfast from the
Hotel Balcony
The Photographs

17
7. Subject Matter
The subject matter you decide to paint, in your watercolours, can be anything of your
choosing. My own preferences are for Architecture, Land, Town and Seascapes and The
Female Human Form. I suppose, I am also a lover of decay in all it’s shapes and forms,
a love first seen in Venice and now in Bulgaria. There is just something about earth
coloured flaking paint and plaster, revealing render and brick beneath, that I find
irresistible. You will, I’m sure, have your own favourites, and I hope the skills you will
learn here, will help you to record your personal preferences and the subject matter
that you like.
Below are some of my favourite subjects, both in painting form, and in photographs,
just to give you an idea of some of the subject matter, you may want to consider.
Paintings and photographs of

subjects I like to paint
I try to keep an open mind about subject matter, and enjoy being surprised. Funnily,
portraits of either people, animals or pets, simply don’t do it for me , though I admire
those that can. Caricaturing appeals to my sense of humour I suppose, and may give
that a try at some point.
Floral painting, and still life painting is something that has had recent appeal for me,
and I tried these subjects in miniature for my Greetings Card Range.
They are likely to be the subject of more youtube tutorials too.
My advice would be, to paint what moves you !

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8. Materials
The materials you will need, really depends on whether you get the ‘watercolour bug’
or not. In my experience, most people I teach personally do !
On the following pages, is a detailed description, of all of the materials used in
watercolour painting.
The materials you will need, as a beginner, assume you have already had a go with
the big paintbrush that you got from the shed , standing up and painting, on the back
of wallpaper, and now want to progress further.
The photograph opposite, shows

a typical student’s starter kit, and
can be obtained anywhere, very
cheaply and would include :-
1. Some kind of board to paint

on this one is thin ply about
51 x 36 cm (20’’ x 14’’ ) it
just needs to be an inch
bigger all round than your
paper .
2. A pad of watercolour paper.
3. Masking or Gummed tape.
4. Paints in pans or tubes
5. Say 4 watercolour brushes
6. A white Palette to mix on
7. Pencil or Graphite to draw with ABOVE—A TYPICAL WATERCOLOUR STARTER KIT
8. A pencil Sharpener
9. A sharp Knife
10. A Putty Rubber
In addition you will need a water container.
Below are the items I use everyday in my ‘studio’.
My painting kit includes

my trusty Brushes,
white mixing dishes, and my Toolkit
holding everything else, including a
selection of my tubes of paints

19
8. Materials Continued
General Guide
As a general Rule, once you are painting regularly, I would advise you to buy the very
best materials you can afford. I know from experience, that picking flaking paint off
your work, fallen from the handle of a cheaply bought brush, is just a false economy,
and very annoying too.
PAPER
When you start painting, as I said in the Introduction to this course, use the cheapest
paper you can, because you will waste plenty, but it will all be valuable practise, and
you will paint something worth repeating, on decent paper, later on.
Watercolour paper is usually sold in either pads, or in single sheets, and comes in
different weights, and with various textures too.
The type, and size of paper you buy, may be dependant on your budget, convenience,
or even space considerations. More importantly though, is that once you have decided
on your own personal style, and the subjects you like to paint, you‘ll also find which
paper suits you.
Because I like to paint ‗wet into wet‘, and capture textures my own personal preference
is to use really thick English made, roughly textured paper, called 140lb (300gm)
Bockingford.
My only advice with paper, is to buy what you can buy locally, and experiment with
different types, until you find one that you like, then stick with it. That way you will
learn it‘s specific properties, drying times etc. and even it‘s limitations.
The only thing is to ensure it is specifically for Watercolour painting.
If you buy sheets, ensure it is loosely rolled, and never folded.
And when you handle it, do so by touching the edge only, as there is always residual
oils on your fingers, that can leave your finished paintings marked. Also never paint, or
dry your paper or paintings in full sun, the paper hates it ! And if you dry it with a
hairdryer, always use it on the slowest speed.
WATERCOLOUR PAINTS
I suppose that the first consideration with paint, is whether to use the solid pans, or
tubes of paint.
My own personal preference is for tubes, and the reason is really speed, because when
I am working on a big wash, for a large area, the last thing I need, is to be scrubbing
away at little pans of paint, whilst my paper is drying out. So I have never used them.
Once again you may be limited by availability in your area, as I am here in Bulgaria, so
just buy what you can, and the best you can afford.
They are usually sold as Artists or Student quality, and are priced accordingly.
Regarding the palette, really depends on your personal taste, but I reckon you only
need about say 10 tubes, and I list my main colours below. Though I am always
experimenting with new colour combinations, so try as many as you like.
The purists would advise, not to use white as it isn‘t translucent (see through), like the
other colours, but Chinese white can always be found in my art box. Don‘t worry if you
can‘t buy all of the colours, just find the nearest colour to it.
Your palette may be dictated by your favourite subjects, and can also change with the
seasons too so be prepared, and always keep spare tubes of your favourite colours in.
20
WATERCOLOUR PAINTS
The main paint colours, I recommend for beginners, are as follows :-
Ivory Black
Payne‘s Grey
Light Red
Burnt Umber
Yellow Ochre
Raw Sienna
Ultramarine Blue
Cobalt Blue
Lemon Yellow
Gamboge
Some artists use those plastic trays with small sections for each colour, personally I
find these restrictive, especially when mixing washes for large areas, though I do use
one if demonstrating, or painting outside for instance.
My white
mixing dishes, for
My white studio work
plastic palette,
for outdoors
Instead, I prefer to use cheap, plain white, china dishes, so I can be generous with my
paint. At the end of each painting session, and even sometimes during a painting,
I wash the weak mixed paint out of the bottom of the dishes. If this old paint
subsequently gets re- used, it can lead to the dreaded muddy painting. Though I do
leave a blob of paint on the sides of the dishes, and add to it with every painting
session.
This also serves to remind me, of my favourite colour combinations too.
Some artists also recommend those white butchers trays though I would fear the
colours running into each other. Maybe one of those with dividers in for party nibbles
would work.
Whatever you do use, make sure it‘s white, that way, you can see the mixed colour
very easily, and gauge the mix accurately, which is imperative, with Watercolours.
I never mix my paint with my best brushes either,
Instead I have a cheap kids brush, or two, specifically for this.

21
WATERCOLOUR BRUSHES
Once again, quality is the key word here, so buy the very best you can afford, and
ensure that they are watercolour specific, as oil brushes are much more coarse.
Originally, traditional watercolour brushes, were made of animal hair, with red sable
particularly popular. Though with technology, man made fibres, are now very good and
a little cheaper. I have a combination of brushes, and always put them in my mouth to
check the quality, to great amusement in my local Bulgarian Art Shop! If the bristles
feel fine and silky smooth it‘s a good indication that it‘s a good brush.
I also do this at the end of every painting session, as it helps to maintain the shape,
particularly important for flat brushes.
The sizes you will need really depend on the size of paintings you would like to do.
My very limited range of brushes is as follows :-

A No 7 Round Red Sable Brush Van Gogh range by Royal Talens
A No 14 Round Synthetic Brush from the Prolene Range by Pro Arte
A ¼‘‘ Flat Brush from the Sceptre Range from Windsor and Newton
A ¾‘‘ 12 Flat Brush D44 FROM THE Daler Range by Dalon
A Bulgarian No 30 1‘‘ Flat Brush
A cheap 2‘‘ paint brush from my local decorating store
A Set of cheap kids brushes
I also have some rough hogs hair brushes, in various sizes, useful for scrubbing out.
Incidentally I never use my best brushes for Masking Fluid, whatever it says about
cleaning, forget it, one dunk and it’s ruined, be warned !
myMY TRUSTY BRUSHES

Treat them well, and they will reward you with
many years of pleasurable painting !
There is a section on brush care later on.

22
OTHER ITEMS
These items may depend on where you paint, or if you favour particular techniques,
but might typically include things like :-
1. An easel
2. A drawing Board mine is ¾‘‘ plywood and about 25‘‘ x 35‘‘
3. A large water container, for washing brushes out
4. A smaller water jug, for use with your paints
5. Tape, for taping your paper down
6. A pencil or better still a graphite pencil
7. A putty rubber
8. An Art knife or scalpel
9. Masking fluid
10. Wax candles, cut into various shapes and sizes
11. Dip pens, sticks and quills
12. Black and Brown Waterproof Drawing Ink
13. Cheap paint Brushes to mix with and use for applying masking fluid
14. Cotton wool buds for mopping puddles and blotting colour out
15. White Kitchen roll, for blotting and cleaning up spills
16. White Toilet tissue, to lift out colour
17. Small sketch pad, for capturing the colours outside
18. Compact watercolour set for use outside
19. Digital Camera
20. And even a personal computer
Every boy should have a box for his ‗toys‘, this is mine !

23
9. Getting Started
Well here we are at last, and can‘t put it off no longer !

Let‘s Paint ……..
PREPARATION
The first thing to do is to prepare your paper to paint on, which may involve stretching
it, and is something that will either be necessary, or not, depending on several factors,
including :-
1. The size you paint—The bigger you paint the more likely you will need to stretch.
2. The weight of your paper—If you use lighter paper you may have to stretch it.
3. How wet you paint—If you‘re a lover of wet techniques, as I am, it‘s likely that you
will need to stretch your paper every time you paint.
I would advise you, when starting out, to try painting WITHOUT stretching your paper,
and see how you get on ! It will become apparent ,fairly quickly, if you need to stretch
after all.
STRETCHING WATERCOLOUR PAPER - WHY STRETCH PAPER AT ALL?
You may ask why paper needs stretching in the first place.
I suppose an analogy, would be when wallpapering. When you buy wallpaper, you
paste it, and leave it to soak, for ten minutes or so. This is so that the paper has
‗grown‘ to it‘s biggest size, before you put it on the wall.
In the same way if watercolour paper was used as it is, as soon as it was wetted with
paint, it would ‗grow‘ and buckle, this is called ‗cockling‘. When this happens all the
paint collects in the puddle, and dries with hard coloured edges.
This watermarking, (sometimes known as ‗Cauliflowers‘) shows up badly on a finished
painting, and is a definite ‗no-no‘ with the buying public, and is also difficult, though
not impossible to remove.
The bigger the sheet of paper, and lighter the weight of the paper, the more it will
cockle.
As I mentioned in the earlier section about materials, my personal preference for

paper, is to use rough heavy paper, called 140lb Bockingford . I find it suits the
subjects I like to paint, and stands up well to some of my more unusual techniques.
In addition, one of my favourite ‗looks‘, in my paintings, is the dry brush technique,
which is well suited to the texture of this paper. The technique of stretching is
rewarding in itself, and I usually do this the at the end of the painting day, ready for
the following one. It is possible to stretch paper in 10 or 15 minutes, with the help of a
blow drier, but I always find that allowing the paper to dry naturally, overnight, gives
flatter paper, which is easier to paint on.
I describe overleaf, two methods for stretching paper, one using gummed tape
(recommended) and a second slightly less reliable version for those (like me) who can
only get masking tape.
WHAT YOU WILL NEED
Your board, paper, tape, a big brush (I use a 2‘‘ paint brush) sponge and water.

24
9. Getting Started Continued
STRETCHING WATERCOLOUR PAPER

HOW TO DO IT ?
Method 1—Using Gummed Tape (recommended)

This method is the very best way of stretching watercolour paper, and I have used it
very successfully, for many years.
1. Without touching the centre of the paper, carefully lower your paper flat into a sink
or bath, of luke warm water.
2. Leave for 5-10 minutes to soak.
3. Pick up the paper by the edge, it should be quite floppy.
4. Shake off the surplus water, into the sink, until it‘s just about stopped dripping.
5. Lay the paper, flat on your board, and carefully mop 2‘‘ all the way round with a
slightly moistened ,but wrung out sponge.
6. Moisten your gummed tape, and secure the paper to the board, on all four sides,
about half on the board, and half on the paper.
7. Run around the edge of the board, with your dried sponge, to mop any surplus
water.
8. Now run your finger carefully around the edge and make sure its all glued down,
and moisten the tape again, if required, where necessary.
9. Now let it all dry naturally, and check it regularly, to make sure the tape stays in
place. Re-wet and stick down any bits of tape that inevitably lift.
10. When dry, it should be as tight as a drum.
Method 2—Using Masking Tape

In some countries (like Bulgaria) you can‘t buy gummed tape easily, and they tend to
use bulldog clips to ‘secure‘ the paper ! Anyway this is the method I use, every day.
1. Lay your paper on your board.
2. Secure all the way around the outside, with your 2‘‘ wide masking tape.
3. Moisten (but not soak) your paper, with a brush and clean water, ensuring that
you mop all surplus water off the masking tape. Work from top to bottom.
5. Let it dry naturally.
Now we‘re really ready to paint !
Note
This method, using
masking tape, gives
you a nice white
border around your
finished pictures.
Experiment with
different brands of
tape and avoid the A little time
‗low tack‘ variety. preparing your
You want tape that paper now, is
won‘t come undone, much better than
but that can be easily ‗doing battle‘ and
removed from your trying to paint on
finished paintings. ‗cockled‘ paper.
Method 2— Using a flat brush to carefully moisten the paper , working in

broad sweeps of your brush left to right , and working down the paper.
The secret to this method is not to use too much water & mop the border .

25
9. Getting Started Continued
Now you have your paper stretched.

You will need two containers for water, one for washing your brushes out, and a second
to mix into your paints. I have two clear jugs for mine, of different sizes, so it‘s easy to
instantly identify which is which.
When I teach, I tend to use either

washed out yoghurt pots, or those
disposable plastic party ones.
You will also need :-

 Your paper fixed to your board
 White Palette/pots to mix paint in
 Paints
 Brushes
 Pencil or Graphite
 Putty Rubber
 White kitchen or toilet roll
You may also need a little quiet time just for you.
I am quite often asked how long a painting takes to do, from start to finish, and the
answer, really depends on the type of subject, the techniques used, and the amount of
detail in it.
As you can see below it can take anything from 20 minutes to 3 days ……..
I suppose the average time for a ‗sketchy‘ painting, is about an hour, and a full day for
a quality detailed picture. The quickest of all, is with wet into wet technique, and
literally takes the time it takes, for the paper to dry !
This first exercise, painting an orange,

which explains Light and Shade
will take 15-20 minutes.
By contrast, because of the vast detail on

this picture of Sozopol Bay in Bulgaria, it
took me three full days to paint !
This almost all

‗wet into wet‘ technique
took about 30 minutes
from start to finish.
26
10. LESSON 1— ALL ABOUT LIGHT
This very first lesson, on the understanding of light and shade, is probably the one
most important lesson in this book, and will hopefully stand you in good stead for the
future, and will enable you to produce paintings of any subject.
Then we shall begin …………

with a lonely Orange !
If you see one of
these light bulbs, it
In this lesson, about light and shade, we are going to start by really is one of those
painting something as simple as an orange. It can be anything ‗light bulb‘ moments
spherical, like a ball, and all you need to demonstrate this is a light that once you
source, which can be natural light (as long as it only comes from understand, will
one side), or a lamp or torch. make you go, ‗agh
that‘s what it‘s all
This demonstration, in two parts , is on youtube, and if about‘ … so look out
you have access to the internet it may be useful to watch it first. for them throughout
this book…….
If you recall in an earlier section, it was mentioned that watercolour painting is about
leaving exposed white paper to denote the highlights in a watercolour painting.
There are several ways of doing this, and it will be covered in a section later on ‗other
techniques‘. But this way is the purist ‗less gimmicky‘ way to achieve your highlights,
and is called ‗lifting out‘ or mopping out‘. It‘s also a useful technique to mop up slashes
and lift out unwanted puddles.
The technique involves using a moist brush to ‗lift‘ paint or water off the paper and is
worth practising. It involves what‘s called capillary action, I think ! And works like this.
HOW TO DO IT ?
Because of the nature of the average animal hair, used in the making of watercolour
brushes (each hair on your paintbrush being like a tiny tube, which is full of air, and
presumably insulates the animal against the cold).
If you moisten the brush then dry it, on say kitchen towel (but not too much so it‘s just
damp), then hold the bristles into a puddle of water, or paint, quite unexpectedly it
sucks it up into the bristles like magic ! Try it …...
When the bristles are full, you simply wipe on the kitchen roll, swill your brush out and
moist dry on your towel, then repeat, until you have the desired result (or the splash
has gone). If a slight stain remains apply a small quantity of absolutely clean water, to
the brush and keep lifting and repeating until your paper is white again, but don‘t over
wet the paper, or it can cause a tide mark, or cauliflower stain.
And that‘s the theory about ‗mopping out‘ or ‗lifting out‘.

It‘s a great little technique, which I use a lot, as it helps to achieve a three dimensional
quality to things that you paint, as you will see, with our lonely orange next.
It‘s also a fantastic technique for painting skies …… ‗oh no, I dread them, I hear you sigh‘ !
I realise that for a beginner, painting skies can be the most daunting thing, all that paper to
fill ! More on that in ‗painting easy skies ‗in a later section, or have a peek now !

27
10. LESSON 1—ALL ABOUT LIGHT Continued

‗GROUNDING ‗ AN OBJECT
Where were we, oh yes, our lonely little orange !
If you look at any object, in most light conditions, even when

there is no direct Sun, you will notice that everything that you
look at (with the exception of things that fly), cast
some kind of mark, where they sit on the ground,
or water, or table, or whatever else,
it‘s sitting, moving or walking on.
This single little observation, that I picked up, or read somewhere, many years ago,
is the thing that sets work apart, and gave a realism, to my subsequent paintings.
THIS IS CALLED ‘GROUNDING‘

And it‘s not to be confused with shadows, or reflections, it‘s in addition to those things
and ensures your objects ‗sit‘ in their surroundings.
The area marked with the yellow circle is the ‗grounding‘ of the orange and makes it
look like its sitting on a table, or something flat.
Examples of this ‗Grounding‘ in my paintings.
As you can see, this ‗grounding‘ makes

everything seem to ‗sit‘ and ‗belong‘ in their
surroundings.
It‘s the grounding that makes the fruit sit on
the table, the sheep stand on the ground,
the houses sit on the ground, and finally the
old abandoned truck looking like it‘s been
stood there, in the same spot, for many years ! Which of course it has …...
Please try this technique, when you paint. You‘ll be amazed what a difference
it makes ! I‘ll show you HOW TO DO IT in a later lesson.

28
10. LESSON 1—ALL ABOUT LIGHT Continued
So back to our friend the orange …….

This subject of the direction of
This is the On the top left of the light on objects is crucial ,and
direction that the orange you can see the shouldn‘t be skipped !
light source, lightest area. These So it qualifies for a light bulb.
(say the sun), are the ‗highlights‘.
comes from, and
affects everything
in our painting These are the
including ‗Darks‘ which are always
‗highlights‘ and on the opposite side to
shadows, on the Highlights
our orange
These are the shadows,

This is our grounding and also on the wall
Behind our orange
Oh dear, our poor little orange looks like it‘s under attack …
The straight orange lines, represent the direction, and angle, that the light source
(here the sun) comes from, and will show you, just how long those shadows should
be, and how much highlight and lowlight there should also be.
Try this with your spherical object, and torch at home. Try altering the angles, the
height, and bringing it forward and backwards to see how it affects everything.
This effect, particularly of a low angle of light, on an object, or landscape, is what

makes it beautiful. That‘s why when you take photographs, or look at a view, say,
early in the morning, or late in the day, it always looks more attractive.
This is because, when the angle of the sun is lower, the shadows lengthen and causes
more pronounced highlights, darks and shadows. Conversely, in the middle of the day,
when the sun is directly overhead, shadows are at their shortest, and the light can
look ‗flat‘ and usually, less attractive, and striking.
So it‘s these highlights, darks, shadows, and grounding, together, that make our
orange look three dimensional. As you can see, after the object is ‗grounded‘, it has
‗highlights‘, on the top left hand side, ‘darks‘ on the lower right hand side, and finally
shadows underneath it.
Portraying these, very few different

elements with any object, will give
your Watercolour Paintings realism
and atmosphere. If you have read,
All this, is an example, of how light affects a and thoroughly
a scene, and even how you can invent light, even if understood this
it never existed in the first place. crucial section
When you start to paint, or if you have made a WELL DONE
start, or seen my youtube tutorials, you will know TO YOU!
that, making a note, with an arrow, showing the You may even be
direction of the light, on the border of your confident enough to
paintings, is a crucial factor in recording a scene. mark the light
Imagine a townscape, where the shadows on the source on here and
chimneys, or the gable end walls, weren't all the maybe even guess
same ! the time of day !
Your arrow just serves, as a constant reminder ,
as you progress through each painting.
29
10 LESSON 1—ALL ABOUT LIGHT Continued
How this 3D illusion is achieved, that I described on the last pages, isn‘t the work of a
magician, just a few simple, common sense steps, that really couldn‘t be easier.
STEP 1 Draw your shape with a pencil and put an

arrow to remind you where the light is.
For purposes of clarity of these
illustrations, you will see that the light
source here, is coming from the right.
STEP 2 Fill in the outline carefully with paint.

Use your board flat, and try and get an
even coat of paint if you can. If you put
too much on, you can mop it out, like
I did on my youtube tutorial.
Step 3 Using a ‗just damp‘ brush,

‗lift out‘ the highlights, mopping up
the colour, to reveal the white paper
beneath. Blend the edge together,
with a damp, clean brush.
Step 4 Now turn to the darker side, and add

a dark tone, into the already
damp orange paint. And watch
it magically diffuse up into
the orange paint. You can
help, by blending these two
colours together, to soften
the transition, from one colour
to the adjacent one.
STEP 5 Finally using the same darker

colour, and add your grounding
and shadows.
Once all your paint diffuses together, you

will have a very convincing 3D orange,
much better than my computer
generated one !
One very important thing to bear in mind,

and one worthy of a light bulb ,is to try
and work quite quickly, then don't touch
the paint once it loses it‘s shine, and starts to dry or
you WILL end up with a muddy mess !
More on mud later …

30
11. LESSON 2— LOOKING, SEEING AND PAINTING SIMPLE TONES
You may have noticed, that in the last exercise, there was no mention of how to mix
that particular orange, or what colour combination gives you the darks, the shadows,
or the grounding colour. This wasn‘t an accident, and we will be going into colours, in
great depth, in a later lesson.
For now though, I would like to turn our attention to looking, seeing and painting in
simple monochrome tones. And these can be any colour you want, greys, browns or
sepia‘s etc.
To enable you to paint effectively, you need to understand how to make colours lighter
and darker. With oils or acrylics, you would simply add white (or a lighter colour) to
make a colour lighter, and black (or a darker colour) to make it darker.
With Watercolours, you simply add more of less paint, or water, to affect the tone.
Tone meaning how light or dark things are.
The ability to see the tones in a scene, and being able to copy those
tones in coloured paint on your palette, is absolutely key to your
accurate depiction of nature, in your landscapes and everything else
you paint . Or you could choose to become a modern contemporary
impressionist artist instead, or start throwing paint against walls !
The painting opposite, is an example of mine,

depicting a fictitious evening scene, of a yacht
sailing at night, in a real location in Sozopol,
Bulgaria.
I was working in a Gallery in this lovely resort,

and doing live demonstrations both inside and
outside. As the light quickly faded, I found it
impractical, and almost impossible, to paint
conventionally with colours.
So I turned my attention to painting my

favourite scenes but in sepia tints.
Simply finding a colour you like, as I did here,

then altering it tonally, by varying the amount of
water and paint, really gets you into the groove
of it‘s simple tones, and is a really good place to
start your watercolour journey, once you've
mastered our friend the orange.
Copy this subject at home, and see if you can

duplicate it. Just choose your favourite colour,
and it can be any colour reds, blues, greens
Yellows any colour just choose one. ‗Night Sail from Sozopol‘ - Bulgaria 2009
Some of you may notice the highlights are done An example of a simple tonal painting
in Chinese White Opaque paint.. Shock horror ! using just two colours, and painted at
night, under artificial lights,
in a dimly lit Gallery.
31
11. LESSON 2— LOOKING, SEEING AND PAINTING SIMPLE TONES Continued
I hope you had a go at painting tonally, it‘s very rewarding, and commercial too !
HOW TO LOOK, AND SEE TONES, IN A SCENE

When painting generally, and also tonally, it‘s sometimes difficult, with so much
information and detail, to be able to see the tones clearly in a scene.
In Yorkshire we say that you ‗can‘t see the wood for the trees‘ ! My Dad used to say
‗let the dog see the rabbit‘ which could also be applied here.
This is an age old problem, for artists, but one with several ways, to crack it.
Some traditional and some a little more high tech.
TRADITIONAL METHODS
Method 1 (and the one I prefer)
Look at a scene normally, then try looking at the same scene, with
half closed eyes. Magically, all the details, and extraneous information,
just disappears, leaving just the tones, of the scene.
I try not to do this in public, as you can either look like a dirty old man,
or someone with really bad eyesight, either way, not good looks !
Method 2
If you paint a piece of glass on the back in a dark colour, black or brown say, then
look at the scene reflected in the glass, it is reduced to simple tones.
I believe this is called a ‗Claude Mirror‘ so maybe Monet, was the inventor.
MODERN METHODS
Method 3 (I came across this quite by accident, incidentally)
Upload a scene, taken on your digital camera, and get it up on your computer‘s
monitor. Now simply tip the monitor screen, forwards or backwards, and it reduces
it to simple tones too.
Method 4
I will demonstrate this next technique further, on the
following page. But basically, you upload your images
from your digital camera, and then using digital imaging software
like Adobe Photoshop, Picassa or Paint, the one that comes free on
every PC, simply alter the Contrast or Brightness until it reveals
just the tones.
Whichever method you use, and it may be that like me, you
use most of them, depending on what, or probably more
likely, where your doing your painting.
THE CHOICE IS YOURS

Which ever method you choose, all that matters is
that your simplifying the image, into simple tones,
which you can then transfer to your paintings.
Photographing in Black and White can help too, but again, this can also be
done ‗post production‘ in your Studio back at home.
32
HOW TO SEE TONES IN A SCENE

Method 4—Using Computer software for your photographs.
This technique, I‘m sure would draw gasps of disapproval, from those in the know, but
it‘s something I use occasionally, particularly if a subject has many apparently
complicated ‗planes‘, a ‗plane‘ being a section of the depth of a scene or painting.
Typically, a land or seascape, as shown here, has about 3 or 4 ‗planes‘, and we will be
discussing that, in much greater detail, in a later Lesson, on Recession.
Put simply, the different ‗planes‘ in this example, and the order to paint them are :-
1. SKY (in this painting I actually tinted the paper first, to give atmosphere)
2. DISTANT SEA
3. MIDDLE GROUND (the furthest spit of land, rocks and houses)
4. FOREGROUND (the nearest house, and the beach)
5. DETAIL (the nearest grasses, highlights on the rocks, and the yacht)
As we have already used my painting ‗Night Sail from Sozopol‘ when discussing tonal
painting, lets still use that, as an example, of how to use your pc, to help you paint it.
And this was the original photograph I

This is the painting if worked off. Though I also did a sketch
you recall of of the scene, too.
Sozopol
My original photo, showed a
family holiday scene, with The newly cropped
the rowing boat on the beach image used for the
and the swings. I wanted a painting
more ‗late on in the season‘
atmosphere, and to depict a
sense of isolation for the
houses ‗just them against the
sea‘ feel.
The sky, and look of the wet

sand, are quite accidental,
and caused by just leaving
some unpainted areas, when
I tinted the paper.
The first thing I did, with this photo, was to crop it, as shown above.
This then left the much more pleasing composition, after cropping.

33
HOW TO SEE TONES IN A SCENE

Method 4—Using Computer software for your photographs.
So this was the original, As you can see from In this revised version I changed it to Black
now cropped image, the finished painting, and White and increased the Contrast
in bright sunshine. compared to the revealing more clearly, where the highlights,
photographs. It‘s not a darks and shadows are ,without risking any
slavish copy, it just strange looks, as I walk around with
captures the essence of half closed eyes !
the scene, the main All done in the comfort of your own pc ...
parts, that people
would remember, and
recognize. The things
one adds, as an artist
like the atmosphere,
serenity, peace, calm
and nostalgia, are
things a photographer
can only envy…..
As you can hopefully

see, by digitally
changing the
photograph, makes it
easier to see the
darks, highlights and
shadows. The picture
I did, was from my
original sketch, and
as you can see, I
again used ‗Artistic
License‘, by clearing
the beach, removing
the swings and the boat, and finally
introducing the yacht …
oh the power of the Artist !
If you decide to give this subject a go, to paint tonally, just sketch it out, and start with
the lightest and furthest away ‗planes‘ first . The colour I used to get the Sepia was
Burnt Umber and Paynes Grey.
Remember to dry each ‗plane ‗ before starting the next one . And just keep adding
more dark colour, ( Paynes Grey) to the mix, as you move forward into the middle, and
foreground. Working pale to dark, and distance to foreground, ensures distance in
your paintings, and is called ‗recession‘ .
We will be covering all these aspects, in much more detail, in later lessons !

34
12. LESSON 3— HOW TO REALLY LOOK SO YOU CAN COPY WHAT YOU SEE
DRAWING WHAT YOU SEE
This course, is specifically aimed at Watercolour Techniques, and assumes some

drawing skills. Drawing is a whole subject on its own, and is also an Art form, in its own
right, but I hope the information below may be a useful guide.
I have never been fortunate enough, nor had the time, to study Art formally, and so
sections in books on perspective, and eye-level, find me just glazing over, and so I
avoided them. Don‘t get me wrong, I understand the theory, but find that all that
mathematical stuff, takes away from the freedom and enjoyment of painting.
My own ‗skill‘ , (if that‘s what it can be called ), is to be able to look

very carefully, and draw what I see.
And that‘s the key to not being beholden to dogmatic rules.
But, in order to give you that freedom too, it‘s imperative that you
not only see, but REALLY LOOK at what you want to portray.
I do try and observe accurately, and can usually know, if
something looks right, or not, and I would encourage you to try and do likewise.
In this drawing of my proposed studio, I show you the amount of detailed drawing, that
went into that subject, before I started painting it.
In some cases, like the ‗Snow Scene, Karnobat‘ used on Youtube, there was hardly any
drawing at all, just a few guidelines for horizon, hill, rocks, and trees.
With a complicated scene like this one of Nessebar in Bulgaria, try and get the proportions
right, and how each section relates to the adjoining one, with one eye always on the
composition. I try and draw loosely, and use a soft graphite pencil.
It‘s a personal thing, but some clients like to see this under-drawing, and that it adds to the
finished artwork. If not, you can remove the pencil lines with a soft putty rubber at the very
end, just make sure your painting is hard dry before even attempting this though.
35
13. LESSON 4— COMPOSITION
Composition, in the words of the Dictionary say …...

‗Fine Arts. the organization or grouping, of the different parts of a work of art, so as to
achieve a unified whole‘.
If you look at many great works of Art through the ages, it strikes me, that some of
the more traditionally understood recent thinking on the subject seems flawed.
I am sure that the thinking, on composition, changes like the weather, or fashion.
How then should a beginner tackle the subject ?
To start with, I would suggest that you keep it very simple, and basic.
THE RULE OF THIRDS

Try to imagine your paper divided up like this in fig 2
sections of thirds, and just mark the border of
your paper with a dash to help guide you. SKY
fig 1
HORIZON
1/3 rd
Marks SKY
1/3 rd
LAND
Marks
HORIZON
LAND
LANDSCAPE GRID RIGHT PORTRAIT GRID
With this basic type of 1/3rd composition you position your horizon on one of the third
lines, and it can be on either the higher one as in figure 2 if you wanted the emphasis
on the foreground. Or alternatively it can be on the lower one as in figure 1 with the
emphasis on the sky. Once you have decided what type of composition you want in
your painting you then position the main items where the grids cross on the thirds.
In the examples of a tree above you can see that its positioned on the thirds
dissection line and seems just right in that position.
Alternatively as you can see in these two examples of poor composition where the
horizon, and the positioning of the tree, splits the picture in two.
They both seem to give the viewer nothing to consider,
or anywhere for
And they just seem
That however can
x the eye to investigate.
frankly a bit dull.
be the sentiment that
WRONG
you may want to portray in a particular
piece of your work. The thing is that as
an Artist you have the power to change
and move things around whilst still keeping the essence of any given scene.
There are exceptions of course to every rule, and I show you some of my own work where I have bent these principles !

36
13. LESSON 4— COMPOSITION Continued
As you saw on the previous page the artistic license to be able to move things around
at will ‗Artistic License‘ gives you the power to move things around to achieve that
‗organizing or grouping of the different parts of a work of art so as to achieve a unified
whole‘.
Another thing it allows you to do is add things or take things away, as I demonstrated
with the painting at Sozopol, removing boats, clearing the beach , adding the yacht etc.
You can also use this license to fell or add tree, or move them and demolish buildings
add new ones or move them.
Here are a couple of examples of those exceptions in my work where I flout those
1/3rd Rules on the previous page.
I came across this view on a warm Summers Day near my

village, which is an intensively farmed area. In these massive
corn fields, previously used to feed The Soviet People, I was
struck by the strength of this lone oak tree.
To me it portrayed strength and survival in the face of adversity,
having survived to adulthood against all the attention of the
ploughs and combined harvesters that eventually would have to
go around it .
For that reason I wanted to isolate it in the field almost like a
sentry for the landscape, so decided on it‘s central position on
the paper. The horizon line is still roughly 1/3rd of the way up.
Only you, the viewer can judge if a

painting is pleasing or not.
Sometimes capturing a moment with
‗The Lone Tree‘
Cherkovo—Bulgaria
little or no regard for the rules is the
2009 right thing to do, it‘s Art after all !
With the picture on the right. I painted it for my Sister. It had

been a memory I had of us playing together in a rock pool on the
Yorkshire coast. I had wanted to paint this scene for about 45
years and eventually had reason to capture those endless
Summer days with big skies.
I positioned us very low down and in the corner as I wanted to
give the feeling of intensity, of us concentrating on the contents
of the rock pool. Endless Summer days with not a care in the
world, were my intentions here. Where the only thing to worry
about was if you could eat your ice cream before it ran down your
arm, and trying to avoid my Big Bother Les‘s seeming obsession ‗The Rock Pool‘
to constantly throw wet sand at us. For Julie 2009
Sweet memories indeed. NOT FOR SALE
It certainly captured the imagination, and I could

have sold this painting many times over.
In the next section we look at different types of composition, and ways and tricks you
can use from your armoury to get people to engage in your pictures !

37
There are many types of composition, and you can see it in play in other peoples work,
and we will be discussing those different types next.
But for now if we could just consider my earlier statement about Artistic License and
moving things around. It also means that you can resizes things too, let me explain
some very simple do‘s and don‘t when painting , drawing or for that matter when you
take photographs.
Let‘s start with our simple 1/3rd grid again.
RULE 1—NEVER HAVE 2 OBJECTS OF A SIMILAR SIZE

You may have to increase the size of one and decrease the other.
This ability to alter

things is great and
can give a timeless
quality to your
pictures.
You can leave out

all the trappings of
modern life, such
as cars, pylons and
satellite dishes and
telephone boxes for
example.
RULE 2— ENSURE NOTHING LINES UP WITH OTHER THINGS BUT OFFSET THEM
Understanding
and more
importantly
recognising
and changing
potential
lining up issues
in your
paintings is key
to their Beauty
and Harmony.
fig 1 fig 2
As you can see in these two examples above. In figure 1 the tree is the same size as
the telegraph pole, and looks like it comes from the centre of the house roof.
The line representing the distant hills lines up with the roof line altogether a bit of a
messy composition. These lines sometimes only become apparent at the end of the
painting by the way, so it‘s as well to be aware of them from the start.
As you can see in figure 2 all these things have been altered using artistic licence to
reveal a much more harmonious feel to the painting.

38
RULE 3—NEVER CLOSE DOORS OR GATES IN YOUR PAINTINGS

If you do this it usually stops the viewers eye from investigating your
painting, rather than inviting them in.
Imagine any of these

paintings with the gates ‗Opposite my House‘
or doors closed, it would Cherkovo Bulgaria 2009
give a feeling of the
viewer not being allowed
in and excluding and
therefore not engaging
them. These examples
give you some idea
of how important
this little detail is. ‗The Lef
Fru t
it S
Left ‗Cherkovo Church‘ S el
Bul ozopol ler‘
Now in Private Collection gar
ia 2
Priv Now in 009
ate
Coll
ecti
Though conversely this on
rule may be used to your
advantage. With this
picture of our, once
proud, village‘s school
TOP TIP
doors, on the right . It When starting a painting
was this very sense, of the first thing to do is mark
poignancy and exclusion the direction of the sun
that I wanted to capture. and mark your third
The doors now padlocked ‗The Old School Doors‘ marks on the borders of
and I wanted that sadness Cherkovo Bulgaria 2009 your painting. You can
and nostalgia to be the Now in Private Collection then refer to them
main point of this study. constantly throughout.
RULE 4—USE DARKS AND HIGHLIGHTS TO LEAD YOUR VIEWER THROUGH YOUR
PAINTING TO WHERE YOU WANT THEM TO GO
In this example of one of my
compositions I use the ‗dark‘ of the
track that leads up to the top of the
hill with the TV masts on to lead
the viewers eye.
I also use the vertical lines of the
other mast, on the left, and wind
generator on the right (circled) to
ensure that the viewers,
eye doesn‘t wander from the
painting. You can use any vertical
item to do this in your work, like
‗Karnobat Hill‘
using trees or boat masts for Bulgaria 2009
example. Now in Private Collection

39
Finally on the subject of Composition. There are many types of composition, that is
shapes you can create in your paintings to give a pleasing and rewarding ‗journey‘ for
your viewers (and you) to enjoy and they are usually associated with shapes or letters
of the alphabet to describe them.
These two paintings use

an L-shaped composition
which are nice for using
on simple subjects.
It can in my view be a
little boring and demands
very little engagement
or investigation
by the viewer.
A handy composition for
quite small works.
Cherkovo Bridge Tree Study II

Private Collection Private Collection
The painting on the right called The painting below

‗The importance of the Blue Barrels‘ ‗Karnobat Tower‘
is a kind of inverted C Composition is another inverted
with a bit of a twist, as it‘s possible C Composition.
for the eye to climb the fruit tree in This time the eye starts
two ways. My eye starts at the bottom left and follows the
wheelbarrow, then investigates the line of the trees and bushes
chickens pecking at the fallen fruit, to the right (funnily the
then either heads up the sloping border then takes the eye
pole, or looks at the other two chick- up to the overhanging
ens, then onwards up the bow of the tree). The angle of the
tree. This is a neighbours house and leaves then leading down to
I gave her the picture for Christmas. investigate the ancient
The relevance of the barrels is be- Clock Tower finally.
cause they are used for the grape
harvest to make the years supply of
vino or the local ‗hooch‘ Rakia !
Thankfully everyone see pictures differently and you may not

agree with my interpretation and that‘s exactly as it should
be.
OTHER TYPES OF COMPOSITION INCLUDE
SWCMZLU
SEE IF YOU CAN SPOT THE TYPE OF COMPOSITION IN ANY ARTWORK

40
14. LESSON 5— COUNTER-CHANGE
A funny word that one, and not one I had come across before I started painting.
In short, it probably means contrast.
If I can explain further, counter-change, is the positioning of dark things,

against light things, and also light things against dark things. And each of
the light and dark things, whatever they are, seem to benefit , from their
proximity, and tonal relationship, with the other one.
You know when you see a view, or a photo, or picture, and you simply
have to comment about it‘s beauty….. well it‘s a fair bet, that the attraction, that ini-
tially caught your eye, was ‗counter-change‘, and if you analyse what it was about the
scene that moved you, in detail, you‘ll find that‘s what it was.
It‘s that special ‗something‘ and makes people want to remember it, and keep it to
remind them, of that emotion …. The bright yellow of the oil rape seed field lit in sun
against a dark thundery sky… The shaft of light on the water contrasting against the
dark mud bank… the bright sunlit Autumn leaves against the dark forest…
are you getting the idea ?
So, whenever you paint something dark, or light, in
your painting, consider positioning the contrast
adjacent to it.
Some examples of
Counter-Change in
my work.
It‘s those white and silhouetted seagulls

against that dark stormy sky.
Or the silhouetted man and trees

against the white painted outdoor
theatre.
Or the dark grasses, poking

through the pure white snow,
or the white of the snow still
un-melted, on the cold side
of the dark rocks !
Or it‘s the lady
dressed in black in the
shop doorway…
Or the white bleached tree

trunk, against the dark
shadow, of the underneath
of the bridge, etc etc..
It‘s just that very special something, that

you should always include, in your paintings.
41
15. LESSON 6— RECESSION
Recession, is one of the easiest of things to achieve in your paintings, but one of the hardest
things to judge for a beginner, because it relies totally on the accurate judgement of tone, in
your mixed colours, which only comes with practise.
Recession, is the ability to achieve distance in a painting, by varying the strength of tone and
colour. The lightest being the furthest thing away and the strongest being the closest to you.
It‘s importance, is why one of the earliest lessons, was about painting tonally.
Let me explain. If you recall we discussed the subject of ‗planes‘ in a painting, which is usually
three , four or even more ‗planes‘, depending on the scene. The lightest plane being the
furthest one away, say the sky, then the next nearest, and so on, until you reach the darkest
foreground. This then gives the illusion of depth to your paintings, and avoids them being flat
ie. all the same tone.
PLANE 1—SKY THE THEORY OF RECESSION

If I explain this, and the potential
hazard, for the beginner using shades
of grey to black for this example. If you
PLANE 2 —BACKGROUND paint your very first ‗plane‘ of your
painting too dark, it then becomes
more difficult for you to achieve
PLANE 3 — MIDDLE recession, because the darkest you can
go is black !
So you need to consider tonally, your
painting at the outset, particularly your
PLANE 4—FOREGROUNDPLANE first colour, or it will end up being flat,
and having no distance.
We will be looking at all aspects of this, when we get to the lesson called,
‗Putting it all together, the painting process‘ towards the end of this book.
In the meantime, you can have a look at how this works in practise, by
looking at my three part youtube video ‗Snow Scene Karnobat‘ which
I use below to explain further.
Plane 1—Sky
L The lightest colour of all
I
G I hope this schematic helps,
H as you can see, you start
with the most distant ,and
T lightest plane, and move
E forward in stages, drying
R the paint in between each
stage. Which is imperative.
T
O Plane 2—Distant hills and
shadows
D
A Plane 3—Trees and
R Grasses
K
E Plane 4—Rocks and
R Final details

42
15. LESSON 6— RECESSION Continued
One of the biggest, and most important issues about achieving recession, in your
paintings, is the following strange occurrence.
IF YOU LOOK AT ANY SCENE WITH ANY DISTANCE IN IT, IT IS

NOTICABLE IF YOU ‗REALLY LOOK‘ THAT THE FURTHER AWAY AN
OBJECT IS THE MORE BLUE IT IS ! STRANGE BUT TRUE…….
Your understanding of this, and being able to duplicate it in your
painting, is crucial to the realism, and interest, in your watercolours.
The best way to prove this strange fact, and investigate why,
is probably with this photograph, of a scene, outside my village, in Bulgaria.
C
A B
Ok here we go …
We know that roughly speaking, that this green grass here,
is a similar colour in real life, as it is in the far distance here,
but it doesn‘t look like it does it ? It seems more blue…
And the trees marked with a circle, are also roughly the same colour of Green,
but the ones nearest us A are the darkest, then the ones in the middle B
have more blue in them. But the ones in the furthest distance C are the bluest of all.
It is also true of the yellow of the oil seed rape flowers, that are also more blue in the
distance, than in the foreground.
The scientific explanation to this strange phenomenon, is due to the distance between
the objects and our eyes, and the atmospheric conditions, like dust, mist, smoke etc.
between our eye, and those distant objects, that makes them more blue.
As an artist we can exploit the phenomenon and put quite simply

‗THE FURTHER AWAY AN OBJECT IS THE BLUER IT IS‘
So if you want to achieve distance, or recession in your work, just add
more blue, the further away it is , simple !
43
16. LESSON 7—STARTING WITH COLOUR
On the very first pages ‗What you do and don‘t need to know‘, I mentioned that one of
the things you don‘t need to know about is about the Colour Wheel. They are pretty to
look at, and I was tempted to include one for aesthetics, but decided against it !
But once again, not knowing or understanding about such things, as complimentary, or
contrasting colours, can only work if you hone your observational
‗really looking‘ skills, to enable you to record accurately, and copy
faithfully.
That‘s what we will be concentrating on in this section on colour.
THE KEY HERE IS THIS—MOTHER NATURE HAS DONE ALL THE HARD
COLOUR MATCHING AND CO-ORDINATION FOR YOU SO JUST COPY IT !
She already knows, that the clear blue Winter sky, is a great contrast to that orangey
bracken, and the dark brown of the stark Winter Trees… She already knows that the
White seagulls look stunning, against the heavy thundery sky… she already knows that
the vibrant Red Poppies, look fantastic against a golden corn field…
Do you get the idea ?

Your eyes tell you what works together
so just follow those instincts, then just simply record it !
To use a cooking analogy, you have seen the pretty pictures of

the dishes, now all you need are the ingredients and the recipes.
That‘s what this section is all about, giving you the recipes.
There are Rules and Guidelines to be followed if you want to
achieve professional results, in your paintings, and we will start
with these now. And these are based on my original thoughts
as a beginner, so don‘t think your alone if you also thought this !
TWO GOLDEN RULES ABOUT MIXING WATERCOLOUR PAINTS
1. WHATEVER YOU THINK, YOU CAN‘T JUST BUY THE PERFECT COLOUR YOU NEED
AND USE STRAIGHT IT FROM THE TUBE ! YOU SIMPLY HAVE TO LEARN TO MIX
YOUR OWN COLOURS.
When you start painting, and realise how many colours the manufacturers make
you think it will be easy to just walk into your nearest Art shop and buy all the
colours you will need.
For some strange reason this seems to be particularly true of Blues and Greens.
Maybe because those are the ones that hold the most fear for beginners. All those
trees and all that sky to fill.
I tried this when I started too, and your paintings end up like a packet of those
brightly coloured sweets, Skittles ! When I see other artists work I can instantly
see who is weak, and who is strong at mixing colour, as it stands out a mile.
The colours in nature are subtle, and endless, so we need to be just as clever
and subtle. At first it‘s daunting I know, but hopefully at the end of this Chapter
you will see how easy it really is.
2. NEVER EVER MIX MORE THAN 4 COLOURS TOGETHER, IT ALWAYS ENDS UP WITH
MUDDY BROWN.

44
16. LESSON 7—STARTING WITH COLOUR Continued
Ok look, I know I promised, but frankly for a Lesson about colour, the last page looked
a bit dull !
THE COLOUR WHEEL
It‘s ok don‘t panic, we aren't going to discuss it‘s
virtues it‘s only there to brighten the place up a bit !
Well it may come in handy if we need to refer to it …
It‘s a really interesting ….. bla bla bla !
So we now know the golden rules, about mixing your

colours, and to re-cap from the previous page.
1. YOU WILL NEED TO MIX YOUR COLOURS

2. AND NEVER MIX MORE THAN 4 OR YOU GET MUD
I will give you my very favourite mixes later in this

lesson, and just before then, we will remind ourselves
of the formula‘s we learnt in infant school, and since
forgot, which include the following :- You can download
colour charts from all the
Red + Blue = Purple Blue + Yellow = Green Watercolour Paint
Red + Yellow = Orange Blue + Green = Turquoise Manufacturers
via the Internet.
Red + Green + Blue = Brown
Blue + Brown = Black Brown + Black = Dark Brown Or from your local
Art shop
Although these combinations are very basic, they still hold
true, long after pre- school classes.
Before we start on those colours I use, and the limited palette I

recommend you start with, I just want to go through how I physically
mix the paint, in my dishes.
I mentioned earlier about keeping your washes clean and the need
to have two water containers, one to wash your brushes out, and the
second one, we are concentrating on now, the one we mix our paints with.
This is the procedure I always use which keeps my washes clean and pure.
STEP 1 STEP 2 STEP 3 STEP 4

Moisten the brush your Dip your moist brush Press the loaded brush Keep repeating until you
mixing with into the clean water and against the side of the have enough water
in clean water load the brush bowl in your bowl
TOP TIP Always mix more paint than you need, and leave it in tact in your dish, just in case
you need it later on in the same painting, as it can be difficult to exactly duplicate the colour.
45
So, you now know how to keep you paint washes clean, by dropping clean water down
the side of the dish, and keep doing this repeatedly, until you have more than enough
paint than you need. Don‘t be tempted to start mixing just yet. If you notice your
water jug or container, it should still be clean, and pure, for the next colour mix.
Yellow Ochre
Gamboge
The water in your

container should
still be clean ?
Lemon Yellow Cadmium Red
Once you have enough water in your bowl, (or palette ), you can start mixing your
colours together in them.
There are lots of colour combinations I use, and am always experimenting with new
ones, ( for instance when I moved abroad to a hot country, I realised that my trusty
Ultramarine based sky, used happily in England, just didn‘t look right, so I had to
experiment with other blues, until I got it just right ).
Because there are so many combinations I use, and these obviously change with the
seasons, (not much call for Oil Rape seed yellow in Winter for example). So because of
all these combinations I tend to use my dishes, as a physical reminder of those colour
mixes.
For example, the one above on the left, I know from looking at it, is a dish I use when I
paint Summer Cornfields, with colours Lemon Yellow, Gamboge, Yellow Ochre and
Cadmium Red. You‘ll also notice that I only let the colours bleed down into the mix, if I
need them, by just putting water on them. The Lemon Yellow and Red for instance, are
still dry, but the Gamboge and Yellow, are being mixed in the bowl.
The important thing, is to keep the mix in the bottom of the dish pure, and not let it
get contaminated by the others inadvertantly. This is the reason, I squeeze the colour
on to the top rim of the bowl, and not in the bottom of it.
At the end of each painting session, and Did anyone spot my ‗skies‘ dish !
sometimes several times during it, I will
clean the bowl, and dry it with kitchen
towel. Particularly if I feel the purity of the
wash is being compromised, either by
other colours bleeding down into the mix,
or more normally, because I got the water
containers mixed up, and now they both
look the same muddy brown colour.
That‘s when it‘s time to change both Any other guesses !

waters too, which also happens several
times during the painting session.

46
So to re-cap the technique (assuming your using tubes of paint of course) is to squeeze
a small amount of paint towards the top of your dish, if you put too much on, it runs
down into your clean water. When painting certain elements in a watercolour, the sky
for instance, it‘s important to get the paint mixed fairly consistently, with the water, so
avoiding any striations of an unmixed colour. But with other, less fluid elements, its ok
for the mix not to be too consistent, if fact a variation of several colours adds to the
beauty. AND DON‘T FORGET LIGHTER—ADD WATER , DARKER ADD PAINT !
So let me list the palette I would suggest you start with:-

1. Ivory Black O
BUYING PAINTS
2. Payne‘s Grey C
Don’t be too worried if you can’t get the exact colour I list here, and
3. Light Red C the names also seem to vary from one manufacturer to another, so just
4. Burnt Umber C substitute at will, with the nearest they have.
5. Yellow Ochre C Also the tube sizes seem to vary but 10-12ml is about the standard tube
6. Raw Sienna O size. A little paint goes a long, long way, and any left on your dishes
7. Ultramarine Blue C will get re-used too. So it’s a very economical hobby as well !
8. Cobalt Blue O You will tend to use more blacks, browns, and blues, so if you live far
9. Lemon Yellow C from an Art Shop, it may be worth buying extra of those colours.
10. Gamboge O KEY TO SYMBOLS C– COMPULSORY O-OPTIONAL
Of the 10 Colours 6 are definites, and the other 4 are optional
In addition, I will give you the colours in my dishes at any given time, it‘s uses and
what are the particular properties that I like about them.
SKIES—BRIGHT
1. ULTRAMARINE COOLISH ENGLISH TYPE SKY COLOUR
2. COBALT BLUE FOREIGN SKY COLOUR MIX WITH OTHER BLUES
3. CURRELEAUN BLUE AZURE BLUE SKY COLOUR
4. LIGHT RED ADD IN SMALL AMMOUNTS TO WARM THINGS UP
5. PAYNE‘S GREY JUST A TOUCH TO THE CLOUDS TO ADD SHADOW
SKIES—THUNDERY
1. LAMP BLACK A REAL ANGRY DARK THAT GRANULATES
2. PAYNE‘S GREY A LIGHTER VERSION
3. LIGHT RED GIVES THAT REAL THREAT WHEN MIXED WITH DARK
4. YELLOW OCHRE DEEP SUNLIGHT THROUGH THE CLOUDS
5. LEMON YELLOW A BRIGHTER VERSION OF THE SAME
LAND HILLS ROCKS

1. BURNT UMBER GREAT FOR ROCKS AND PEAT GOOD WITH BLUE
2. YELLOW OCHRE WINTER GRASSES COMBINE WITH OCHRE
3. BURNT SIENNA AND TO BURNT UMBER FOR HILLS
4. RAW SIENNA COMBINE WITH ANY OTHER EARTH COLOUR
5. LAMP BLACK ADDS SHADOWS TO ROCKS
6. LIGHT RED ADD TO SIENNA FOR FOREIGN SOIL COLOUR
7. ULTRAMARINE BLUE ADD TO BROWN FOR SHINY ROCKS
GREENS FOR TREES

1. GAMBOGE COMBINE WITH ANY BLUE FOR RICH GREEN
2. LEMON YELLOW COMBINE WITH ANY BLUE FOR SPRING GREEN
3. ULTRAMARINE MIX WITH BOTH YELLOWS FOR MID GREEN
4. YELLOW OCHRE MIX WITH COBALT FOR LATE SUMMER GREEN
5. COBALT BLUE MIX WITH ANY YELLOWS
THESE ARE JUST A FEW OF THE MANY POSSIBLE COMBINATIONS POSSIBLE MORE OVERLEAF

47
OTHER COLOURS & COMBINATIONS

In addition to my main colours listed on the previous page. I also like to try colour
combinations from other artists, and to also devise my own, and once you have gained
confidence, you may like to that try too. The way I approach this, is to look at a scene,
and see if I can guess what combination of colours I would use to copy the colour.
Try doing this with Great Masters works too, it‘s lots of fun, just keep a note of what
you use, so that you can duplicate it again later on.
Mix the main colour, and the second, then small quantities of no more than two others,
(say a blue for sky), or combination of two colours (like mixing a yellow and a blue to
make a green), but do this by adding very small quantities of each colour, as some can
be very overpowering. Note that a lot of these colours aren't in the standard palette.
SEPIA
Burnt Sienna / Lamp Black +Indigo
WASHES
Raw Sienna / Indigo
Cobalt Blue / Cadmium Red / Raw Sienna at bottom
Yellow Ochre / Aureolin
Cobalt Blue / Viridian Green
SKIES/WATER
Cobalt Blue / Raw Sienna / Burnt Umber for Darks
Paynes Grey / Indigo
Lamp Black / Phthalo Blue/ Alizarin Crimson
Coeruleum Blue / Crimson Alizarin / Cadmium Yellow Pale (also add Yellow Ochre lower
down)
Coeruleum Blue / Alizarin Crimson
Paynes Grey /Alizarin Crimson / Yellow Ochre
Raw Sienna / Ultramarine Blue
Burnt Umber / Ultramarine Blue
SHADOWS
Paynes Grey /Alizarin Crimson / Yellow Ochre
Ultramarine Blue / Crimson Alizarin / Cadmium Yellow
Light Red / Raw Sienna / Ultramarine Blue
LAND
Lamp Black / Brown Madder Alizarin
Burnt Umber / Ultramarine Blue
Brown Madder / Hookers Green / Burnt Umber
Ultramarine Blue / Lamp Black
Burnt Umber / Burnt Sienna / Light Red
Paynes Grey / Ultramarine Blue
FIELDS
Cadmium Yellow / Hookers Green / Crimson Alizarin / Ultramarine Blue
As above but substitute Blue with Paynes Grey

48
OTHER COLOURS & COMBINATIONS—Continued
HEATHER / MOORS
Alarizon Crimson / Phthalo Blue
Paynes Grey / Alizarin Crimson
Ultramarine Blue / Alizarin Crimson
TREES / GRASS
Ultramarine Blue / Lemon Yellow /Raw Sienna / Paynes Grey
Paynes Grey / Lemon Yellow
Hookers Green / Burnt Umber
Hookers Green / Burnt Sienna or Raw Sienna
Burnt Umber / Any Blue
Lamp Black / Yellow Ochre / Raw Sienna
Yellow Ochre / Raw Sienna
Cadmium Yellow / Lamp Black
Ultramarine Blue / Crimson Alizarin
Hookers Green / Crimson Alizarin
Paynes Grey / Burnt Umber
Hookers Green / Paynes Grey / Crimson Alizarin / Cadmium Yellow + Ultramarine
Tree Trunks
Burnt Umber / Hookers Green / Cadmium Yellow
BUILDINGS
Walls
Burnt Umber / Any Blue
Raw Sienna / Cadmium Red / Burnt Umber / Cobalt Blue
Burnt Umber / Cobalt Blue
Raw Sienna / Lamp Black
Yellow Ochre / Crimson Alizarin + Ultramarine Blue for shadows
Timber
Burnt Umber / French Ultramarine
Raw Umber / Paynes Grey
Roofs
Pan tiles Cadmium Yellow / Alizarin Crimson / Hookers Green
Light Red / Raw Sienna + Ultramarine for Shadows
Raw Sienna / Light Red
Lemon Yellow / Light Red
Alizarin Crimson / Lemon Yellow
Grey roof tiles Coeruleum Blue / Cadmium Yellow
Ultramarine Blue / Crimson Alizarin / Yellow Ochre
SKIN TONES
Yellow Ochre / Cadmium Red
Cadmium Red/ Cadmium Yellow / Ultramarine Blue
Darker skin tones Add Paynes Grey or Burnt Umber to the above.
49
OTHER COLOURS & COMBINATIONS Continued
Below, I also list a few combinations of a basic palette, to take out in the field say.
Using a combination of these few colours will enable you to record most scenes fairly
accurately. The other way of course is to just take one colour, and do a monochrome
sketch like I do with my tonal paintings.
BASIC SKETCH COLOURS

Lamp Black / Burnt Sienna / Indian Red
Or
Cadmium Lemon / Raw Sienna / Alarizon Crimson / Phthalo Blue / Lamp Black / Burnt
Sienna
Or a combination of any of the following :-
Cobalt Blue / Cadmium Red / Cadmium Yellow
Prussian Blue / Burnt Sienna / Lemon Yellow
Ultramarine Blue / Crimson Alizarin / Raw Sienna
Background try Paynes Grey / Yellow Ochre
Remember that all colours are made up of just three primary colours
RED—YELLOW AND BLUE
So if your in a hurry, just grab those three colours.
WHY THE CONFUSION ?

Even though there is a vast array of weird and wonderful names like Alizarin,
Coeruleum, Phthalo etc. (and I don‘t know about you, but I can‘t even pronounce most
of them), they are all basically 3 colours, or combinations of them.
SO THINK ABOUT COLOURS SIMPLY
Whoever invented a colour called Hooker‘s Green No1 Dark … and why ?
Just looking at a standard colour card, I see over 20 names for yellow, or variations of
it for instance, and if you add to this, the fact that there seems no standards of colours
between watercolour paint makers, it all only goes to confuse, both artists and
beginners alike even more.
The only important thing to remember, when dealing with colour is to enjoy it !
It‘s only Colour after all …… whatever it‘s called ! What‘s in a name, as they say ?
50
17. LESSON 8—WHICH BRUSH TO USE FOR WHAT ?
There is a vast array of watercolour brushes to

choose from these days, and two main
qualities broadly, synthetic and pure bristle.
Apart from cheap brushes, for ancillary jobs

like scrubbing out, painting paper for
stretching, and applying masking fluid, my to-
tal number of brushes is 12 opposite.
They comprise of :-
4 Flat Brushes of various sizes and qualities
6 Round Brushes several sizes and qualities
1 Rigger
1 Small Filbert
For a beginner you could probably manage
with 2 flat , 2 round and a rigger brush.
Quite often, when I come to the end of a painting, I find that I have used every one of
my 12 brushes, when it comes to washing them out.
As a general rule, I use my brushes as follows, but there are exceptions :-
WHICH BRUSH TO USE

WHERE ?
FLAT BRUSHES ROUND BRUSHES RIGGER BRUSH

Used for applying washes Used for generally applying Use for ships rigging, masts
Buildings, Walls, Roofs paint to none hard edged details on people animals
Windows, Doors, Stones and items such as skies, land, and birds and general fine
bricks Architecture trees and bushes. work and to sign work.
Used flat for gates, fences , Also useful for filling in FILBERT
masts, telegraphs poles and areas and for accurate lifting
Not Shown but used for
used on edge for trees, off and mopping out in Skies
round edged bushes and
grasses and bushes. and for general use
stones

51
17. LESSON 8—WHICH BRUSH TO USE FOR WHAT ? Continued
To visualize exactly what each brush is capable of, I detail below, excerpts, notes and
colour sketches, from my ‗TUITION WORKBOOK‘ that I use for students attending my
Classes in Bulgaria.
As it‘s name suggests, it‘s main use
ROUND BRUSHES is for things like ships rigging and
Used for generally Small telegraph wire, though a perfectly
steady hand is required, and I find
applying paint to none Round I can get more convincing results with
hard edged items such the edge of my flat brushes.
as skies and land. It‘s suggested to stop breathing while
you use it, seems a bit extreme to me!
Useful for signing your work too.
Medium Invaluable for trees & bushes.

Rigger
Also useful for filling in areas
Round and for accurate lifting off and
mopping out in skies.
And for general use. The filbert is an under– rated handy
little brush, I use for bushes and to
suggest distant buildings like flats,
where the edges, and shapes would be
unclear, like in the distance and middle
distance for instance.
Filbert
Large Round
FLAT BRUSHES
Used for applying washes to large areas.
Also great for solid structures like buildings, roofs, doors
and windows and architecture generally.
Also surprisingly flexible on edge too, for gates, fences ,
Small Flat masts, telegraphs poles and used on edge for trees,
grasses and bushes. Can also
be used for fir tree growths,
used on an angle.
Large Flat
Large Flat
Medium
Flat

52
Generally speaking, the bigger the job or area your painting, the bigger the brush you
will need. The key to watercolour painting is speed, and that speed, will come with
confidence. One of the great advantages over oils and acrylics, is the water solubility,
which means it‘s quick and convenient. No paint drying in blobs, and unusable, no
turps , and none of the smells or inconvenience, that you get with the other mediums.
The only disadvantage, is that the paint has to be applied quickly, and confidently, and
can only be ‗worked‘ on the paper for a few minutes, which I refer to as the ‗Golden
Time‘. After that time, when the shine has gone from the paints surface you
have to leave it alone to dry, before applying the next plane, or wash.
So choose the brush that will apply the paint

to the paper, in the shortest possible time.
In order to demonstrate the use of each of the brush types used on a painting, I
thought it might be interesting for you to test your knowledge of the use of each brush
type, on a painting of mine. So remember flat brushes for flat things, and round
brushes for round things generally.
The Sky
Slats on
louvre
Leaves on windows
this fir tree Window
Details These
Crosses
Painted
Fresco
These
windows
These
windows
The seated Lamp-post

man
These
bushes
These tufts
of grass
Signature These lines
on the
paving
Karnobat Church—Bulgaria 2009 Now in Private Collection

I realise that you havn't yet been shown how to paint these items yet, but this little
quiz , may check your understanding about what each brush can be used for.
The answers are on the next page, and in some cases, there may be more that one
correct answer, but I‘ll put on what I actually used, on the original painting.
Good Luck
53
If you look after your watercolour brushes, they

will last you a lifetime, so I put some care Care of your Brushes
instructions here. The way to tell a good brush is
NEVER USE THEM IN MASKING FLUID IT
to wet it, and put it in your mouth, your teeth RUINS BRUSHES FOR FUN
and tongue will tell you how fine and smooth the NEVER LEAVE BRUSHES STANDING IN
bristles are. Generally, you get what you pay for WATER, IT CAN LOOSEN THE PAINT ON THE
HANDLE AND PERMANENTLY BEND
with watercolour brushes, and whilst the THE BRISTLES
performance of the bristles on a cheaper DON‘T LEAVE PAINT ON THEM
synthetic brush may be quite adequate, it‘s 1. WASH OUT STRAIGHT AWAY
2. SQUEEZE WATER OUT GENTLY
usually the paint finish on the handles that fail 3. DRY ON A PAPER TOWEL
first, dropping annoying particles onto your 4. ALLOW TO DRY NATURALLY.
precious paintings. I‘ve never understood why WHEN DRY, PUT IN YOUR MOUTH
AND MOISTEN THE BRISTLES
they just don‘t leave the handles unpainted ! TO REFORM THE SHAPE .
FLAT BRUSHES TO A CHISEL POINT ,AND
If I were to add any more brushes to my ROUND BRUSHES, AND RIGGERS, TO A
POINT
collection, it would be a big mop brush for skies, WASH IN LUKE WARM WATER AND WASHING
and a good quality 2‘‘ hake. UP LIQUID, FROM TIME TO TIME.
LARGE
SMALL FLAT ROUND
EDGE OF
FLAT RIGGER
RIGGER
RIGGER
SMALL FLAT
SMALL FLAT
SMALL LARGE FLAT

ROUND
MEDIUM
ROUND
SMALL FLAT
RIGGER LARGE FLAT
I hope you enjoyed the little quiz, how did you do ? Did any surprise you ?
I guess the ones that may have caught you out, were the grass on the bottom right,
this effect is done with a relatively dry, flat brush, in an upward motion (circled).
The other tricky one, is those windows, with the arched tops (circled).
The reason is that you don‘t paint the spars, but the dark windows around them.
More on that later ….
54
18. LESSON 9—THE THREE MAIN TECHNIQUES
WASHES, DRY-BRUSH & DETAIL
TECHNIQUE 1—WASHES
Pre wash
Some artists start by putting an overall colour wash over the whole paper to tint it
before starting, and it adds atmosphere to a painting. In the example to the right, I
wanted to depict the sunset, so I tinted the paper first, with a salmon pink wash, which
I did the night before. The picture was in the series of
tonal paintings, done in artificial light, and I simply
used various tones of grey, pink, and brown.
Many famous Artists have used this technique in the

past including Turner who is famous for his yellow and
blue pre washes.
THE PRE-WASH
The technique is to wash
the paper in one colour
or a combination of two ‗Sunset at The Marina Bar‘
colours. Bulgaria 2009
Sometimes just leaving Now in Private Collection
a section un-tinted,
revealing the white paper underneath, (whether
In the example of my intentional or not) can give some magical effects.
painting, called As on the water in the above painting, and on the building
‗The Roof Garden Bourgas‘ below ,(circled). In watercolour painting, such things are
(bottom right), called ‗Happy Accidents‘ , and is part of the sheer joy.
I used an Yellow Ochre The ‗trick‘ is, when it happens, don‘t be embarrassed by
coloured pre-wash on the it, don‘t try and cover it up, or detract from it, with
paper, before I sketched it. subsequent or adjacent painting, but use it to your
This is a lovely old elegant advantage, emphasise it and enjoy it.
house, and I wanted
the painting to be
almost half finished,
to give it a feeling of
an Architectural
Drawing. I also didn‘t
want to detract from
the comedy element
of the subject matter,
being the quirkiness
of the ‗ad-hoc‘ DIY
style roof garden
itself.
NOTICE HOW THE PRE-WASH
LOOKS STRONGER ON THE
LEFT ,THAN IN THE FINISHED
PAINTING , ON THE RIGHT.
YOU CAN BE BRAVER THAN YOU ‗The Roof Garden‘
THINK, WITH THE STRENGTH Bourgas—Bulgaria 2009
OF COLOUR ON THESE WASHES.

55
18. LESSON 9—THE THREE MAIN TECHNIQUES Continued
Flat Colour Wash
The fresh clean (none muddy) wash, is probably the hardest part
to master for a beginner, but it is the signature for this freshest of
painting medium, so needs to be mastered, and becomes second
nature, with a little practise.
Washes should be translucent, so you can see another wash
underneath it.
I like to use just 2 washes if I can capture it, as I think the effect
can be overdone with more, and work comes to look like an oil or
acrylic, or even have a photographic look, and I think that isn‘t the
desired look in a watercolour.
Occasionally I use a final shadow wash to indicate the shadow of a
building or tree ‗out of shot‘ for foreground affect.
FLAT COLOURED WASH HOW TO DO IT ?
Mix your colour consistently, and quite strongly, and apply to dry paper, using a large
round or flat brush. If you have surplus moisture, mop it out straight away, your
aiming for an even coat of paint. Allow it to dry naturally on a flat board.
Graduated wash
This technique is used mainly in skies or in areas that ‗graduate‘
from light to dark or vice versa. It‘s the way of adding more paint,
or water, to a wash, to dilute, or strengthen it, as you work up, or
down the paper, to give a specific effect. If your board is tipped or
held upside down, this type of graduated wash, can be made to
look like fog or mist, it‘s great fun try it !
GRADUATED WASH HOW TO DO IT
For Skies for example. Start at the top of a sloping board, with
your paint mixed consistently, and applied to wet, or dry paper,
using a big round, or flat brush. Work quickly and in big horizontal
or slightly arched bold strokes, and add more water to your mix as
you work towards the horizon. Blend the transition area, between dark and light, so it
changes gradually. NOW LEAVE IT ALONE TO WORK IT‘S MAGIC !
Just describing this process makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, with
anticipation and excitement, sad I know !
During the time when the paint and paper are ‘working their magic‘ it‘s possible to
manipulate, and steer the paint, where you want it, and all manner of sheets of rain,
mist, fog and storms are possible, just by tipping your board in different directions.
A WORD OF WARNING THOUGH
Try not to steer the wet paint towards areas that look dry, and past their ‗Golden Time‘
as this can lead to watermarking, and if you get any runs or drips, just mop them up,
at the border of the painting, with kitchen roll or a moist clean paint brush.

56
Flat Colour Wash and Graduated Wash
These are two examples of these washes, that demonstrate the different effects that
they can have on a painting, as well as the palette you choose too.
Though both scenes are similar in many ways, a cornfield in Summer, they were
painted at different times, but are no more than a mile apart geographically.
FLAT COLOUR WASH GRADUATED WASH
‗Summer Cornfield‘ ‗Track to Detelina‘
Cherkovo Bulgaria—2009 Bulgaria—2009
On this very Hot Summer‘s Day there was This cart track joins two villages, and I was
an Azure, almost Mediterranean, cloudless on my mountain bike, when I saw this
sky, and the corn was almost ready to Har- scene, in the height of Summer.
vest. I was struck by the contrast in colour, The track meanders across the fields, and
between the sky and the corn, and wanted the only sound I could hear was birdsong,
to try and capture that feeling. high in the sky.
This was a very simple scene, that I wanted The graduated wash, provided the
to portray very simply, and honestly, and perfect foil, to the wispy clouds above.
the flat colour-washed sky gave the feeling Notice how it gets weaker near the
of peace and tranquillity I wanted to horizon, achieved by adding more
capture, so painted the sky with a water to the mix, as I worked down the
flat wash, and l dried it flat too. paper, before finally mopping out the
clouds, with my big round brush.

57
Flat Colour Wash and Graduated Wash
Most beginners use too little paint, and then overdo things, with that final dollop of
water (just for good measure) which gives a wishy washy, uncontrollable mess.
This then leads to excessive cockling, and tell tale water marks (in the trade called
Cauliflowers), or blots.
Loading the brush, with just the right amount of liquid, be it paint, or water, is
something that only comes with experience, and just ‗getting out there and doing it‘ !
Here are some examples, in my own paintings, of the effects you can get with these
‗The Redundant Workhorse‘ ‗More Snow on the way‘ ‗Deere John‘
Cherkovo—Bulgaria 2009 Cherkovo—Bulgaria 2009 Cherkovo Harvest Time
Bulgaria 2009
In this painting of the This snowy view in our village, I happened upon this view,
abandoned Russian Gaz Truck was captured after one heavy from a distance thinking it was
in our village. It‘s located in a fall of snow. There then a fire. On closer inspection, on
valley and I wanted to followed a period of heavy rain this very hot Summer day, I
emphasise the valley and the before more snow, and this was found a fleet of John Deere
track and it‘s linear look. the last of the sun, before the combine Harvesters, at work.
So I manipulated the sky wash rain hit the village.
to end up with a shaft of light The first pre-wash was
down the centre of The sheets of rain portrayed in graduated side ways by
the painting. the heavy, rain laden sky, were holding the board on it‘s side.
achieved, by tipping the board I wanted to portray the dust
I achieved this by holding the at an angle, so the wet paint cloud, and how it could blot
board vertically and shaking looked like the rain. out the sun on the right hand
the board so the wet paint side of the painting.
came down the paper When it had moved enough I The sky wash was then
vertically. put the board down flat to dry manipulated in the same
I also graduated the wash so it naturally, which stops the manner, to achieve
is lighter at the horizon. movement of paint. finished effect.
two types of wash.

58
The ‗Wet into Wet‘ Technique
I am excited just mentioning this section to you.

It‘s the part of the medium of Watercolour Painting that is the most exciting, as an
Artist, and the technique that brings most pleasure to a viewing audience too, it seems.
It‘s that unpredictable, ‗something‘ that happens, it‘s when things just, well, ‗happen‘
when two blobs of colour fuse together, in an almost random way, as a mere mortal we
can but look in awe !
‗That looks like distant trees‘, ‗that looks like mist, or smoke from a distant fire‘ or
‗it looks like the sun is just coming from behind the clouds‘, and all manner of wonders
being created, while you look on in wonder, ‗did I do that‘ ?
In short ‗Wet in Wet‘ is the epitome of Watercolour Painting, that cannot be equalled in
beauty, by any other painting medium, and why I, amongst many before me, chose it.
‗Bluebell Wood‘ ‗Misty Lakeside‘ ‗Wall and Tree Study‘

2009 2009 2009—Now in Private Collection
Wet into wet is the most intuitive, and expressive forms of Watercolour Painting, and
probably the most rewarding, though the most difficult to describe here.
The good news is, that it‘s probably the easiest and fastest way to paint.
None of the works above took more that 30 minutes from start to finish.
The reason is, as the name suggests it‘s all done ‗wet in wet‘ in one go, and apart from
those darks and details, it all happens in usually just one ‗GOLDEN TIME‘ !
In other words, in the time it takes for the paper to get wet, to the paper drying !
The moisture of the paper, the strength of the colour, and the choice of colours,
is the key with this most magical of all the Watercolour techniques.
59
The ‗Wet into Wet‘ Technique—Continued
HOW TO DO IT ?
The technique to do it, is really simple, though the results are usually completely
unpredictable, which is of course, what makes it so exciting, and such fun.
It best suits subjects that are, lets say ‗less defined‘ and ‗dreamlike‘, either from views,
or from your imagination. ‗Wet in Wet‘ captures atmosphere, and mood beautifully.
WITH THIS TECHNIQUE, SPEED IS OF THE ESSENCE, BECAUSE YOU LITERALLY
ONLY HAVE THE TIME FROM WETTING THE PAPER, TO THE TIME YOU GET TO
THE END OF THE ‗GOLDEN TIME‘ TO FINISH IT. SO WE ARE LITERALLY
TALKING A FEW MINUTES, DEPENDING ON DRYING CONDITIONS.
STEP 1
Roughly work out what it is your going to paint, and lightly sketch it on your dry paper,
and prepare your palette of colours mixing them quite strongly,
and ensuring you have enough. Try not knowing what your going
to paint, as I did with the two examples on this page. I decided
what I would make them into, once I‘d painted them !
STEP 2
On pre–stretched watercolour paper, (remembering that this is
the wettest of all the techniques) liberally wet your paper all
over, with clean water, using a large flat or round brush (I use a
2‘‘ paint brush from a decorating shop). Though leaving some
dry areas, adds to the contrast between the resulting hard
edges, and the fluidity and softness, of the wet in wet areas.
Ensure that you don‘t have any puddles anywhere, but if you do ‗Misty Lakeside‘
remove by ‗mopping up‘ with a moist brush.
It is possible to just
STEP 3 paint and splash your
Working quickly, paint bold stripes or shapes favourite colours on
paper then decide what
randomly in a couple of colours and blend it looks like later.
them together. Now while this paint merges Try splashing with water
together and ‗does it‘s magic‘, add another or salt too and see what
colour into the mixture, of colours. Now pick happens. Both the
up your board, and move it around, to pictures here were
painted in that way !
manipulate the paint to where you want it to
go. If you are painting something less
random and specific, leave your board flat
until it dries. You don‘t have to use brushes
to add the colours, splashing with another
colour or ink (circled), or clear water, works
well too. If you get any runs or puddles just
‗Corn Husks‘
mop them out as before, but before it dries.
STEP 4
Once everything is hard dry, add some highlights and darks if
you want to, and that‘s all there is to it, easy !
Just stand back, admire your creativity, and have lots of fun !

60
TECHNIQUE 2 DRY-BRUSH
As the name suggests ‗drybrush‘ is just that. Applying paint from an almost dry brush.
It is a useful technique to add texture, usually in foregrounds, to suggest things like
earth, sand, snow and textures in general, either natural or man–made.
The technique works best on rough textured paper, which is one reason I use the
paper I do, which is called Bockingford Rough 300gm (140lb). Because I like to record
decay and crumbling buildings, this is one of my favourite of techniques, because it
can duplicate the texture of, say a rough wall, or a rusty piece of tin.
Drybrush is the best, and

traditional way to re-create
textures in your paintings, and
is completely controllable with
the brush.
Other ‗‘tricks‘ like wax can be
used, as also seen on the right ,
(circled) but it‘s unpredictable,
because when you put it on,
you can‘t see where it is.
Also the shine of the wax will
always be a part of your picture
and can‘t be removed
afterwards, which isn‘t
always a good thing.
Drybrush is also One of my favourite ways
a really nice of using dry-brush, is to
way to paint depict shadows and
water, and texture on snow, and
gives the winter scenes.
The areas left in the
illusion of hollows, where the paint
those areas of doesn‘t touch, looks like
water that look the snow sparkling, and
textured, like the wind glistening in the sun.
is whipping the water up,
in the distance. It can also be used to
great effect on beach
scenes too, as it looks like
sand.
In fact anywhere you want

texture, try Drybrush.
HOW TO DO IT
Quite simply, you load your brush, then keep painting on a scrap
piece of paper, or the border of you painting, until very little
paint comes off, then lightly apply to your painting.
61
TECHNIQUE 3 RIGGER AND DETAIL
Originally, I was going to call this section ‗Rigger‘, but then I realised that when
painting the sharp details, in my pictures, that I use all manner of items to do that. So
I suppose it ought to be called simply ‗HOW TO PAINT DETAILS‘.
The details in paintings These fine details I refer to

are usually the things as ‗sharps‘ do exactly that,
first noticed by the they sharpen and define .
viewer, as they are the A painting that is all soft
sharpest focused items. and cloudy, with no
contrast, can be a little
They contrast with the monotonous and boring.
other techniques, But one with sharps, has
particularly the wet in real interest & character.
wet technique, as they
provide sharpness It‘s usually in the
against the softness of foreground, that this detail
that technique. So the comes into it‘s own, when
TOOLS OF THE TRADE
mast on the ship, or the one is working forward,
Allow me to introduce some of
cross on the church, and getting more detailed,
the many items I use to paint
against a soft sky, are as you get nearer the eye.
details in my paintings,
the effects that combine, This can donr by using
from left to right
to please the eye. dark paint, or ink.
1. Sharpened stick
2. Cocktail stick
3. Skewer
4. Rigger
5. Sharpened end of brush
6. Dip Pen
7. Quill
Notice how the stick is thicker

at one end than the other, and
also, how I‘ve sharpened the
WHEN TO USE WHICH OF
end of one of my brushes, to
THE 3 TECHNIQUES ?
use as a drawing tool.
Generally speaking
SKIES & DISTANCE

Wet into Wet These ‗sharps‘ were done
using the sharpened stick,
MIDDLE DISTANCE dipped in Black Indian Ink.
Wet or Drybrush
See how that sharpness
FOREGROUND contrasts, with the wet
Drybrush and Details painted background.

62
19. LESSON 10—OTHER TECHNIQUES, AND NEAT TRICKS
At the outset, I know that some of these ‗more advanced‘ techniques

meet with disapproval, with the purist watercolour connoisseurs, who
only like to see watercolours in the ‗pure‘ techniques of washes
drybrush and rigger. Only you can decide if that‘s for you, or not.
―Personally I use every weapon in my armoury

as and when required. Never having studied the ‗rules‘ ,
gives me an excuse not to know about them,
and leaves me free of any constraints, and
gives me the freedom to express myself, as I see fit.‖
Amongst these ‗tricks and techniques‘ we will be looking at in this Lesson are such
things as :-
‗Resists‘ such as Masking Fluid and Wax, Spattering, Scratching, Lifting out and
Mopping out with sponges and special tools and loo roll.
We will also be working with Salt, sharpened sticks and torn pieces of card.
DESCRIPTION METHOD PICTURE
USE AN OLD BRUSH, OR KNIFE BLADE,

TO PAINT ON AT THE START OF YOUR
MASKING FLUID PICTURE. INVALUABLE WHEN YOU WANT
SOMETHING BRIGHT OR WHITE
AGAINST A DARK BACKGROUND
PEEL OFF WHEN YOUR PAINT IS DRY
ONCE YOUR PAINTING IS HARD DRY

USE A CRAFT KNIFE BLADE TO
SCRATCHING CAREFULLY SCRATCH
ON DARK BACKGROUNDS,
FOR GRASSES AND THE LIKE
BUT BEWARE IT‘S ADDICTIVE !
DRAW ON YOUR PAINTING WHERE YOU

DON‘T WANT THE PAINT TO STICK.
WAX RESIST CUT A CANDLE INTO A NIB
A RESIST IS JUST SOMETHING THAT WATERCOLOUR SHAPE FOR ACCURACY. DIFFICULT TO
PAINT WON‘T STICK TO, SO ‗RESISTS‘ IT SEE UNTIL THE END BUT GOOD TO
DUPLICATE TEXTURES BUT DRYBRUSH
IS MORE CONTROLLABLE
TAP PAINT OR WATER FROM ONE BRUSH

ONTO THE HANDLE OF ANOTHER, TO
SPATTER SPLASH, BUT PRACTICE FIRST ,AWAY
FROM YOUR PAINTING. NICE EFFECT
DURING WET INTO WET AND FOR
RANDOM FLOWERS IN FIELDS ETC.
SCATTER SALT ONTO DAMP SURFACE

EFFECT IS AFFECTED BY DAMPNESS OF
YOUR WASH (SEE PICS)
SALT TRY STANDARD SALT & ROCK SALT
GOOD FOR MODERN FLORAL PICTURES

NICE THOUGH ADDICTIVE !

63
19. LESSON 10—OTHER TECHNIQUES AND NEAT TRICKS Continued
If you recall, at the start of my book, I mentioned that with Watercolour

Painting, you had to pre-work out your highlights, at the very beginning
of your painting.
Well, this isn't strictly true, as it‘s possible to do this at the end of the
painting process, using several of the techniques below, and on the
previous page.
The thing to bear in mind, with these additional techniques, is that they can be
regarded as a bit gimmicky, so restraint has to be shown.
So it‘s a case of ‗LESS IS MORE‘ though with some of them they are definitely
addictive, such as scratching.
The thing to do, is mix them up, and use them sparingly. Don‘t be tempted to use any
one technique as your signature, as this will make your paintings predictable, and
‘samey‘.
Overleaf, I show you a montage of my pictures, see if you can identify the techniques,
both standard, and the ones on these last two pages.
How many are there ? Answers by e-mail, please. There is a prize for the closest.
DESCRIPTION METHOD PICTURE
USE A MOIST BRUSH TO LIFT OUT

COLOUR FROM PAPER
MOPPING OUT USEFUL FOR CREATING HIGHLIGHTS
AND ON CLOUDS AND FOR CREATING
SMOKE AND MIST AND OTHER
ATMOSPHERIC EFFECTS
USE BRUSH, TISSUE OR BUD

TO LIFT AND GENTLY SCRUB
PAPER TO LIFT PAINT
SCRUBBING OUT CAN BE USED WITH A BRUSH TO
DENOTE SUNS RAYS OR WITH A
TISSUE TO REPRESENT SUN OR MOON
CAN ALSO BE USED FOR STENCILS
USE A STICK TO EITHER APPLY PAINT,

OR REMOVE IT, OR TO DENOTE LIGHT
THINGS AGAINST A DARK
POINTED STICK BACKGROUND. YOU CAN USE WOOD OR
TWIGS SHARPENED OR A PAINTBRUSH,
COCKTAIL STICK ,QUILL, OR NIB
TEAR CARDBOARD STRIPS INTO

RANDOM SHAPES, AND DIP INTO
PAINT, AND APPLY IN SHORT STROKES,
CARDBOARD STRIPS ALTERING THE SIDE USED, TO AVOID
ANYTHING REGULAR OR PATTERNS.
USE TO REPRESENT ROCKS ETC. THEN
SIMPLY PAINT THE SHADOW SIDE.
USE RANDOMLY TORN ,NATURAL SEA

SPONGE, TO SPONGE PAINT OR WATER,
SPONGING ON OR OFF. CAN BE USED TO FORM
STONE, OR CLOUDS, JUST CHANGE THE
DIRECTION REGULARLY, TO GET A
COMPLETELY RANDOM EFFECT

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19. LESSON 10—OTHER TECHNIQUES AND NEAT TRICKS Continued
Just before we finish this section, I though it might be worthy to note that the effects of
both spattering and salt, vary, depending on how damp the paper is, and I add some
photo‘s to demonstrate this. As you can see, the difference is quite marked, and you
can use this to your advantage, depending on the effect your trying to achieve.
TIME STRAIGHT AWAY 30 SEC 1 MINUTE 2 MINUTES 3 MINUTES
ROCK
SALT
This is the final page of this lesson, and just for some
fun, see if you can see now many of those techniques I
have used, in these paintings of mine ?
Answers by e-mail please. Good Luck 30 SEC 2 MINS
WATER SPATTER
ON DAMP PAPER

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20. LESSON 11—AVOIDING MUD & KEEPING IT CLEAN AND FRESH
Before we commence with the lessons on painting all the elements that
go to make up a landscape, so we can bring it all together.
Finally I just wanted to emphasise the vital information, to enable you to keep
your paintings clean, and fresh, and your washes, luminescent and bright.
KEEP IT CLEAN
Avoiding a muddy and an

overworked look in your
paintings, is crucial to their
beauty.
These are the key points to
abide by, if your to avoid the
dreaded mud !
 TRY TO LIMIT THE

COLOURS IN A MIX TO 4
 NEVER MESS ABOUT WITH

YOUR PAINTINGS ONCE
THE SHINE HAS GONE
 DURING THIS ‗GOLDEN

TIME‘ JUST LEAVE THINGS The delicate clean luminescent washes of
ALONE, HOWEVER ‗Cormorants near Cherni Vrah‘- Bulgaria 2009
TEMPTING IT IS
These two paintings below were probably recycled
 CHANGE YOUR WATER as Greetings Cards but I wanted to include them to
REGULARLY, & USE 2 show you the difference between their lack of clarity
POTS and the painting above.
 KEEP YOUR BRUSHES The Eleven Lessons so far, have hopefully given
WASHED OUT you the background knowledge, on the theory of
watercolour painting. We can now proceed with
 KEEP YOUR PAINT POTS painting the elements used in landscape painting .
CLEAN, AND WASH OUT
DURING PAINTING SO LET‘S PAINT LANDSCAPES !
Understanding how to avoid

muddy overworked
paintings, is a big part of
your understanding of the
medium of
Watercolour Painting.
By way of
encouragement
I thought I would include a
couple of my earlier
paintings that were
‗recycled‘ !

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21. LESSON 12—PAINTING SKIES
I was always told to ‗PAINT A SKY EVERY DAY‘, as it‘s different each day, at different
times of the day, and also in each direction you look at it.
THE FIRST THING TO DECIDE, IS HOW IMPORTANT THE SKY IS IN YOUR PICTURE ?
This will then guide you, as to which type of sky to paint. Generally, if the subject
matter is complicated or fussy, I would recommend you keep the sky simple.
If the subject matter is simple, then you can go for a
more vigorous sky, to add interest and movement.
As a general rule, I decide at the outset, how

dominant and interesting, I want to make my skies.
If you take the example of ‗The Rock Pool—For Julie ‗
on the right you can see that I wanted to portray a
big important, Summer Sky. By contrast, the
foreground and characters in the picture are placed
very low down, and painted very simply, to
emphasise the sky.
Bearing in mind (but not dogmatically so) the

compositional 1/3rd rule, you decide if the emphasis
will be on the foreground , with the sky playing a
lesser role (usually seen in townscapes, or foreground
textural studies) or if it is to be the main focal point
of the painting, like with a bleak moorland scene, or
a seascape, like we have here, on the Right.
By contrast, below you can see how the sky is very

much less important in this picture, because the main
focal point is on the foreground courtyard and the fountain.
SO WHY ALL THE FUSS ?

Put simply, nothing quite epitomises the freshness, and
luminosity of the medium of Watercolour Painting like a
well executed sky.
Skies can be intimidating to beginners with all that virgin
paper, sometimes taking up to 2/3rds of the finished
painting, or even more!
The first thing to consider is perspective. Quite surprising

with Skies I know.
The theory is this …. The cloud above your head is the
biggest, but as they get further away, they look smaller and
smaller, eventually usually merging into each other.
Even a cloudless sky has principles of perspective, to apply
to it, in that the colour above you is quite deep, and as you
work down towards the horizon it gets paler, and paler.
In addition, a Sky can look completely different at one side
of a landscape to the other.
To use this in your work, varying the colour from one side to the other,
adds interest, variety and movement to a finished painting.
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21. LESSON 12—PAINTING SKIES Continued
THE SECRET TO A GREAT SKY IS …

 WORK FAST
 KEEP A WET EDGE
 THEN LEAVE IT ALONE, TO DO ‗IT‘S STUFF‘
 BE BOLD WITH COLOUR (as it always dries lighter).
I quite often tip my board, to manipulate the drying HOW TO GET THE EFFECT
paint, on the wet paper, to copy the angles of OF FALLING RAIN
sheets of rain for example but just remember your Gently tapping your
‗Golden Time ‗,of just a few minutes, and stop board, and moving
messing when that time approaches. it,by altering the
angle, makes
heavy rain
IF YOU CONTINUE TO WORK IT ALWAYS TURNS clouds look
MUDDY SO IT IS ABSOLUTELY CRUCIAL like they are
sheets of rain.
There are several types of cloud formations, all of You can only
do this for
which have their own characteristics. The Names a short
are Latin and they helpfully describe, and give time though.
hints, to the way of painting them. ‗Cirrus‘ THEN LEAVE IT TO DRY
FLAT, NATURALLY.
meaning curl or fringe. ‗Stratus‘ meaning spread
over area. ‗Cumulus‘ meaning heap or pile and ‗Nimbus‘ meaning rain bearing.
CLOUDLESS SKY
Though this sounds really simple it‘s actually one of the hardest to achieve. The reason is that
the flat wash has to be perfect to carry it off, which involves real care. This type of sky suits
Summer scenes and can be used where the sky dominates the painting.
HOW TO DO IT ?
Choose, and mix your colours carefully, and ensure that all
the pigment is well mixed in, and of an even consistency.
You can be quite bold with colours, for this type of sky.
Now wet your pre-stretched paper, on your board (which
should be tipped on a slight angle), but not so wet as to
cause puddles. Ensure you have more than enough paint
than you need. Using either a big round, large flat or normal
paintbrush, apply your paint, in big overlapping sweeps of
paint. You can either paint in horizontal strokes, or ones with
a slight arc, going down at each side, which will immediately
blend together. As you approach the horizon, weaken your
paint mix slightly by adding a little more water to your mix,
so it goes lighter at the bottom.
Lay it flat and let it dry naturally, and mop up any surplus water on the painting, with a
brush, or if around the border, mop with kitchen towel, BEFORE YOU REACH THE
‗GOLDEN TIME‘, which you can check, by looking at it against the light.
Once the paint loses it‘s shine, it‘s time to leave it alone.
FINALLY,LAY YOUR BOARD FLAT, AND LET IT DRY, NATURALLY.

68
Painting a ‗Cirrus‘ Type sky meaning curl or fringe
This is one of the most attractive of the types of skies, and one of the easiest to paint.
Painting this type of sky can be done by painting onto dry paper, or by moistening it
first with clean water or a combination of wet and dry. It‘s also possible to pre- tint the
paper, and let it hard dry, which adds more atmosphere.
HOW TO DO IT ?
Dampen your paper or start dry, or try a bit of both. Damp
paper gives a softer sky, working on dry paper gives you
harder edges. Using a fairly strong mix of paint, using say
Cobalt Blue and Ultramarine Blue as here, with just a touch
of Light Red, to take the coolness off the blue paint.
Start in one corner, and altering the angle of the brush,

paint down diagonally, leaving gaps of unpainted paper to
suggest the light parts of the sky.
While the paint and paper are still wet, wipe your brush
moist dry on kitchen towel, and ‗lift out‘ clouds using a
rolling motion. Add a small amount of water to soften any
edges. The key is for it to be completely random, if you
spot any areas that look ‗samey‘ adjust the shape, of
them, using more paint or water, but don‘t go too wet.
For more clouds, whilst the paint is still damp, screw tissue or
kitchen roll into a ball, and mop out ‗clouds‘, again changing the
shape of the tissue, and the direction you use it.
The secret, is to work quickly, before you reach the ‗Golden

Time‘. If the paper does dry, then leave it alone, and let it hard
dry, using your hairdryer on a slow speed. There is no limit to
how many washes you can put over another, but the key is to
ensure that each is perfectly dry, before adding the next one.
This type of Cirrus sky, suits subjects where some
interest is required, but without it being a dominant
part of the finished painting.
Use round brushes to paint

these types of skies, as the
name Cirrus suggests. Use the
size, dependant upon the size of
your painting, and change the
brush sizes, during the painting
of the sky, which will give it
more interest and variety.
Please note that I am left-handed, and you

may find it easier to work from left to right.

69
Painting a ‗Stratus‘ type sky meaning spread over area
This type of sky, is simply one between a cloudless sky, and a Cirrus one, and just has
less details and definition. At any stage of painting skies, you can stop anytime, before
adding more detail, layers and shadows. If you like it leave it alone.
To put it another way, a plain sky with more detail, becomes a Stratus sky, and with
more details, becomes a Cirrus sky, and with even more detail, it become a Cumulus
sky, and finally, with darker colours and more drama, becomes a Cumulus Nimbus sky.
Painting a ‗Cumulus‘
Type sky meaning heap
or pile
These are those cotton wool type skies, usually
associated with bright sunny, Summers Days.
HOW TO DO IT ?
Use you biggest round brush, as before, but be bolder, and more accentuated, with
your brush strokes . After checking the direction of light on the arrow on the border of
your painting, add shadows to the underside, and shadow side, of some of the clouds.

70
Painting a ‗Cumulus Nimbus‘ Sky meaning heap or pile and rain bearing
This is the most dramatic of skies, usually associated with thunderstorms, and the most
dramatic effects of light, and the one well suited to Watercolour Painting.
Consider using Masking Fluid for your

highlights, such as these seagulls below
or the lights on the pier
Painting these stormy skies gives dramatic

effects, and the most opportunities for contrast, and counter-change, as circled above.
Some Artists such as Ashley Jackson, from my beloved Yorkshire, have made these
heavy types of skies his trademark.
HOW TO DO IT ?
It‘s a further development of the skies so far,
but only now using more dramatic colours such
as Lamp Black, Payne‘s Grey, Light Red and
even Burnt Umber. Using such dramatic dark
colours, gives fantastic opportunities to
emphasise ‘lights‘ in a painting, such as the
sun, the moon, street lights and white gulls
against black skies. Add plenty of dark
shadows to the underside of the clouds, whilst
they are still wet, and consider tipping your
board for even more dramatic effects.

71
CREATING OTHER EFFECTS IN YOUR SKIES
It‘s possible ,and very desirable, in Watercolour

Painting, to capture nature and mood, and also
dramatic effects, such as the sun, moon, sunsets
and as you have already seen, storms.
Most of these other techniques, involve some kind

of ‗lifting out‘ or ‗mopping out ‗ of damp paint,
using all manner of items like brushes, tissue,
cotton wool, and even cotton wool buds.
During the time after you have applied your wet paint, you have a few minutes
(depending on drying conditions), to lift out paint, to achieve these dramatic effects.
HOW TO DO IT ?
MOONS AND SUNS

On damp paper, and freshly applied paint, like this
sunset, simply screw up kitchen roll into a round wad,
and using a twisting motion, lift out the
colour to reveal the white, or tinted paper
beneath.
Soften the edges with a damp brush, for a
softer sun, or moon. Some ‗bleeding in‘ from
the surrounding paint, usually makes a more
natural look, as it would be in nature.
You can also achieve similar results, using a
brush, or cotton wool bud, to mop up the
coloured paint.
SUNS OR MOONS RAYS (circled below)

Use any of the items above, to remove straight lines, radiating from the centre of the
Sun or Moon. Try and vary the thickness of the rays, as they would be in nature.
Pressing harder, or softer, with any of these ‗lifting off‘ techniques, gives varying, and
more interesting results.
Also try using masking fluid, to paint your sun or moon.

Let it dry thoroughly ,paint over it, then when the paint
is dry, peel off the rubbery solution, with your clean
finger, or a putty rubber, to reveal
the white paper underneath.
‗Lifting out‘ using

above a moist brush,
and right, a cotton wool bud.

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22. LESSON 13—PAINTING LAND
Like skies, painting land can be intimidating, to a beginner, simply due to the amount
of space it can take up on the paper typically, 1/3rd or even 2/3rds of the painting,
depending on the viewpoint, and composition.
When painting land, you have to depict it‘s shape, it‘s bulk, it‘s
geology (what it‘s made of) and how it‘s ‘clothed‘. In other
words is it earth, rock, sand, pebbles, grass, crops, or cliffs for
example.
It‘s geology, is usually an indicator of the type of brush you

would use to depict it.
For instance in the 2 examples on
the right, show a combination of
rolling pasture land and outcrops
of rocks. A round brush would be
used for the hills, and a flat brush
used, for the rocks. The colours
and shadows are the things that
give the subject reality, and
believability, by giving them a three dimensional quality.
The ‗Wet into Wet technique‘ of painting darker colour into a wet wash is extensively
used in accurately portraying land mass.
In addition the rules of recession from Lesson 6 are imperative, when painting land,
and as you recall, assumes a blue-ness in more distant land, than in the foreground.
The technique is to start less

defined, and cooler in colour, using
smaller brushes in the background,
then change to bigger brushes, and
stronger colours as you move
forward into the fore-ground.
Remembering that cool colours
recede (go back), and warm
colours advance, (come forward),
see circled left.
The cliffs in the background, and
foreground, were painted with
round brushes to denote their bulk,
with darks added to the wet wash to
form the shadows. The light from this scene was coming from the top left so shadow
was added to the right of the rock masses.
‗Wet into Wet‘ Technique, and a

combination of all of your types of
brushes, will give you convincing
looks in your land, whether fields,
cliffs, or rolling hills.
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22. LESSON 13—PAINTING LAND Continued
There are some exceptions to your selection of brushes, when painting land, that can
be quite surprising.
Like the example to the right, for instance.
Normally you would expect to paint this
scene (of gently undulating farm land), by
using a round brush. But because it has a
crop of cereal on it which grows
vertically, and the shadows on the
top are horizontal swathes of
colour.
Both vertical and horizontals,
were painted using a wide flat
brush, in the directions indicated
by the arrows.
The far distant hills, were painted

with a small round brush, and
notice how the grey blue colour,
makes them appear further way.
Here is another example of a similar scene, but also

notice how the flat of the field is left almost unpainted,
just a few simple upward brush marks to suggest the
stubble after the combine harvester had cut the drop.
It‘s also possible to suggest sloping distant fields, simply

by applying the paint in the direction of the field‘s slope.
HOW TO DO IT ?
STEP 1
Firstly, draw your scene roughly on your paper so you know
which areas are land, then split the area into ‘planes ‘ if the
scene is suitable. As previously seen on the lesson on
recession.
unpainted area
Try and keep your drawing fairly light, and to a minimum, as
it‘s likely that, as this is a wet area, and you may want to
remove all the pencil marks, at the end of the painting, so the
less you put on now, and the lighter you apply it, the easier it will be later on.
STEP 2
Start with the furthest ‗plane ‗ away from you, and using a
blue/grey, weakish mix of say Ultramarine and
Paynes Grey, on a small round brush, carefully
paint distant hills, being careful not to paint over
the nearer hills, and sections of land.
If you do, simply mop out, using clean water on a
dampish brush, to mop up the over-painted area.
74
STEP 2 contd.
Whilst this first section of land is still damp, you have the
opportunity to add shadows to the distant hills, and also any
other features, like trees for instance. Do this by carefully
adding a slightly stronger paint, into the original hill colour.
It‘s also possible to add

misty effects too ,while the
paint and paper are still
wet & workable.
To do this, wash your brush out in clean water, wipe

it until it‘s just slightly moist, then lift out the paint
Adding mist effects to a
damp wash by lifting colour from the bottom of the ‗plane‘, which will then look
out, but leave the tops sharp. like mist in a valley, but remember to leave the
tops of the hills fairly sharp, against the sky colour.
Now dry this first land ‗plane‘ thoroughly, with a hair dryer
on slow speed.
If you paint one plane without drying in between they will
bleed into each other, though this too, can lead to some
interesting and unexpected ‗happy accidents‘.
TOP TIP
It‘s possible to carry on painting the next ‘plane‘ if your
painting outside say, by leaving small gaps, between each plane.
STEP 3
Once the distant plane is dry, mix your paint for your middle distance, ensuring it is
stronger in tone (in other words more paint) than the further one.
It is possible to reverse this contrast, if say, you wanted the distant plane to be sunlit
and the foreground to be in the shadow of a
thundercloud, or under a tree, for example.
SUN
Now fill in the area to be painted, using a
flat wash, on a medium round brush.
Now, bearing in mind the direction of the
light source, here shown top right
(indicated by the arrow), add ‗darks‘ to the
shadow sides of the land, (here on the hill
circled), and lift highlights from the light
side of the hill, by gently mopping up the
paint, with a clean, but slightly moist brush.
Blend these areas together, with a slightly
moist brush, to avoid any harsh edges.
TOP TIP ALWAYS ENSURE THAT THE PAINT YOU ADD, TO ANOTHER WET WASH, IS
ALWAYS STRONGER THAN THE PAINT YOUR GOING ON TOP OF.
IF YOU DON‘T IT RESULTS IN TIDE MARKS OF COLOUR, CALLED ‘CAULIFLOWERS‘ !

75
STEP 4
Now move forward on the same ‗plane‘ and
strengthen your paint, using more blue, black or
brown.
Paint your next adjoining area, whilst the first is
still damp. You need to work fairly quickly with
these wet techniques, so I would suggest you
have your paints already mixed, and in sufficient
quantities, so you don‘t have to break off once
you‘ve started. I generally don‘t manipulate this
wet paint by lifting or tipping my board as I
would with a sky say. Instead I leave it to dry
flat. Whilst the paint is still damp, and before the
working time passes, you can add tracks,
shadows, and undulations, using your darker
paint mix.
PAINTING OTHER THINGS

At the start of this section, I mentioned that it‘s possible to almost pre work out what
brush you would need, to duplicate a certain element, in a landscape, and some
examples are shown below.
LAWNS
Simply using your flat brushes, in alternating
light and dark stripes, not surprisingly duplicates
the passes of a lawnmower, on this lawn.
PATHS, SLABS AND ROADS

As you can also see on the right the same
technique, with the flat brush was used to form the paving slabs and even
the gaps in between. The important things with these, is to ensure your perspective is
good, and that you keep your brush at a consistent angle .
Use a light pencil, and even a ruler, if you want
to check, before you start painting.
On the example on the right, the slabs show a
slight curve, as they would to drain water away,
all helping to give you a convincing look, to your
portrayal of these elements, in your landscapes.
UNDULATIONS IN SNOW
Undulations in Snow, are simply depicted, just with
the use of shadow colour, on a round brush.
Just mix a tone from the sky colour, usually with a
blue-ish tinge. Using this technique on wet paper,
look like slushy puddles, but the undulations look
best, when painted using the dry-brush technique.
Just be aware of the direction of the light and make
sure the shadow sides are consistent.

76
Here are some more examples, using the techniques described.

See if you can guess which brushes were used on each.
The answers are at the bottom of the page.
1. 2.
3.
4.
TOP TIP
To ensure your lands are interesting, mix up your wet and dry
techniques , and this will add variety and movement to your landscapes.
ANSWER TO QUIZ
ALL WERE PAINTED WITH ROUND BRUSHES, APART FROM NUMBER 3, WHICH WAS PAINTED WITH A FLAT BRUSH.
THE RULE IS -SOFT LAND THINGS IE FIELDS, USE A ROUND BRUSH, HARD THINGS IE ROCKS, FLAT BRUSH.

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23. LESSON 14—PAINTING WATER AND REFLECTIONS
Just writing the title of this Chapter excites me !

In my opinion, this is one of those elements in a painting best suited to the lovely
medium of Watercolour Painting. Though it looks difficult to do, it is actually one of the
easiest, though there are some golden rules that you have to follow to carry off the
illusion in your paintings.
AND THE MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL, IS THIS ONE
WATER IS ALWAYS PERFECTLY FLAT

AND NEVER GOES UPHILL OR DOWNHILL
You may notice a lot of emphasis on the above statement, and it‘s not without good
reason, trust me. Funnily in most circumstances, water depicted in watercolour
paintings, and the nicest subjects, usually involve fairly calm water, and their
reflections. There is a calmness, about calm water in a painting, and it is also very
popular, with the buying public too. The water is usually nothing more that one single,
slightly tinted wash, or even unpainted, or
by using pre-tinted paper. It‘s actually the
very few subtle marks on your water, that
will give you convincing water, whether
lakes, rivers, the sea, or even puddles.
Quite simply, once your sky colour has
been chosen, your water will be the same
colour, as it‘s a reflection of it.
TOP TIP
When I know I am painting a
water scene, I always keep the
original mix from the sky, and
sometimes mix twice as much
as I need. I can then duplicate
the colour in the reflections
again later in the painting.
It‘s important for it to be a
pretty accurate copy of it, for
obvious reasons.
Wet sand, rain soaked

pavement, puddles, and wet
cobbled streets, are also
amongst my favourite subjects
involving water and reflections,
that I love to paint, in my own
watercolours.

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23. LESSON 14—PAINTING WATER AND REFLECTIONS Continued
REFLECTIONS
Here‘s how the theory works, I‘m not sure of it‘s scientific accuracy, but this is what
works for me, and how I would describe it.
The few marks that suggest the water, and indeed the reflections, depend on how
rough the water is. That‘s why a still puddle, or a very calm none flowing body of
water, like a lake, has more defined reflections in it, than one that is rough, or has
waves, for instance, like the sea.
TOP TIP If your ever in doubt about how long to paint reflections, always paint
them shorter than you think, this little trick always convinces the eye.
The reflections are also subject to the angle at which they are viewed, for example.
If the viewpoint is quite low as shown here
as indicated by this red line,
the reflection will
appear quite short.
Alternatively, if the viewpoint is quite high

as shown here, the reflection will be quite high, and almost a copy of the original
image.
The one thing that you have to ensure, is accuracy in your reflections.
In other words, don‘t add reflected shapes that aren‘t there, and don‘t miss
anything out. Reflections are one of those things that the eye checks out
naturally, when viewing a painting.
Consider both these paintings of the same scene but one painting is more accurate with
it‘s reflections than the other. Funnily the less accurate one sold and the other didn‘t !
But which one does your eye see as the more accurate, A or B ?
A. B.

79
Another consideration, to ensure you have convincing reflections in your paintings,

is that, the way you paint them, convinces the viewer how calm, or how rough the
water actually is.
The second thing is to have very convincing detail on the surface of the water.
Lets look at these two things separately.
REFLECTIONS—HOW ROUGH IS THE WATER ?
Is this example of a painting I did of Bourgas Pier on the right, the

tide had gone out, mainly leaving wet sand and puddles.
Because this water isn‘t usually subject to any movement, (except
occasionally by the wind), the reflections are very mirror like, and
have to be very accurately painted, to be convincing.
In this second example of ‗Dusk at Sozopol Naval College‘ on the

left, the reflection is slightly broken, and wavy, indicating that
there was some gentle movement of the water which causes
straight lines to break up as you can see
in the photograph I took in the same
harbour.
For reflections to be convincing,
generally, they have to be painted
accurately, using a rigger or small brush.
With boat masts and rigging do this on
bone dry paper.
Reflections (because of their sharpness) are very important focal points in a painting,
and because of this, is no place for any wet techniques,
or fuzziness, but for sharpness, and linear detail.
This scene on the right ,was captured, as we

entered the safety and haven of Sozopol
Harbour with Yachtsman, and friend Mike on
my very first sailing experience, aboard his
yacht ‘Seathrift‘.
We had sailed down the coast a few miles,
one Summer‘s Day for a leisurely lunch, and
were hit by a freak force 8 storm, as we
reached our destination, under full sail. In this example,
I wanted to capture the power of the passing above, of one of
storm. Despite my discomfort, I couldn‘t my most popular
works called
help wondering, how run of the mill it was
for the crew, and entourage of ‗A Safe Haven in Sozopol‘
seagulls, of this trawler, that where I wanted to emphasise
followed us into harbour , on that the calmness of the water
memorable day. inside the harbour walls, so
painted it with clearer
reflections, than outside the
harbour where the angry sea
‗A Liesurely Lunch at Ropatombo Bay‘—Private Collection still raged.

80
REFLECTIONS—HOW ROUGH IS THE WATER ? Contd.
In contrast to the previous pages, which mainly concentrated on calm water, and sharp
reflections, the reverse is true with rougher water.
Your choice and portrayal of those reflections, as an artist means that you can either
emphasise the reflections or play them down, depending on where you want the
emphasis to be, in your paintings.
As you can clearly see, from these examples on the right, the
sea, by it‘s very nature and roughness, is rarely prone to
mirror like reflections, and sometimes none at all.
Indeed, given artistic licence, as in

the painting of the Naval College,
you have the power to invent
reflections that weren't there to As you can see above, the
reflection of the sailing
start with. dinghy, is not clearly
defined, in this photograph.
NOTE
The example is also a good one to
show that as an artist, one can
move great areas of land to say Above / Right
improve composition, change In these examples,
there are no
emphasis, and give more reflections at all, and
opportunity for counter-change and indeed, much of the
recession as I did here. character of the
painting, has been
invented by me.
THE ESSENCE OF THE SCENE
HASN‘T CHANGED, BUT HAS
ACTUALLY BEEN ENHANCED FROM AN ARTISTIC POINT OF VIEW
Notice how in the original scene above, the two masses of land merge into each other
tonally, making it hard for the eye to separate them. There is actually a separate bay
and beach around the first headland, and so I ‗moved‘ them apart. To emphasise this
even more, I both strengthened tonally the one at the front, and made the furthest one
recede further back by painting it very lightly, and bluer, achieving a more satisfactory
composition, and improved recession.
So as you can see, you sometimes have to decide what

you want the emphasis to be in your painting. Is it about
beautiful reflections on a mirror like sea as above, or
something else ?
With ‗Night Sail from Sozopol‘ it combines both.
The yacht‘s reflection isn‘t well defined, indicating some

movement in the sea water. By contrast, the foreground
striation, which was one of those very common ‗happy
accidents‘ caused by tinting the paper and missing some
stripes, looks like light, reflected by wet compacted sand,
on the beach.
81
The final thing need, to paint convincing water, apart from convincing reflections
(or not), are the actual details on the waters surface itself.
And this is quite a strange concept, but one unique, and ideally suited
to the medium of Watercolour Painting.
It‘s the concept that ,in Watercolour Painting, the ‗highlights or brights‘
as they are called, are not painted on using white paint, as they are
with oils and acrylics, but are areas of the painting where you leave
the unpainted, or lightly tinted paper, to show through.
When painting water, it is very desirable to include these unpainted areas, and they
can be very small, and seemingly insignificant in themselves. But just a shaft of light
against a dark river bank say, is the ‗counter-change‘ and contrast that lifts the spirits,
and adds that special something, to the finished work.
Try looking at a painting, with one of these highlights, and then cover up the highlight,
and you will see it‘s importance in the finished work.
The other ‗trick‘ to portraying convincing water, is the subtle use of drybrush on the
surface of the water. This adds sparkle and life to water as you can see below.
With both these techniques, you need to apply the ‗less is more‘ way of thinking as
both can be overdone.
Here are some examples from my collection of these ‗brights or highlights‘ which I like
to use. I will be demonstrating how to achieve them in the next section.
The secret to good seascapes and scenes portraying water are :-
SIX TOP TIPS FOR PAINTING GREAT WATER
1. IT HAS TO BE PERFECTLY HORIZONTAL

2. IT‘S COLOUR SHOULD BE MATCHED TO THE SKY
3. IT SHOULD HAVE A SMALL SUGGESTION OF WET WASHES
4. IT SHOULD HAVE ACCURATE REFLECTIONS
5. IT SHOULD HAVE HIGHLIGHTS OR BRIGHTS
6. IT SHOULD HAVE A SMALL QUANTITY OF BRYBRUSH ON IT

82
The Water in a Land, or Seascape, is usually the last thing I

paint, as it‘s normally in the foreground, and has details like
drybrush and rigger, which are the sharpening of the
final details, that naturally come at the end of the painting.
Though in some cases the water can be the main feature of the
painting and can feature in a large % of the painting as a
whole. The actual painting of the water is relatively quick, and
is usually done in just a couple of quick simple stages.
Firstly, paint the main body of water using wet washes to give
movement, interest and variety.
While the paint is still damp do your reflections.
Finally, when the paper is dry, finish with drybrush and rigger
work.
This painting, called ‗Misty Lakeside‘ was the subject of my
imagination, and was completed in just a few minutes !
HOW TO DO IT ?
A WET IN WET EXAMPLE
This is the simplest and fastest example, but is one of the most
rewarding techniques. With lots of those characteristic opportunities for ‗Happy
Accidents too. It‘s also great fun, just watching ‗stuff happen‘ on the paper, while you
observe powerlessly ! This is great for demonstrations, and kids love it too.
STEP 1
Paint everything in your painting leaving just the water area.
Keep your paint mixes, for anything that you have painted, that
are going to be reflected in the water. For instance in this example
above, the Yellowy sky colour, and the greens and browns of the
trees.
STEP 2
Wet the area shown, with clean water, up to but not beyond the
bank of the lake.
Try and get into the habit of applying the water and paint in
fairly accurate horizontal sweeps in one smooth stroke. If you
do leave any gaps which is perfectly ok, these will then be
level when the painting is finished if they are seen.
Also work from top to bottom.
Don‘t put so much water on the paper so it gathers in pools
and puddles, your looking for an overall dampness.
STEP 3
Working quickly, and with your board on a slight angle, drop some
of your tree colours into the wet paint, roughly opposite where they
are above. You can manipulate and add movement, by tilting, or
tapping your board, but only do this vertically and never on an
angle , which will make your water slope. When your happy with
the results, lay your board flat to dry naturally, or with a hairdryer.
83
HOW TO DO IT ?
A WET IN WET EXAMPLE Continued
STEP 4
Using a stronger mix of your bank
colour, drag a few drybrush
strokes HORIZONTALLY across
the water, and round the bank to
add interest and suggest fallen
leaves, on the lake.
Using the same mix with a touch
more black add the fence and any
other reflections.
If you need any extra ‗sparkle‘, and only once your painting is
hard dry, just try carefully, dragging a craft knife blade across
your painting, and scratch the surface of the paper (as shown
above circled) but again, just ensure you keep the lines, fairly
horizontal. And don‘t overdo this technique, as it is habitual,
and highly addictive. Again ‗less is more‘ should apply here !
You can get some interesting, and very atmospheric, wet in wet
paintings, by pre-tinting your paper, and letting it dry before
you start. This painting of the lake on the right, was pre-tinted
with the yellow tint, using a weak but consistently, flat wash,
of Gamboge and Yellow Ochre. It was also left to dry naturally
overnight.
Try using tea, to stain your paper, it gives a lovely aged
quality to your paintings too.
This is another wet into wet painting,

using the same techniques I described
on the previous pages.
Some of you may recognise it as a copy
of a Venetian Scene by Turner.
He used to tint his paper on some of his
work, this one with a very pale blue
wash. It was a very quick painting I
did, during my Exhibition, after a very
dear friend bought me a book of the
paintings of his.
I don‘t advocate copying like this, but I
do find that if one uses their own
knowledge, of watercolour painting techniques, and then tries to re-create any given
picture. Somehow by considering another way of working, expands my knowledge,
and experience, and will hopefully help my own style to evolve.
Funnily, I painted it during a quiet time, at my very first Exhibition, as a personal exercise, and just for a
bit of fun, and jauntily called it ‗Cheers Mally‘ with reference to Turner‘s middle name of Mallord.
The very next visitor insisted on buying it, which still embarrasses me to this day !

84
HOW TO DO IT ?
ANOTHER EXAMPLE
The last example of how to paint water, was very loose, and forgiving, though lots of
fun. It mainly dealt with softly painted shapes, and reflections, painted in a very loose
style. The next example, is quite the opposite, as I portray a sketch of a Venetian
scene in a tonal sepia way.
In it, we will see, how it is imperative to keep your reflections as accurate as you can.
This Example starts by using a tinted paper painted and left overnight to dry.
Notice that the white section was missed, when the paper was
tinted. Keep an eye on it‘s survival throughout the painting
process. These are ‗Brights or Whites‘ discussed earlier, and
are very important, to the finished artwork.
STEP 1
Mark your 1/3rd composition marks, and
the arrow, for your light source, here
coming from fairly low and on the left. Note the
It is meant to be an early morning, or bright,
unpainted
scene at dusk. Lightly draw your scene, area
and the reflections of the buildings in the (circled), and
water, they should never be larger than how the
the real buildings. drawing has
been done
around it.
STEP 2
Mix a fairly weak mix of Burnt Umber, Paynes Grey,
and Ultramarine Blue, and using a small round
brush, paint the distant landscape. Then strengthen
your colour mix, and move to the nearest ‘plane‘,
and paint the buildings, you only need to paint the
shadow side of the buildings (the right hand sides).
STEP 3
Now, wet the water area, with clean water and add some of the
sky colour in broad horizontal strokes.
Try and ensure that these are always roughly horizontal.
While this wash is still damp, drop some colour that you have
used on the buildings, into the water area, to form
the reflections. The dryer the wash, the less the
paint will spread out. Just try and ensure that the
size of the reflection, is about the same as that
above, (arrowed), and also directly below the
image.
Note how the gap of white is still surviving (circled).

85
HOW TO DO IT ?
ANOTHER EXAMPLE Continued
STEP 4
Using a flat brush and a stronger mix of your paint, dab in
the river bank, taking care to keep your brush horizontal.
Make sure that the white area remains untouched. As you
can see the dark bank contrasts really nicely with the
‗bright‘ area.
You can even use the corner of this big brush to give you
very convincing distant windows.
STEP 5
Now using a dry brush, and an even stronger mix,
drag the dark across the water area, making sure
that you keep the resulting marks horizontal.
Whilst the wet

wash is still
slightly damp,
strengthen, the
reflections from
STEP 6 the buildings.
Before the wash is Again, make
dry, using a moist, sure they are
but clean brush, directly below.
mop out the
reflection directly
below any light
areas. STEP 7
To do this simply Now add things like the
wash your brush out windows (circled bottom
then mop up the left) using a rigger in the
colour, wiping with almost dry paint.
kitchen towel, after Because it‘s still slightly
each stroke . damp the paint diffuses and
looks realistic in the water.
TOP TIP
If your wash dries faster than

you would like, re-wet the area
locally, using the fine mist from
a diffuser, like the sort used for
spraying perfume or hair spray.

86
HOW TO DO IT ?
STEP 8
After drying the painting with a hairdryer on slow
speed, use a flat brush and a mix of Light Red mixed
with a little Ultramarine Blue, and paint the
terracotta roofs, and also in the their reflections too.
Repeat the same, to depict the green colour of the
copper canopies on the Church roofs, and spires.
You can paint this onto dry, or damp paper, and
reflections look best, when there is a mixture of
fuzziness and sharpness. It‘s this variety in your
reflections, that suggests that the body of water is
smoother and calmer in some areas, and rougher
in other areas.
STEP 9
Using the dark mix strengthen the far bank, varying the
line using a flat brush will give you fairly convincing
areas, that look like distant bushes, trees and buildings.
Don‘t forget to leave that gap of bright water, though

you can suggest some waves in it, by the careful use of
a rigger or flat brush, as I have done here.
STEP10
Now move to the left hand side of the painting and mix
your ‗dark‘ paint of Burnt Umber, Paynes Grey and
Ultramarine Blue very strong now, as we have moved
‗planes‘ into the very foreground.
The main counter-change features of this painting, are the
strongly silhouetted posts, against the light sky.
Use a broad flat brush and drag it sideways to give
very convincing posts.
Using a slightly weaker mix, of the same dark
colour, (simply by using a bit more water),
paint in your reflections of the posts, onto your
dry paper. You can use any small brush for this,
though I used the edge of my same flat brush and
liked the variety in the lines, that this gave me.
Important Note
See how the posts have been ‗grounded‘ to show where they
enter the water, and how is has been achieved in both examples
(circled).
At the top it was achieved by leaving a gap at the bottom of the
post before painting the reflection. At the bottom it was achieved
by painting a dark ‗grounding line‘ where it entered the water.
87
HOW TO DO IT ?
STEP 11
Using a flat brush, and your strongest paint, start
painting the landing stages for the gondolas.
Using a flat brush at the angle of perspective, the
landing stages can be painted, using one sideways
flat stroke. Keeping the angle consistent, is how to
keep them looking realistic, and in perspective.
Build up the jumble of stilts and timbers, added
over the years, and vary the thickness too.
The vertical ones are quite fat, and the horizontal
ones not as thick. Then add the fence and cross
rails in the same way.
STEP 12
Now check all the posts and rails
and suggest these in the
reflections using a small round
brush or a rigger. And finish the
lamp-post painting very carefully
as this is actually the focal point of
the painting.
Finally just scratch

the surface of your
hard dry painting with a craft knife
to add sparkle to the darkest areas
of water, and your done.
TO SUM UP WATER PAINTING

As you can see, by breaking the
subject of painting water up into a
few simple steps, makes it easy to
achieve convincing results very
easily. The secret is, to mix up the
techniques of wet and dry brush,
and use lights and darks to your
advantage.
Don‘t be tempted to overdo

the scratching, remember,
‗less is more‘ !
88
24. LESSON 15—PAINTING TREES, BUSHES AND GRASSES
The elements of trees, bushes and grasses in the landscape, are very important, and
shouldn‘t be underestimated. They clothe the Landscape, and also give endless
opportunities, with their endless variations of shape, colour and form. One single tree
can be the focus of a painting, like in my painting entitled ‘The Lone Tree‘ below left.
But even in a townscape they can offer natural form to an otherwise man-made envi-
ronment like in the example of ‗Karnobat Centrum‘
on the right. Even just a few
strategically placed
The painting of the lone leaves and one branch
tree was a scene I can improve a painting
came upon while out like this one of the
on my mountain bike. Clock Tower in
I couldn't help Karnobat, Bulgaria
wondering, how this
one solitary Oak tree
had survived the
attentions of the many
farmers who must have
had to avoid it over the
years while intensively
farming the crops all
around it.
When trees are

carefully positioned
(either by nature of
with the use of artistic
licence), they can be a great aid to an artist to improve
composition. Their usually upright form, is a great foil
for other horizontal parts of the Landscape.
In this example, on the left, of a snowy

scene near my village, the trees on the left
stop the eye from ‘leaving the picture‘, and
the one‘s in the far distance on the right
serve the same purpose.
The shrubs and grasses in this painting are
also an important part of the overall look,
as they are the things that provide the
contrast and counter –change in the
painting, painted starkly, and strongly
against the white, of the crisp snow.
Even the influence of the shadow

of a large tree cast over a scene
shouldn‘t be under-estimated, as you
can see from a section of my painting
on the right.
The picture of the park area around

this local Church had a great number
of different trees, ornamental bushes,
and grasses, for me to paint.
89
24. LESSON 15—PAINTING TREES, BUSHES AND GRASSES Continued
TREES
By definition, trees are described as usually having a single trunk, as opposed to
bushes, that broadly, have multiple trunks, though usually smaller and thinner.
Whilst there are many thousands of species of trees, that vary the world over, a check
through half closed eyes, would confirm that in fact, most trees, fall into just these
three simple shapes.
A C
B
Though I appreciate that this is a very simplistic approach, you will find that if you
really look at a tree, that you can break it up into either one very simple shape, or
series of shapes joined together, as you can see below. Whilst I am no tree expert, the
three shapes above, do seem to cover the characteristics, of most species of tree.
A. THE LOLLIPOP SHAPE C. THE FLAT BOTTOMED

UMBRELLA
This is your general tree
outline, that covers a lot of B. THE TRIANGULAR The Oak tree and the
narrow leafed species. CONE Weeping Willow fall into this
It can have multiple bows category.
Most Evergreens, Fir,
and is characterized by The Oak usually has broad
Pine trees, and Conifers
areas of light and shadow dark coloured flat leaves
fall into this category of
and usually has a long coming close to the ground.
tree.
slender, tapering trunk. A very thick trunk which can
Their pine clusters
It‘s leaf colours can be on be gnarled and mis-shapen.
appear triangular and
the lighter side, and can be They usually cast a broad
they usually have a
very showy, in Autumn. flat shadow on the ground.
long straight trunk and
Species like Ask, Elm and The Willow has shapely,
can be very sparce at
Beech would fall into this light coloured arching fronds
the bottom of the tree.
category. almost reaching the ground.

90
TREES Continued
Really looking, and copying what you see, is imperative with trees.
Because we are accustomed to seeing them every day, it‘s really easy to lapse into
your personal ‗standard tree‘ without actually looking at them, at all.
Just as Skies and Water can be intimidating, because of the percentage of the paper
they can occupy, trees can be just like that, but even more so, as they are much more
detailed….. seemingly.
SUMMER
WINTER
SUMMER
SUMMER
WINTER
The Techniques for painting
trees varies, depending on the time of year
you are painting them, and whether or not
they are in their summer foliage, or their
starkest winter ‗look‘.
Sometimes in Spring and Autumn they are
kind of half and half, with just a few leaves
showing.
I like to use wet techniques, for trees in

their full Summer foliage, in Spring and
Autumn I work a little drier so as to
emphasise the fewer, but better defined
leaves.
In Winter I like to paint
trees using very strong
paint or ink and use AUTUMN
sticks, twigs, quills,
cocktail sticks, or even the
sharpened ends of my
paint brushes, to get the
very starkness, of their My Winter Tree
Winter garb. painting tools

91
TREES Continued
In order to paint convincing trees, there are three main things you need to master,
which are things most beginners don‘t do, I know I didn‘t either.
1. NEVER PAINT BRANCHES IN FRONT OF FOLIAGE, IT RARELY HAPPENS.
2. TREES NEVER GROW FATTER AS THEY GET HIGHER, ALWAYS THINNER.
3. ALWAYS PAINT IN AN UPWARD MOTION, IN THE DIRECTION THEY WOULD GROW.
Let me describe the theory of tree growth, which will help to explain, and make it
easier for you to remember how to paint your trees effectively.
When a tree grows the original trunk

A splits forming the new branch B C
and then it carries on C B
If you add the thickness of B & C
together they always = A
And this carries on all the way to A
the top of the tree, simple.
If you study my ‗Wall and Tree Study‘ and

‗Bluebell Wood‘, you can see this
happening all the way up the tree.
There are some exceptions to this rule in
Nature of course, some trees get big
cankers, and growths on them, that
deform and mis-shape the tree.
In practise what can happen is that as you
paint upwards, occasionally, by mistake,
your branch goes fatter as it grows
upwards not thinner.
If this happens you will need to make the
whole tree below it fatter, or it will look
un-natural.
It‘s also tempting to add branches on after

the foliage, which is wrong, but more
convincing ‗sky gaps‘ should be carefully
planned at the outset, as they give the
tree it‘s convincing look. They also give
you the opportunity for the all important
contrast, between light and dark, which
are so important in your paintings.
As in the earlier chapter on composition,
remember when adding trees to your
landscapes, to make sure they are of
different sizes and colours, or your trees
could look monotonous.
Changing your brushes to a different size
will also help avoid being repetitive.

92
TREES Continued
Painting trees, and groups of them, either in copses or forests, is quite a simple
process, especially if they are in the distance. If you look at them with half closed eyes
you will see them, just as masses of light and shade.
Painting these distant trees, on damp paper, and just lifting

highlights out, is usually enough, and all you have to do is
ensure that the further away they are the less defined they
are ,and the bluer the colour is.
Strengthen the Green as you come into the middle, and
foregrounds, as shown below.
At these distances the trunks would
not be seen and no ‗sky gaps‘ would
be discernable either.
As you can see with the example
below of Karnobat the detail on
trees is only seen in the middle and
foreground.
You can also see circled in Blue where

very dark paint and sometimes ink
have been used with a sharpened stick
to get that dark twiggy look to these
trees and bushes.
In the picture above is depicted two of the

classic tree shapes the lollipop and the
triangular cone. The painting of all these
shapes is shown on the following pages.
The painting of the pine tree,
is covered in depth on my
youtube channel with the
tutorial of the painting of the
snow scene.
Also shown is a pen and ink

study of those types of trees,
that I completed prior to
starting the paintings.

93
TREES Continued
HOW TO DO IT ?
This example shows trees at various distances, and how to paint them. I started with a
light tinted green wash, and let it dry. The colours used throughout, just for purposes
of this exercise, are a green mix, using Gamboge and Ultramarine Blue for the leaves,
and Burnt Umber with Ultramarine for the tree trunks .
STEP 1
First sketch out your scene, marking the
border with your 1/3rd marks and the
direction of your light, here coming from
the Right.
This demonstration can be used for either

the lollipop shape or the flat bottomed
umbrella shaped trees just alter the
shape and leaf colour if you want to.
STEP 2
Starting with the furthest ‗plane‘, mix a weak wash of
Ultramarine and Paynes Grey. Using a smallish round brush,
loosely paint the tree shapes furthest
away. Whilst the wash is still damp, run
the brush along the bottom of the row
of trees.
Whilst the heights of the top of the
trees vary, the bottoms of the trees
usually end in a fairly straight line,
especially at this distance.
STEP3
Repeat the Add the ‗darks‘ as before using
process with slightly stronger paint to the dark side
the next row of trees, adding a little more of each tree after lifting out the
Paynes Grey to the mix. But make sure the highlights from the light
shapes differ and avoid regular patterns side of each tree shape.
emerging.
Bearing in mind the direction of the light, lift
the highlights on the tree shapes, using a
moist brush, to mop up the damp colour.
On the dark side of each tree shape, add the
‗darks‘ to the opposite side from the
‗highlights‘.
HOW IT WORKS
The process of ‗mopping up‘ or ‗lifting out‘ paint, using capillary action, is
a way of blotting up colour, after it has been applied.
The procedure is this :-
1. Wash your brush out in clean water, and dry it on kitchen towel.
2. Moisten your brush again, and dry it out, but not too much.
3. Carefully mop up the colour, until it stops soaking it up.
4. Now dry the brush on your issue, and repeat until your happy.
94
TREES Continued
STEP 4
Now on the third ‗plane‘ of trees, strengthen the
colour once again, using a larger brush, and
repeat the tree painting process. Leave gaps
between each section, which will look like sunlit
pastures, between the rows of trees.
As you work forward, you can add more and more
detail to the trees, which will give distance and
‗recession‘ to your painting.
Notice too, how the colour of the trees is getting
more green, as we move into the middle distance.
STEP 5
Add a dark line to indicate where the bottom of the
tree line is, let it bleed up into the other damp
colour. Now using a cocktail stick or the end of
your paint-brush, drag branches upwards, from the
dark paint to indicate dead trees, bushes, or areas
of branches, seen between clusters of leaves.
With this colour also drag some dry-brush stripes to
indicate the undulations and texture of the distant
fields and pastures.
STEP 6
Using a small round brush or a rigger, paint the
tree trunk of the main tree, darkening the
shadow side with Burnt Umber and Paynes Grey
and also lifting highlights from the light side too.
Use the rigger to thicken the tree trunk, and
continue to spread the roots onto the ground
area, and add a dark patch to ‗ground‘ the tree.
STEP 7
Now using a stronger mix of Gamboge and
Ultramarine Blue, and a medium round brush
on dampened paper, start building the leaves
up, varying the mix, and remembering to add
some darks, to the shadow side of the leaf
clusters.
Don‘t forget to leave some gaps, and ‗sky

holes‘ that will give your tree realism later.
95
TREES Continued
STEP 8
Use a different dampened brush, like a filbert mop
out highlights and add more darks to the shadow side
of the leaves.
Keep changing brushes, changing the

angle of your brush, and your colour
mixes, to give you a completely
random look, to the leaves.
STEP 9
Now, and importantly, wherever you
have left gaps in the tree, add some
branches, sometimes straight, and sometimes a
v shaped branch.
If this is against a light background it will add to the
contrast, and counter-change, of the finished picture.
STEP 10
Now step back from your painting, and see if it
needs anything further.
I decided that it would improve contrast, and
composition, if I added a dark shadow to the
shadow side of the ground, under the tree.
STEP 11
Finally, add any sharp details like the fence,
birds, telegraph poles and distant animals in
the fields. Add a dark wash using a dry-brush
in a sweeping motion, has also added
texture to the foreground.
Then as usual, Sign and look smug !

96
TREES Continued
In this final part of tree painting, we will look at how to paint trees
in Group B the triangular cone shape, which covers fir trees,
pines, conifers and the like. Their characteristics are that they are
usually one straight trunk, fairly sparse at the bottom, with
clusters of triangular needles that grow horizontally, in a kind of
random triangular shape. Because of their almost linear form,
I find it best to paint these almost all with a flat
brush, then just some rigger work for the odd
branches to finish them off.
HOW TO DO IT ?
STEP 1
Sketch out your scene and
paint all your background.
Because of their starkness, and
beauty, these types of trees, SUN
they are usually the centre of
attention, so are painted
strongly towards the end of the
painting.
STEP 2
Using a fairly strong mix of paint on a
wide flat brush, paint the long slender
trunks of the trees. Where the stroke of
the brush ends, will naturally deposit
more paint, and this should be on the
dark side of the trees trunks. Add all your
tree trunks and vary the thickness‘s and change the
angle slightly to add variation.
The distances between them should vary too.
Make sure to taper the trunks, as you work up the
tree. Using the same colour and brush, add the
grounding to the bottom of the trunks, and also to
denote the weeds, and bracken that
always seem to grow there.
STEP 3
Now starting with furthest trees, use
the edge of a small flat brush, and
dab clusters, of pine needles, working
in a horizontal way, starting from the
top of one of the trees, and working
down. Change to different size brush,
and vary the mix for each of the
trees, to suggest them growing
behind each other.
97
TREES Continued
STEP 4
Using a rigger, and dark paint, Paynes Grey mixed with Burnt
Umber, add some branches sticking out lower down, and to
join the clusters to the tree, higher up.
STEP 5
Finally, using your rigger and the
same dark paint mix, drag some
marks onto the tree trunks, but
not all of them, just the biggest
ones.
Finish off with some dark

‗grounding‘ at the bottom of the
copse of trees, and add some
bracken, rocks, and grasses.
To finish your painting, paint

some rocks, using torn cardboard
strips, and add darker shadows, and
grounding marks.
Add more random grasses amongst the

rocks using your dark paint and rigger.
Adding some different

textures and highlights with a The finished painting Using a cocktail
combination of paint on a stick in
cocktail stick, and a small bit dark paint to
of scratching to add sparkle. indicate branches
and dead twigs.
Sign and look…. well you
know the rest by now !
As you can see, painting trees

is quite a simple process, and
whether they be in the
distance, or ‗up close‘ it‘s
possible to portray them, very
convincingly.
On the following pages we‘ll

look at painting winter trees
and other kinds of variations
on these two types, before
moving onto grasses , bushes Less is definitely more
and hedges. with the scratching

98
TREES Continued
Painting stark Winter trees, has always been a passion of mine, and some of the Artists
I most admire, were masters at it, including Ashley Jackson, Rowland Hilder and John
Blockley.
HOW TO DO IT ? Use a smooth arched

To paint them (and frankly it‘s more brush stroke to get this
akin to drawing) them. type of effect
If you apply the rules on
painting trees from earlier
on in this section, regarding
how the branches split, it‘s
just a case of starting from Always paint Winter
Trees from the bottom
the base with a medium to the top, working finer
round brush and paint as you go.
upwards gradually getting
thinner as you work towards
the top of the tree. Change
to a smaller round brush
higher up then a rigger and
finally a stick to give you the
finest of branches.
You can also add lightly

coloured patches, of very
pale colour, to indicate
clusters of remaining or new
Spring leaves emerging. Or
maybe to indicate the lightest
and finest twigs at the ends
of the branches.
Like the exercise on the fir
trees, keep them random, by
altering the direction of your
brushes.
MASKING FLUID AND TREES

If you want to portray light
coloured branches, trunks,
fruit or leaves, against a
darker background, (circled
in yellow) paint them first
using Masking Fluid, (on an
old brush) then paint over it
with the background, and
peel off the rubbery
solution, when dry, with a
clean putty rubber.
99
TREES Continued
In addition to the types of trees found growing wild, you will also no doubt come across
ones that you want to paint that are more cultured and maybe more formal looking.
These may include box hedges, fruit trees, vines and ornamental trees.
Though the shapes, colours and textures vary, and there are thousands of tree species
in the World. The one thing about them all, is that they all Use gently arching strokes
grow from the ground up, and if you paint them that way, and to portray the elegance of
assume their growing pattern, with your paint brushes, as it the Palm Tree
were, you will find it easy to paint them.
Sometimes the growth is jagged, or sharp, so you would

assume the suitable brushes and painting style to portray
them. Sometimes like the palm on the right, their leaves fall in
graceful arcs, just like weeping willows too. So to paint those
you would choose smooth consistent paint, a fine brush, and
sweeping arcs with your arm, when you paint them.
‗FEEL THE TREE, A SIMPLE VINE TALE‘

It‘s quite difficult to describe, but I suppose I am
advocating some kind of ‗oneness‘ with the tree
and it‘s character in order to paint it best.
So for instance, vines have great character with the

single stem ‗gnarly‘ and jagged in shape,
suggesting its reliability, carefully nurtured and
cultivated over many years.
It‘s leaves spread like umbrellas,
providing shade in hot countries
like here in Bulgaria.
Then later on in the Summer, the
fruit hangs down heavy, with
anticipation for the annual ritual
of wine and Rakia production, to
sustain the owners, through the
harshest of Balkan Winters.
The precious, potent spirit a kind
of unofficial bartering currency in
the rustic villages, as captured in my
painting opposite called ‗the Importance of
the Blue Barrels‘.
As you can see above, if one assumes the

character of the tree or plant, then it will
hopefully help you to empathise with it
and paint it using the appropriate brushes,
techniques and the style of panting, for each
part of it and for each species.
‗Sometimes I have been known to use a

part of the tree to paint it ‗.

100
BUSHES & GRASSES
BUSHES
They are similar to paint, to trees, but assume a lower, smaller growth, and usually
have multiple branches, instead of a single trunk or stem, and are usually thinner.
Bushes and smaller trees can
be painted either quite dry,
or in their stark form in
Winter, or in a wet wash way,
as in this example, on the
near right.
Bushes should be painted to

scale with their surroundings,
and are generally low growing,
compared to most trees.
HEDGES
A view through half closed eyes
usually reveals the clipped box
hedge, privet or Birch, as nothing
more than a simple box shape. Their
‗character‘ being, low growing, tight knit leaves,
and almost coming down to the ground.
In this example, the light is hitting the scene
from the top left.
This means that the top would be lightest, the
side would be darker in tone, and the end
darker still. The darkest parts being the
underneath, and it‘s stems and shadows.
HOW TO DO IT ?
STEP 1 2
1
Lightly sketch your hedge shape, and using a wide flat brush, with a
weakish mix, of Yellow Ochre and Cobalt Blue drag the vertical sides of
the hedges. Be careful to portray some kind of perspective, wide flat
brushes, help you to achieve accuracy here.
STEP 2
Using the same light colour, dab the top of the Unusually, working
hedge to look like darker areas on the top. This is from top to bottom will
done with the same flat brush used horizontally. deposit darker paint on
the bottom of the
STEP 3
hedge, where you want
Add some Payne‘s Grey to it to look like dark and
your mix and while the shadow.
paper is still damp, add the This was achieved in
dark to your end, and using the corner dab the just two strokes. One
bottom shadows in and let it spread. for the end of the
STEP 4 hedge, and one for the
Finally add the detail, stems and darks with rigger. side of the hedge.

101
GRASSES
Grasses are one of the simplest things to paint in the landscape, and can also be one of
the most attractive of elements too. Because they are usually painted right at the very
end of the painting, and in the foreground, so they are usually painted sharply, using
dark paint, and can form one of the highlight points in the painting.
Grasses can be short

or tall and are
slender by character.
The taller grasses
tend to gently arch
under their own
weight. Shorter ones
like after a grain field
has been cut, or a
lawn almost
resemble a short
haircut and can be
uniform in length.
HOW TO DO IT ?
There are a few techniques suitable for
painting grasses and I always think it
best to mix them up where possible.
1. The Rigger
Use lightly starting from the bottom up
gently lifting off as you reach the top.
Use for slender, slightly bending
grasses .
2. Lifting out
Use a cocktail stick, twig, or other implement to drag
shapes out of the damp paint. You get different
effects, depending on how hard you press, and how
dry the paint is. You can also add paint too with a twig
match or cocktail stick.
3. Masking fluid
This is useful, especially if you want light grasses,
reeds or weeds, against a dark background.
4. Scratching
Use a craft knife blade to drag highlights out of the
painting. You can get some nice effects if you do this
against a dark background giving you nice contrast
called counter-change. Be careful to use this sparingly
as it is addictive, and only do it when your painting is
hard dry. It look like beads of rain on slender grasses.

102
GRASSES Continued
HOW TO DO IT ?
5. Using a flat brush
This is best used for very straight grasses, for crop stubble, and short grass
generally.
‗DAB AND DRAG‘

This is the best way of describing the
technique of how to paint convincing short and
varying length grasses, using this method.
It‘s great for those grass sods, you always find
round the bottom of post, and
other plants and trees.
I‘ll show you, the two main effects

you can get, using the dab and
drag method.
The DAB shown in Green circles,
are achieved by simply dabbing
down with a well loaded brush
onto, usually dry paper. The dab
gives you the almost flat tufts of
grass.
Rigger work just
The DRAG shown in Orange circles, is a quick, to finish off
upward jerking motion, which flicks off the (circled in Black)
paper at the top of the up-stroke. Use a flat
brush almost vertically, and rest it on the paper
at the bottom of your grasses, or where you
just dabbed. Bend the bristles slightly, then in a
vertical flick, just drag upwards.
The loading of the correct amount of paint here
is crucial, so practise on a spare piece of paper,
or on the border of your painting, before you
commit yourself to your painting. The drag
gives you the slightly longer grasses, and the combination of these, and a little rigger
work, for the longest grasses, gives you a finished convincing grass, I use in pastures,
field edges, river banks, and areas of uncultivated ground generally.
Some examples of ‗dab and
drag‘ used in my paintings.
‗As with lots of things in

nature, keeping it random and
mixing it up, is the key to
successful painting with Trees,
Bushes and Grasses in your
Landscapes. They are a big part of the overall beauty and
rich tradition of Landscape Watercolour Painting‘.
103
25. LESSON 16 —PAINTING BUILDINGS
This lesson, on how to paint buildings, really couldn‘t be further away from the last
one, or so one would imagine, at first glance.
Painting buildings generally, is more like Draughtsmanship on the face of it, all that
boring detail, and perspective to get spot on etc. Well part of that is true.
Some elements of painting buildings, can just flow into the landscape, like the three
examples below showing blocks of distant flats, in the painting on the right, and on the
panorama of Bourgas below. Even the
chimneys and cooling
towers at the nearby,
Chemical Plant seem
to fit comfortably.
Contrast those
buildings, to the
pictures below and
you will see that it‘s
all just a question of
scale and choice.
Q. Do you want to see the round
shaped, loosely painted distant buildings
from miles away ? Or would you like to
see the buildings in the middle distance
as part of the overall Landscape
surrounded by trees. Or it may be a
detailed study and commission of
someone‘s house. Or it may be the rusty
lock, holding the old door closed, seen close up.
I suppose what I am saying is that

the buildings you are ‗drawn‘ to
painting (excuse the obvious pun),
are as much about your preferences
as an artist , as well as your ability
A photographer once told me to ‗always
to ‗see the picture‘ in the first place.
look up, and always look behind you‘.
Without his advice, I wonder If I‘d have
spotted this hidden gem in Bourgas ? This ability to spot a possible
picture, comes more naturally to
some people, than others.
As an Artist, you have the power

of ‗artistic license‘, to move,
add, or leave out anything of
your choosing. Like not including
the satellite dish on the picture
‗The Roof Garden ‗ on the left. Or playing down the
Bourgas—Bulgaria ugly blocks of offices, behind
One of my favourite paintings, and also
the type of subjects I love to paint. this beautiful old, but sadly
‗Right up my Street‘ as it were !
neglected building in Karnobat.

104
25. LESSON 16 —PAINTING BUILDINGS Continued
So, coming right forward then, in terms of looking at buildings at various distances, is
the detailed study of buildings (or just even small portions of them). My own
preferences are to paint rustic things, such as old textured doors, worn away by
animals, earth coloured peeling paint, plaster and crumbling Architecture generally,
and former elegance. All the things found in abundance in places like Tuscany,
Provence, Venice and also in Bulgaria.
I suppose, summing it up, is a nostalgia
for past times. It is possible to tell stories
in your subject matter, which evoke
feelings, and memories, in others.
‗Wondering what happened, so suddenly,

where daily work ended here on one
day, that work-wear was simply left and
discarded‘.
Or how these Grand School Doors, once
welcoming hundreds of student‘s every day,
now barred from entry by padlocks.
The peeling façade, a testament to better
days before the fall of Communism in former
Eastern Europe.
So the choices about your subject matter, and what buildings you include
(if any at all , even), depend entirely on your own likes, dislikes and preferences.
Buildings are, I suppose, like studies, and portraits, and they will either look right, or
not. So one has to record them reasonably accurately.
Don‘t get me wrong, sometimes a strategically placed tree, or bush, saves one from
much labouring, over recording building details, which can be tiresome.
They are indeed at the opposite end of the spectrum, (in terms of the time they take to
paint), to the instant gratification, of painting the ‗wet into wet‘ technique.
The longest time a painting has been on my board to date was the one below of the panorama of
Sozopol which was a very long three days, and I was glad to have my board free of it in the end.
‗Sozopol Panorama from The Kalithea Hotel and Restaurant‘ - In Private Collection
105
On the previous page, with the painting of Sozopol, it was important to get the
essential elements in, and to scale. So the mayor spits of land, and all the major
buildings, were drawn first, in great detail. The major time spent on this type of work,
and those below too, is actually the layout, the drawing and re-drawing, until it looks
right. The painting of it, is then relatively workmanlike, and quite relaxed.
These types of subjects, strike fear

into the heart of most beginners, and
I can understand why. Perspective,
scale, texture and colour amongst
many other considerations.
When you add on top of all that,
someone lives in every one of those
houses in Karnobat, and that someone
may have worshipped at that Church
for decades, means that they have to
‗Karnobat Church‘—Above
be recorded fairly accurately. ‗Karnobat Centrum‘ - Right
Both in Private Collections
But where would I start ?
Never has ‗really looking‘ been more important. Unless you want to make a study of
eye level, or perspective, and come back to this, in a few months time.
Or there is another way, lets take the picture of Karnobat Church above, as an
example.
When I draw or paint a complicated

structure like this church. I start by
breaking it up, into simple block
shapes, triangles, and cylinders,
like this.
However complicated a
building, (and frankly they
don‘t come much more
complicated than this),
simply ‘build it‘ block by
block until it looks right.
Then join all the bits
together with roofs.
It‘s then a really easy task
to add the details like doors and windows just drawing them on each block.
As you can see this viewpoint is quite high for purposes of this diagram but the actual
view was from ground level, and was in fact quite low as I was sat down, so at the
same level as the seated men. The eye level is marked with the Orange arrow
This is where ‗really looking ‗ comes into it‘s own, when you are drawing a scene,
and of course, those detailed photographs, are invaluable, when it comes to those
final important details, that you forgot to draw, or record on the day.
The real secret is to ensure you capture the ‗essence ‗ of the scene ?
In other words, have you got all the important bits, that make this scene unique ?
If the answer to that question is yes, then you have enough material to record the scene.

106
When painting buildings, I would recommend that the first

wash on the buildings, be done using flat brushes.
The wash should be painted, using the angle that the
structure is built, or arranged. In other words,
flat for walls, and sloping for roofs.
The Orange arrows, show the options you could
use. As you can see, it‘s possible to paint the
walls either horizontally, or vertically.
I would normally choose the direction, depending on
what the wall was constructed of. If it‘s say vertical
planks I would paint vertically. If stone or bricks I
would paint it horizontally, to denote the lines of mortar.
BRICKS /STONES
PLANKS
Here below is a selection of different wall finishes

using the two techniques above, as a base wash.

107
SURFACE FINISHES
Once the base wash is put on, subsequent layer, or layers, can be applied to add
depth and texture to the finished surface layer.
The amount of detail you need to include, really depends on how far away the wall, or
roof is, from the viewer, for example.
CLOSE UP DISTANT
RENDERED PLASTER
This effect is painted using smooth
vertical stokes, with consistently smooth
paint to simulate new plaster.
Sometimes staining can be seen under
roofs, gutters and overhangs.
BROKEN PLASTER
This is painted with the same vertical
strokes, but with some staining with
darker paint, into wet paper.
Stones or bricks can be seen through
where the old plaster has broken away.
STONE
The stones are painted over the light
base coat, using either a flat brush,
rigger or filbert. The stones can be either
randomly painted or can be formally
built and painted. They can even have
timber or bricks between the courses
as here.
PLANKS
These are painted, either on damp or
dry paper, using vertical or horizontal
brush strokes, depending on the
direction of the timbers.
A Rigger, in a darker colour, is then used
to indicate the gaps in the planks, and
also the knots and marks on the wood.
BRICKS
Bricks are literally painted using flat
brushes used horizontally or vertically.
The size of brush depends on the size of
the bricks, and the area being covered.
It‘s not necessary to paint every brick,
as the human eye fills in any gaps.
When your painting walls, roofs and architectural details, it‘s not necessary to
paint all of the details. The human eye and brain adds any you leave out .
All you need to do, is to suggest it, in your paintings.
108
CLOSE UP DISTANT
RUSTY METAL
This effect is painted using a combination
of drybrush strokes, in Earth colours like
Light Red, Red Oxide, and Burnt Umber.
You can also use masking fluid, or a
resist, like candle wax, to good effect.
NEW TERRACOTTA ROOF TILES

Over a damp wash of Light Red and
Ultramarine Blue, wait a couple of
minutes and add horizontal, or vertical
lines, to denote shadow on the shaped
tiles. Make sure you take care with the
line of the tiles, to make it convincing.
OLDER TERRACOTTA ROOF TILES

Using a more Orange mix than above
use the same technique to paint the
rows of tiles. But on the horizontal lines
make this line wavy. Try looking at tiles
to see how they lock together.
This will give you a better idea how to
paint the roofs effectively.
VERY OLD ROOF TILES

These have a more rounded
construction, and are painted like the
ones above, but on damp paper.
They are distinctive at the bottom, as
they are stacked, and interlocked,
sometimes three or four high, which can
only be seen at the edge of the roof.
GREY ROOF TILES

These are rare on houses in Bulgaria,
but are used on some roofs.
They are painted using a grey wash
on slightly damp paper. The lines then
painted with a rigger, when the paper
is completely dry.
COPPER CANOPIES
These are painted using a round brush
using almost a pure terracotta colour.
They can turn greenish with age.
The lines are joins, and are then added
with dark paint when the roof is
completely dry.
109
First, lightly sketch the landscape, to include the buildings, laying them out in your
1/3rd grid guidelines. Just like we did with your Orange, at the very start of this book,
mark the direction of the light on the border of your paper, as a constant reminder.
It‘s worth studying, how the light hitting the

scene, affects both the landscape, and the
buildings in it.
THE FEW SIMPLE POINTERS BELOW WILL MAKE
YOUR BUILDINGS COME TO LIFE
1. ALWAYS GROUND YOUR BUILDINGS
Which involves painting a dark mark on the
bottom where the building sits on the ground.
2. ADD SHADOWS TO MARK ANY OVERHANGING FIG 1
OBJECTS
3. PAINT YOUR SHADOWS
Compare the diagram fig 1 above, with the one

below, to see how much more realistic the house
becomes with the ‗grounding , and shadows‘.
In fig 2, the building now seems to ‗sit‘ on the FIG 2

ground and belong in it‘s landscape. This ‗grounding‘
works for everything you paint, that sits on another
surface.
The only thing it doesn't happen with, is things that fly like birds or clouds.
You can see with each of these paintings, examples

of shadows on overhangs, on the ground, and on the
buildings, shown in Orange.
Grounding is also indicated in Blue.

110
HOW TO DO IT ? - HOW TO PAINT THE ELEMENTS ON A SIMPLE BUILDING
STEP 1 STEP 9
Sketch your building. You would Now paint the front wall and the
normally paint the building on front of the chimney. Lift some of
the ‗plane‘ that it belongs on. the colour out as this should be
Here I have painted a simple lighter than the end shadow side of
background. Sun on the left. the house. See the arrow.
STEP 2 STEP 10
Use the base colour of your roof While your
on a flat brush and drag it down wall colours
the roof at the same angle as are still
your roof. If this is uneven and damp, add
leaves deposits of paint it‘s ok. ‗dark‘ to the
overhanging
STEP 3 parts of the
Once your roof is painted, and roof and on
whilst it‘s still wet, use a round the end wall
brush, to add some darker tones too. THIS IS
along the ridge of the roof. The IMPERATIVE
older the roof the more uneven FOR
this would be. REALISM.
STEP 4 STEP 11
Using a smaller round brush and Once everything is dry, using a
the same dark mix, paint the flat brush and dark paint, paint
underside and edge of the roof the windows and door ‗reveals‘.
but NOT the far edge as circled These would nearly always be
this is because it can‘t be seen. the same thickness.
STEP 5 STEP 12
Again while still damp, and with Using a flat brush the size or
the same dark shadow colour smaller than the window glass,
dab lines onto the roof at the paint the individual pains. Great
same angle, these should bleed care has to be taken to keep
into the other paint and that‘s them square, and keep the white
the effect you want. frame the same thickness‘s.
STEP 6 STEP 13
Add an even darker paint to the Using your door colour, on a flat
still damp paint. Watch it bleed brush to paint the planks. Make
into the other, and it looks like sure you leave the frame
shadow on shaped tiles. The unpainted, as you did with the
older the roof the more uneven. windows.
STEP 7 STEP 14
Now using your wall colour drag Slightly darken your mix and dab
a flat brush horizontally or onto the still damp door and
vertically. The older the wall when this bleeds it looks like the
surface the more uneven you undulations on the planks that
need to paint it. Some patchiness the door is made of.
looks good on old plaster. If you find it easier, use a rigger.
STEP 8 STEP 15
Paint the shadow side of the When the walls have dried paint
chimney. Bear in mind that the some window sills below each
material is usually the same as window. Maybe this should have
the walls of the buildings. been step 12 !
111
HOW TO DO IT ? - HOW TO PAINT THE ELEMENTS ON A SIMPLE BUILDING Continued
STEP 16 STEP 19
Using a round brush and a Now add the ‗planes‘ around the
stronger mix of your wall colour house to really make it sit in it‘s
add character to your end walls landscape setting.
and along the bottom. Add some Notice how the shadow almost
dry brush to look like staining. becomes the bushes on the
right.
STEP 17
VERY STEP 20
IMPORTANT Add the shadows to the ends of
Using a the window sills, and to the roof
round brush tiles, where the shadow of the
‗GROUND‘ chimney would cast it‘s shadow
your build- on the roof.
ing which
makes it ‗sit‘ STEP 21
in your land- Now add any further sharp
scape. Using details, using black paint, on a
a dark rigger. Those things like door
strong paint. ‗GROUNDING‘ YOUR HOUSE handles and hinges etc.
STEP 18
Now extend the dark and add STEP 22
the shadow of the house on the Step back from your painting
ground. The main block of and half close your eyes to see
shadow nearest the house if the painting works tonally.
would be solid but it can get I decided to strengthen the end
drier as gets further away. wall, so it contrasted more with
the front wall.
AFTER
BEFORE

112
So the first consideration, when painting your buildings, is how close they are ?
This would then suggest how much detail is needed. Or maybe even, how big and
important are they in the context of the picture. Consider the three pictures below, all
showing blocks of flats.
EXAMPLE 1
These distant flats were painted in
In this view of a distant Town, with it‘s distinctive one stroke using
Tower Blocks, if you look at them in detail they are LEFT—FLAT RIGHT –FILBERT
nothing more than a jumble of, varying coloured, and
sized, stripes of colour. The stripe only representing
the shadow side of the buildings, on the right of each
block. The highlights are simply gaps of white paper,
left exposed. Some flats were painted with a small
flat brush, and others with a Filbert. At this distance But note how both brush shapes shown in
Orange, result in convincing looking flats
there are no details visible, such as doors or windows.
EXAMPLE 2
In this painting, done as a live demonstration, the flats
are in the middle distance, but are still painted quite
loosely, using the wet in wet technique.
This one was painted mainly with flat brushes of varying
sizes. A big 1‘‘ flat brush is used to indicate the ‗sections
of the building, representing each floor‘, and a medium
flat was used to paint the big windows and balconies.
A smaller flat brush was then used, to paint the smaller
rows of windows on the side of the flats. For these to be
sharp they have to be painted on perfectly dry paper,
and the brush carefully controlled. It‘s important to
keep the same angle, and the flat brushes help here.
EXAMPLE 3 Here you can see extensive

In this final example, which was closer still use of about four different
than in Example 2. You can see here, that sizes of flat brush to ‗build‘
again flat brushes were used the building.
extensively to build up these flats.
This is the most detailed painting of them
all, so you have to be even more accurate
with each ‗layer‘. Use the flat of the brush,
to help guide, and keep the angles
consistent. In this case, I painted the flats
from the top down, and wanted them to be
less defined, as I worked down towards the
softly painted greenery, in the foreground.
The flat brush and very dark colour then
used extensively to further emphasise the angles, floors and to define the top of the
building as shown.
The secret to painting this type of ‗layered‘ man made type of structure,
is to let your brushes do the work. So choose the size and type most suited
to what you are trying to portray in your Townscapes and Paintings.

113
HOW TO DO IT ?
This section is very difficult to teach, simply due to vast variety of buildings, materials,
and Architecture, but I will give you an example which may guide you through the
process.
Use the guide on different surfaces and materials on the previous pages, and also the
guide on grounding, and shadows, to get you
started.
EXAMPLE
This is a scene I have passed quite often,
in the centre of Bourgas, but have never
had time to stop and draw it, but have
taken many photographs of it.
It‘s actually the main house, to the right
of my painting, ‗The Roof Garden‘ (inset).
The faded elegance of this house has

always attracted me, and though painting animals really isn‘t my scene, I will attempt
it now, for the purposes of this exercise.
A consideration is that when I took the original photograph, in an artistic manner,
crouching low, to exaggerate the angles, the effect this has, looks great on the
photograph, (and is called converging verticals I think), but would look a bit strange on
a watercolour. So I have straightened the view somewhat.
STEP 1
So bearing in mind the new ‗straight on view‘ I carefully sketch the
scene using a soft graphite pencil. I know by experience that there
will be lots of re-drawing before I am happy with the way it looks.
The perspective (in other words REALLY LOOKING) are important
with a painting like this. And you can see evidence, of the lines of
perspective, and the way I have kept increasing the size of the top of
the gate‘s ironwork, on the left hand side, so it looks in line with the
house in the background.
STEP 2
Because I would like the new painting, to compliment the old one,
and liked it‘s overall feel, of being ‗under-painted‘ I start with a
striated wash (meaning I miss a few bits accidentally, on purpose,
as it were), this gives me the same overall feel to the painting.
I painted this wash vertically, with my biggest flat brush, and
moved my board around slightly, to cause ‗bleed‘ which will signify
staining on the building, later on.
Bearing in mind that the light is coming from the right, while the
wash is still wet, I lift highlights, by ‗mopping out‘ with a moist
round brush. These include the top right of the Lions Head and the top of it‘s column.
I also used moist flat brushes, of various sizes to remove the paint from the window
pains and the side wall. The effect I wanted to achieve here is one of a run down
building, so I haven't been too dogmatic about painting the wash uniformly.

114
HOW TO DO IT ?
STEP 3
Bearing in mind what was discussed previously, about
shadows, on things that overhang. Whilst the wash is still
wet, I ‗let in‘ some darker colour, where the ‗darks‘ would
be, under the deep cornice and under the top windows
(circled).
STEP 4
With a mix of Yellow Ochre and Ultramarine, with
just a touch of Payne‘s Grey, all on slightly dampened
paper, I paint all the ‗darks‘ on the shadow side of
the building to the right, the left hand wall of the
main building, and finally the dark side of the three
dormer windows jutting out from the roof. Doing
these areas, suddenly gives the painting life, and a
three dimensional quality.
NOTE
When you paint these areas always ensure that you paint
vertically, making sure that your edges are completely up-
right, and keep checking them, with each other, and also
the borders of your painting too, as it‘s easy to go askew.
This also applies to all doors and windows.
Except for the most dilapidated of buildings, (like a couple of my paintings of
Bulgaria for instance), the façade is peeling, but it would still be structurally
sound ….and upright, hopefully !
STEP 4
The next step is to paint the sky and I painted carefully
around the top windows. Because this subject matter is
all about the building, the sky becomes secondary to it,
so I paint it simply, using a mix of Cobalt Blue and
Ultramarine Blue, with just a hint of Light Red, to keep it
warm. As you can see there is no character, and
little movement, in the sky at all, which was my
intention of course.
STEP 5
Because the glass (particularly in the upper windows) reflects
the sky colour, I mix the sky colour with some Payne‘s Grey.
I choose the flat brush closest to the size of the windows.
Sometimes this is sideways as here, and sometimes it is
vertically. Varying the direction on glass gives it realism, and
anyway other things can be seen through the glass such as
blinds, curtains, and walls, so some variety is desirable to
suggest things happening, in the house.
STEP 6
Now I add more ‗darks‘ over all the windows and paint the
leaded sloping roof in between the dormers, using a grey, from
the windows using my flat brush. I also make a start on the
elaborate mouldings on the building, using a small round brush
and rigger, taking care with these details.

115
HOW TO DO IT ?
STEP 7
To recover some ‗brights‘ to the scene, and to add some ageing
and decay, I now add a wash of Yellow Ochre and Ultramarine
to damp paper, and let it seap down the building, from top to
bottom.
STEP 8
As you can see I am working down the
painting from top to bottom, and now
turn my attention to the deep decorative
cornice, using a dark colour on a 1/4‘‘
flat brush.
Make sure that you keep the angle consistent, and keep one
eye on perspective, and that everything stays in line, roughly.
STEP 9
Now I add more ‗staining‘ in a stronger colour, to the two walls
that are in shade. Using a darker tone than the walls, I now
strengthen the mouldings above each window, and in between
the windows, and also adding the same ‗dark‘ to the side of
each main window, to represent the thickness of the walls
inside the window reveal. Make sure these are always the same
consistent thickness. A building would never have thinner walls
in some places, and be thicker elsewhere. They would
always be the same thickness, throughout the building.
STEP 10
Using an old brush, apply masking fluid, to the face of all of
the decorative wrought iron gate, and the frame above.
Let it dry naturally, or blow dry it on a slow speed.
STEP 11
Using a mix of Gamboge and Ultramarine,
and using a medium round brush, loosely
paint the tree behind the gates. Vary the
direction of the leaves and keep them
sharp at the top, weakening the mix
further down the painting by spraying with
clean water.
STEP 12 STEP 13
While the tree Make sure the trees Counter-Change
wash is still damp and bushes are hard
add some ‗darks‘ dry, then remove all
to the bottom left the rubber solution
of the bushes, to using your clean finger
indicate the or a putty rubber.
shadow side of Notice the opportunity
the foliage. for counter-change, with
the tree, and fence.
116

LIGHT SIDE
HOW TO DO IT ?
STEP 14
Using a 1/2‘‘ flat brush, and almost jet black paint,
smoothly paint the underside shadow of the thicker
frame, of the arched fence. Use a smaller flat brush
and a rigger, for the thinner, decorative ironwork.
With these types of elaborate subjects it‘s really im-
portant to concentrate, as it‘s easy to get lost, with all
those curves, curly bits and shadows, but just keep re-
ferring back to your arrow on the margin of your pa- DARK SIDE
per, and keep asking yourself ‘if the light comes from
there, what would be in shadow‘ and then you really can‘t go wrong.
STEP 15
Using a terracotta wash, of Red Oxide, and Ultramarine Blue,
wash the lower upright of the gate, and add the dark side using
the same colour as you did for the other ironwork above.
Add dots and pit marks randomly. And wash some of the rust
wash on damp paper, and let it streak down vertically, to look like
more rust. It would be more rusty where the metal sections join
each other, or where they overlap.
STEP 16
Using a mix of Raw Umber and a Little Ultramarine, wash the
whole column area, using a large round brush, working in
arcs, to simulate the shape of the curves. While that wash is
still wet, add some Paynes Grey to your mix, and drop in the
darks, again bearing in mind the direction of the light source,
which will confirm, which parts should be lighter, and which
should be darker.
STEP 17
Using almost pure black paint, further define the shapes of
the curved indentations in the column, and add the cracks.
Now re-dampen the surface, and smooth over any hard
edges, to soften, so again they begin to look curvy.
Now add some dry brush in the same dark colour, to
indicate the texture of the stone. Adding some pit marks
too. Darken the bottoms, where it would be in shadow.
STEP 18
Using the same mixes and shadow colours, paint your Lion
wet in wet, so the colours blend together to look like a
rounded object. Lift Highlights from the Light side (the right
hand side circled in White), and darken anything on the
opposite side (the left side circled in black).
Soften any hard edges, with a clean, moist brush, before it
dries, so it blends in, looking like the indentations from the
stone masons chisel.
117
HOW TO DO IT ?
STEP 19
Finally, define the hard edges, and paint the eyes, and nostrils
of the Lion. Add any white body colour if you want to add any
missed highlights as I did, and I also couldn't resist the odd bit
of scratching too !
Now dry off your painting thoroughly, either leaving it
overnight, or with a blow dryer, on the slowest warm setting.
Cut your painting from your board, after removing the pencil
marks, (if you want to) using a clean Putty Rubber.
NEGATIVE OR REVERSE PAINTING

This is not painting an object onto the
paper, but actually painting everything around it
so the object stands out, in order to emphasis it.
I used it here extensively, (circled) it is possible
and desirable, to paint the background of
an object, so that the thing,
the object, then stands out even more.
In this painting I wanted the elaborate fence top

above the gates to be a feature of the painting.
To emphasise this further, I reverse painted the
bushes darker, carefully going around the
ironwork. The result is that the ironwork is really
sharp against the dark counter-change of the
background.
See below for another example of this.
The Finished Painting—‘A Grand Entrance—Bourgas‘
Whilst this subject is far from simple to paint,

I wanted you to see the process, from start to
finish, with a complicated subject.
Just to demonstrate how easy it is, if you build
things up in stages, slowly. The painting was
done over two days.
If you struggle with life subjects like me,
try photocopying a black and white image to trace,
or copy, or even scale it up and cut a stencil
to use if it helps you.
118
26. LESSON 17 — OTHER THINGS IN YOUR LANDSCAPE

Like People animals, birds and boats etc.
PEOPLE
Some things are naturally complimentary to a Landscape, to me, and other aren‘t.
Because my chosen preferences, are the effect of the Weather, texture, atmosphere,
and even humour, they don‘t always lend themselves to other things being included,
though my signature ‗tongue in cheek‘ of two flying birds, are an exception !
I suppose I prefer to paint inanimate objects, so my land, town and seascapes tend to
be sparsely populated. I like to ‗draw‘ people, birds and animals, with a view to
including them in my landscapes, and sometimes they crop up in the strangest of
places.
And the old lady from the village in
‗The Sinister ‗Always in a hurry‘ (Left)
Man‘ (Right) What makes her look like she is
rushing somewhere with a real
But what purpose is it the angle of her body,
makes him or her arm, or the fact that she
look sinister ? looks like she is
The hat , the striding out ?
stick, the dark Just
glasses or all try and
those things capture the
put together ! character in
your subjects.
I like to sketch, and photograph people, and though I am no portrait artist, I like to try
and capture the essence of peoples characters, in as few a strokes of my pencil, or
brush as possible. The sketches above emphasise this. The sketches of the old lady
‗Always in a hurry‘, and ‗The Sinister Man‘ encapsulate this. The woman does look in a
hurry and is simply drawn, it is just her ‗gait‘ that makes it look like she is in a hurry,
and the same with the man, there is something in his manner, that just makes him
look sinister, it could be his wide brimmed hat hiding his face, the stick, his dark
glasses, or maybe his smart appearance, or his hand in his pocket. If you look at the
study of him, it‘s actually all of those things together.
Landscapes are enhanced, if they are populated in some way, be it with people, birds
or animals. A landscape without any of these things can look static, bleak and lifeless.
So even, like me, if portraits don‘t interest you, study them, and sketch, and paint
them, and try to include some life subjects, in your paintings.
119
26. LESSON 17 — OTHER THINGS IN YOUR LANDSCAPE Continued

Like People, Animals, Birds and Boats etc.
PEOPLE Continued
The inclusion of people, can be paramount in paintings, and can add humour, purpose
or even sadness. They can also give a painting atmosphere, meaning and nostalgia,
and a timeless quality. Consider the paintings below and how important the characters
are in them. Try and cover the people up, and see how it effects the look and feel of
the painting, and you‘ll see what I mean about their importance. The positioning of
them is also crucial, to the overall composition, of a piece.
In this piece (right), painted for my sister Julie, I wanted to

capture the freedom of childhood. So the characters, of her, and I
in a rock pool, at the beach are painted very simply.
Though inaccurate in lots of ways, neither of us have
ever been blond for instance. But, the portrayal,
captures that lovely moment, and evokes happy
memories of Summer Holidays on the Yorkshire coast.
In the next example on

the left, my painting
shows a couple sat on an
upturned boat, at the
beach at Sozopol. Their closeness is obvious,
and they are clearly discussing their future
together.
It‘s a good example of how static the painting would be,
without them. The only living things would be my signature
two seagulls hiding in the corner.
RECORDING PEOPLE
Whenever I go out, I usually try to take my
sketch pad, and camera and like to record
people just going about their business, in all
manner of poses. Walking, running,
standing, sitting, reading and interacting
with each other.
I call these my ‗stock people‘ and when I
want to include one in a painting, if I havn't
sketched one at the scene, I have a look for one in my
‗stock‘ of sketches, and photo‘s.
You can see my ‗stock‘ old Bulgarian lady, dressed in black,

from my many photo‘s of her, going about her daily life.
Her specific characteristics to capture, whenever I paint her
are her stance, her strength and pride, and reliance on her
walking stick, due to the ravages of time, arthritis and years
being bent over, tending her garden to feed her family.
As you can see she keeps cropping up !
120
PEOPLE Continued
Sometimes , you can use the careful
placement of your characters, to
make some kind of point, or
statement about your Artwork.
In the picture done for a Commission
of Karnobat Church, I wanted to
capture the wealth and grandeur of
the church, also the old man relaxing
and enjoying the sunshine, sat on the
bench. But if you look very carefully,
you can spot a second character, in
the piece. Painted almost as simply
as the piece of sculpture in the
garden, is a beggar, who is always on the cold stone step outside the
Church, and I also wanted to capture the contrast between the
characters fortunes, and the humanity of both of their situations.
In the next picture, (on the left), again painted for a client
who owned the yacht. I wanted to capture the peace, calm
and serenity of an evening‘s fishing, from the dock side in
Sozopol. It was a freezing cold evening when
I recorded the scene with my camera,
as it was too cold, to stand and sketch.
I also thought that this local man, who must

fish every day, presumably to feed his family,
was in sharp contrast to the grand
architecture, of the Naval College in the
distance.
The quiet dignity, and efficiency of his successful
evenings fishing, amongst millions of pounds
worth of swanky yachts, and power boats, at the
Marina was quite humbling.
I titled the painting ‘A Fish out of Water‘ as my
comical way of commenting about that, and also
about the very elegant shape of the yacht,
propped up on the quayside, in a very undignified
way. Indeed it too was ‗a fish out of water‘ !
The last example on the left, shows the final sweep

as our local villagers scoured the harvested field,
for any last onions, rejected by the machinery.
As you can see using a combination of sketches

and photo‘s, it‘s possible to include people very
effectively in your painting, without being a
portrait artist. We‘ll see how to do it next !

121

PEOPLE Continued
HOW TO DO IT ?
The very same principles of light and dark apply, just the same when painting people,
as they did in the very first lesson, about painting the orange.
The character of the person, relies less on the painting of them, (in the context of using
them in a Landscape), but more on the drawing of them. The drawn outline should
have the basic information on the subject, which would include things like their height,
weight, manner, and how they carry themselves.
STEP 1 STEP 2
Draw your figure, making sure Paint the background around
that you capture the essence of them, making sure you include
their character. It will be about gaps like under the ladies arms.
their sex, age, stance, shape, Also add grounding marks,
weight, culture and posture. where she stands.
If you can capture all of this Notice that it isn‘t necessary to
information accurately, it will paint her feet, particularly if she
give you believable people. is on grass, or rough ground.
STEP 3 STEP 4
Paint your character. This lady While the paint is still wet, wash
from our village, dresses in the out, dry your bush off, on
Mediterranean Black of a widow kitchen towel. Now lift out the
and her dress, shawl and damp paint, revealing the
pinafore are all in Greys, or highlights on the top of her
Blacks. Use a medium round head, shoulder and torso. The
brush, and Paynes Grey to light here coming from the left.
carefully fill her outline in. Add darks to the opposite sides.
STEP 5 STEP 6
Lift out any other highlights, Finally, add small details like
while the paint is still damp, her shawl, and sleeve, and any
here using a 1/2‘‘ Flat Brush to belts and fine details etc. I also
mop out the square shape of lifted out more highlights on the
her light coloured shopping bag top of her chest, shoulder and
against her dark clothing. An stomach. Note the lack of facial
opportunity for contrast, and features, but the old lady, still
‗counter change‘. has bags of character.
The inclusion, and positioning, of a

carefully chosen character, will
add charm, nostalgia, interest, and
increased saleability, to your work.
I also like to capture a scene as it would have been before the

advent of modern technology. So I always omit things like
satellite dishes, and telegraph poles. Though elegant lampposts
(even modern ones, as here in Plovdiv, Bulgaria) are always
included. By taking these measures, gives the piece a timeless
quality, like this old lady, going to collect her bread, could be in
any time period. Also if you paint your characters loosely, as I
suggest above, the old lady can be everyone‘s Grandmother too.

122

ANIMALS
Once again animals, can and do play a vital role, by adding life to a landscape, and
again, I rely on my stock of sketches, studies and photographs of them regularly.
The one thing you can usually rely on when drawing an animal, is that you get time,
as they spend lots of time in one place, usually eating. The amount of detail you need
to record, will depend mainly, on how far away they are from the eye, in your
Landscape.
A selection of my animal
sketches
When drawing, then subsequently painting animals, in your landscape, as with people
the stance, and characteristics of the breed has to be recorded quite accurately.
But again distance is the key. If your animals are an important part of any given
painting, you would want (and need) to record much more detail, than if they were fur-
ther away, or played a lesser role, in the painting.
In this watercolour painting of mine on the left

called ‗Long Shadows, Cherkovo‘ of a shepherd
with his sheep, the animals are loosely painted,
and just blend into the landscape, showing a
scene as the man tends his flock into the evening.
You will see how to paint them like this, on the
next page.
In contrast, in the painting on the right,

the animals are in the far distance, and are
nothing but blobs of paint, as you can see
in the close up.
123

ANIMALS Continued
HOW TO DO IT ?
The secret to painting convincing animals, is to draw the outline quite carefully, before
you paint them. Use your photographs and sketches extensively. The crucial things to
get right, when you paint animals is the angle of the back, and the size of the head.
In this demonstration, I will show you how to paint a flock of sheep, but basically it‘s
just painting one, then repeating it. With a flock like this it‘s important to slightly vary
the colour, and characteristics of each sheep, just slightly. They will then all assume a
different character. So slightly vary the different markings, size, face, and even shape.
STEP 1
First, sketch your animals lightly, ensuring you record each
ones stance accurately. With a group, try and go for a
harmonious composition, with some standing, and others not.
STEP 2
Now carefully paint the background, around your sheep,
taking care, not to alter the shapes of the animals. Here I
have just used a Yellow Ochre wash, for the background.
STEP 3
While the paint is still wet, add your ‗dark‘ GROUNDING under
each sheep to make them ‘sit‘ in the landscape. This will also
bleed up into the other colour, and looks like grass, when dry.
STEP 4
Using Yellow Ochre and just a touch of blue, fill in the shape
of the sheep from top to bottom, any dark paint falling to the
bottom is fine as this starts to look like shadows and darks.
STEP 5
Add some dark to your colour, and paint the dark, and
underside of the sheep, allowing the paint to bleed up into the
other still damp colour. This is what gives the animal it‘s bulk.
STEP 6
Now using a small round, slightly dampened clean brush, mop
out the paint from the light top and side. Here the light is
coming from the high left, of the flock of sheep.
STEP 7
Once each sheep is dry, (use a hair dryer ), move on to
the next one, adding any shadows that one sheep may
cast on any adjacent ones. Once the group is painted,
strengthen the grounding of the whole group, which will
pull them all together. Finally finish by using dark (here
almost black) to paint faces legs and ears.

124

BIRDS
By their nature, birds are small, in comparison to people and most animals in the
landscape, but their importance shouldn‘t be underestimated. In the starkest of
Landscapes, just the addition of a couple of distant birds, can add life to a painting,
and I do try to include at least this, in my work. Sometimes they are difficult to spot ,
but they are usually there somewhere.
There are exceptions, to their minor role, like in the

following examples.
In my painting, ‗A Fine Residence for Pigeons‘ I wanted

to portray this fine old house in Karnobat, but also the
comedy element, that these particular pigeons have
lived there for many years clearly, and in fact the
balcony is now almost collapsing, under the weight of
their accumulated droppings !
HOW TO DO IT ?
STEP 1
Draw your pigeons, paint
the background, and add
any grounding assuming
they are sitting on
something like here on a
roof.
STEP 2
Paint your pigeons, they
Flying birds are painted in exactly
the same way, apart form their lack usually have a grey or
of ‗Grounding‘ as they are in the air ! purple cast to them.
If any darker paint falls
to the bottom that‘s ok.
STEP 4
The ‗Darks‘ have now been added,
using a purple/ grey wash.
Then, mop out the highlights, from
the top left, on the head, shoulders
and backs, of your pigeons.
STEP 5
Now add the darks, and any shadows that may be cast
from one bird to any adjacent ones. Also finish with
stronger grounding, and fine details, like beaks and eyes.
As you can see birds, and pigeons are quite simple shapes,
but capturing their character, is the key to painting them successfully.
125

BIRDS Continued
This next example, stresses how
important birds can be in a painting.
I had always wanted to paint seabirds
following a trawler, and got the
opportunity one stormy day by the
Black Sea resort of Sozopol in Bulgaria.
Painting light, sunlit birds, against a

dark background, like this stormy sky,
can appear tricky for a beginner, and
certainly, if painted traditionally, would
be difficult to paint around all those
individual birds, with the sky wash
drying rapidly.
The secret is to use a

‗resist‘ (a resist is
anything that ‗resists‘
paint
sticking to the
papers surface).
In this case
masking fluid was
used. Other types of
resists include wax
but the advantage of
masking fluid, is that
its tinted so you can
see what you have
painted.
HOW TO DO IT ? TOP TIP

STEP 1
Paint your birds, using an old brush,
stick or blade, carefully filling in the
shapes, as quickly as possible. The Always ensure
rubber solution dries almost that the top of the
instantly, so never ever use a good masking fluid bottle is
brush with masking fluid. screwed on tight, or it
solidifies in the bottle.
STEP 2
Paint your background over the
birds, then when hard dry, If it goes thick,
carefully peel off the rubber carefully add 10%
solution using a clean finger or water, to the bottle
Putty Rubber. and shake well. It will
Finally paint in the birds on the
then flow much easier.
clean white paper, as above.

126

BIRDS Continued
In this final example, of the importance of birds in your landscapes, the actual subject
as well as the car, (an old Trabant), is the Chickens that use it as their home.
But is the car the star, or is it actually the Chickens ?
I love painting chickens, and they are
one of the easiest of subjects to include
in your paintings. If you study them,
they are almost symmetrical in shape,
and they are great to draw, as they stay
relatively still, head down, pecking at the
ground most of the time.
HOW
TO DO
IT ?
Note
The similarity in
shape between the
Chicken and the
triangle, and try and
remember this, when
you draw them.
STEP 1 STEP 2
Draw your chickens, (above) Paint the background around
and keep the grouping of them the group of birds, and add a
harmonious. Chickens seem to slight ‗dark‘ to the bottom for
like each others company andey ‗grounding‘. Once Dry paint
would normally move around in your chicken here I used
small groups, like here. raw weak Burnt Sienna.
STEP 3 (left)
Using a clean moist, small round
brush, mop out the highlights, on the
light, top left of the chicken‘s back
shape. Blend the area with a moist
brush so it merges together. It‘s this
merging, that gives the 3d effect.
STEP 5 (right) STEP 4 (above)

Strengthen the ‗grounding‘ and Add some dark colour to
shadows for the birds, and finally the brown wash, and
add the character to the birds by whilst the brown paint is
painting, beaks, feathers and feet. still damp, paint the
Always vary the colours of your dark, bottom right side of
birds, as no two are identical. the birds.
127

BOATS
There are so many variations with boats, as there was with buildings earlier, that if
there was ever a time when ‗really looking‘ and copying a subject were imperative,
boats is it.
Boat owners are sticklers for detail too, so what looks like a jumble of ropes to a
casual observer, layman (or an Artist) looks completely different to a sailor.
The fact is, that every rope has a function, and goes from one specific point to another
for a reason.
The best way to portray boats is to be very careful about the shape, it‘s proportions
and how it sits in the water, and suggest just enough detail, so the viewer adds the
missing fine detail, like rigging etc. By nature they are a very odd shape, designed to
cut through water efficiently, and I have seen them portrayed as a flatted figure of
eight in the water by other artists.
My best advice is to look very carefully, and sketch loosely, because there WILL be lots
of alterations, until your happy, and copy what you see. Initially, side on or full front or
full rear views are the easiest to start with. The most interesting shapes on boats
though are 3/4 views either from the front or back of the
boat.

128

BOATS Continued
Sketching and drawing different types of boats
and yachts, and all the stuff that goes with
them, is the best way to learn about how to
draw them. If you are lucky enough to live by
the sea, or a river, spend time, getting a feel,
for all the different types, of water going craft.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR ?

Each particular type of water going
craft has it‘s own particular
characteristics and spotting them and
copying them is the key.
I asked a yachtsman friend if there

was a formula for yachts as I had
noticed some similarities,
however large or small they were.
It turned out to be the case.
The height of
the mast is at
least 1 1/2
times the
As you can see, simply by observing the characteristics length of the
of yachts, it became apparent how to draw and paint hull
them. They are in fact very easy to portray, very simply
as you can see above , even in this 3/4 view.
The yacht gives the illusion of not much wind, or it would
be tipped over more, and the leading edge of the sail
billowing out more, with bow wave if moving faster too.
So as you see, observing well, then copying simply, is the key to
painting great boats, in your land, or seascapes, in Watercolour. 2/3 1/3
129

BOATS Continued
Obviously, it goes without saying, that the portrayal of your boats and yachts, in a
convincing way, also is not only to do with the way you depict them, but also about
there settings, the water and there reflections too.
When painting any landscape, or seascapes, I like to include vertical lines, like
telegraph poles etc. so painting boat masts, and their rigging is a particular favourite of
mine.
Because of the simplicity of most boat

shapes, basically a flat triangle that is
higher at the front than the back.
It‘s actually possible (and also very
convincing), to paint a whole boat, or
even lots of boats, as here using only
one brush, the 1‘‘ flat brush.
The flat brush, also ensures that

everything stays perfectly horizontal (for the
water) and perfectly vertical for the masts. It‘s also
invaluable for rigging, but is probably for later, when
your confidence will inevitable grow.
Most beginners find it easier to control the fine rigger.
As the name suggests it was designed for painting rigging.
HOW TO DO IT ?
STEP 1
Lightly sketch your boat shapes, onto your paper. Have one
dominant boat, and the others to play supporting roles.
These will then be painted in a less detailed way.
Remember in the earlier lesson about composition, that you would try Keep boat masts
and avoid having two things, (albeit trees, or here boats) that are the random and vary
heights and thickness's
same size. Also try and keep mast heights, thickness's, and the
distances between them random throughout, and try
See how the paint and avoid repetition or ‗patterns‘ emerging.
is weaker towards
the horizon,
achieving STEP 2
recession Using your sky colour, here Cobalt Blue with a touch of Light Red loosely
paint your sky, using a large round brush. Keep the sky simple if you
want the emphasis to stay on the boats. Paint the water in the same
colour, and paint around your jumble of boat shapes.
Note how the sky get lighter as you get lower towards the horizon.
STEP 3
Dry your first sky and water wash with a blow dryer on slow speed.
Once your paper is completely dry, (which is important if your boat
shapes are to be sharp against the background) use either a flat brush,
or shown here, a medium round brush, paint in your boat shapes in
varying shades of a neutral tint of your sky blue mixed with just a little
Paynes Grey.
130

BOATS Continued
STEP 4
Paint each of your boats in turn, varying the colour mix slightly, for
each one. The ones closest would be darker, than the ones further
away. Whilst the paint is still wet, take a clean slightly moistened brush
and mop out the lighter side of the boats, which will indicate the bow
shape of the boat. Use a sideways motion when mopping out.
The resulting marks, will then indicate the contours of the boats hulls.
STEP 5
Moisten your water area slightly, and roughly copy the shapes of your
boats light and dark areas, to form the reflections. Add some darker
colour (a touch more Paynes Grey into your existing paint mix) and
using a flat brush just lightly dab under each boat to ‗ground‘ it in the
water. This will make the boats look as if they are sat in the water.
Leaving some gaps of white is ok, and adds to this illusion.
STEP 6
With the same darker mix, and still into your dampened paper, lightly
dab a reflection in the water, below where each mast is going to be.
Now, using the same mix on the dry area, but using a smaller flat or
round brush, paint the dock, and it‘s reflections into the water. The
reflections can be random, and broken to indicate some movement in
the water but you have to be quite accurate for them to be convincing.
See the earlier chapter on painting water and their reflections.
STEP 7
Now, using a strong mix of your blue, and more Paynes Grey, start
carefully dabbing in the jumble of masts. Vary the thickness and
colour of each mast and the distance in between them. On calm
water they would all be about vertical, but on moving water some
may be slightly skew. Use your flat brush, quite dry and almost
vertical to ensure accurate masts. Try a rigger instead if you prefer.
STEP 8
Finally build up the jumble of masts, and
rigging, always keeping in mind that some
are further back than others, so would be
painted more lightly, and in paler colours.
TOP TIP Finish off with all the stuff associated with
When using a flat boats , like fenders, flags and railings. These
brush for things like
masts and rigging , would all be painted very carefully using
test the accuracy of your smallest rigger, round and flat brushes
your line on the and the strongest paints. It‘s these ‗sharps‘
border of your paper and ‗highlights ‗ that will make your marine
before moving to paintings more accomplished.
your painting. Keep
Note the wiggly lines for the masts reflections ...
dabbing until it‘s ok.
131
27. LESSON 18 — PAINTING STILL LIFE AND FLOWERS
Both still life, and floral paintings, are ones I have painted, not only as subjects in their
own right, but also for Greetings Cards.
STILL LIFE PAINTINGS

Whilst admitting that this is not
my favourite subject matter.
I do like the ability to record
everyday items, and painting
them for posterity, as it were.
Still Life subjects were the
preferred subject matter of
many famous painters.
Though mostly it seems, in oils,
rather than Watercolours.
Traditionally they are ‗staged‘
and carefully arranged, as was
done with the large picture on
the left.
When arranging your still life
subjects unless they are ‗as is‘
try and go for items with varied
heights, shapes and textures.
Arranging them on a nice shiny
table or on fabric helps too.
FLORAL PAINTING
Botanical painting, is a whole subject of its own, and there are plenty of examples on
the subject. I feel that the medium of Watercolours is particularly suited to painting
flowers, and I always
enjoy the results. The
colours in Nature, and
the way combinations
of colours are used is
a joy to an Artist. Wet
into Wet techniques
are fantastic to
accurately record
those gentle fusions of
colours in real life.
They are also very
popular with the
buying public.
It seems that flowers, and

pictures of them, have the
ability to lift the spirits, either
as Greetings Cards or
as paintings. The massive
variety is a constant
challenge to an artist.

132
27. LESSON 18 — PAINTING STILL LIFE AND FLOWERS Continued
STILL LIFE PAINTING

HOW TO DO IT ?
STEP 1 Setting it up
Firstly, choose your subjects carefully, and try to theme them.
In this example, of rustic, rural life
in Bulgaria, I used some old
Antique bric a brac and arranged
them on an old barrel in my
garden.
If you consider the two separate

arrangements, on the right, you
can see that in the nearest picture,
the old barrel is almost hidden by
some of the items. The jumble of
bric-a brac items aren‘t clear about
their relationship to each other
either.
By removing the hand brush, sickle and the third item,

suddenly the picture tells a story, about a lone shepherd,
and how new and old items for storing liquid, like Rakia
and Wine have evolved through the ages.
STEP 2
Carefully and lightly sketch your still life subjects, I have drawn them
in quite strongly here, so you can see them clearly.
When I photographed the scene, it had been raining, and was quite
dull, but if you look closely you can see that the light was coming
from the right. So I marked an arrow on the margin of my paper, for
reference, throughout the painting process. As you can see I decided
on a slightly flatter viewpoint for my painting. I‘ve always thought it
bad practise, to photograph anything from too high, including animals and children, so
I got down to a lower level, so it had less of an arial feel.
STEP 3
I didn‘t want the background to feature very much in my painting
so just went for a green wash. Wet the paper but not too much and
leave some gaps of dry paper between the vertical strokes using a
large round brush. It‘s ok, to roughly go around your still life
subjects with the water, as it‘s not critical at this stage. If you have
any puddles where the paper ‗cockles‘ just dry
your brush on kitchen towel, and mop it up.
STEP 4
Using a mix of Cobalt Blue and Gamboge, and a medium round
brush, paint the background, taking care around your still life items.
If any colour seeps into the foreground items, mop it out straight
away, with a clean, slightly moistened brush. Vary the mix of your
paint, which adds interest, and atmosphere, to the finished painting.
133
STILL LIFE PAINTING

HOW TO DO IT ? Continued
STEP 5
Dry your painting slowly, with a hairdryer on the
slowest warm setting. Once it‘s dry, use a sharpened
wax candle, to rub some wax, onto the areas, where
there is wear, and texture, like on the gourd, and on
the barrel. Use this sparingly, as it‘s difficult to see
where you've been, until you put paint on the area.
STEP 6
Starting with the lightest, furthest away item, the gourd, paint
it using a weak mix of Raw Umber and a touch of Cobalt Blue.
Paint the flask carefully, using a small round brush.
Remembering which side the light is coming from, lift out the
highlights, and add the darks shadows, and grounding.
Take care to retain the shape of the things in front, as they are
difficult to rescue later on in the painting.
STEP 7
Using a similar mix, but now including Yellow Ochre, paint the
light top parts, of the broken lid, and also the light, top parts of
each of the sections of the barrel.
Again take care to go around the items, sitting on the lid.
STEP 8
Move forward to the jug and cup, and using
a mix of Light Red and Cobalt Blue, and the
same small round brush, paint the jug and beaker. Then lift the
highlights from the light side, and add darks, shadows, and
grounding to the dark side of the jug, and barrel lid, by adding
slightly more Paynes Grey.
Mop out where the light areas of pattern are, with a moist brush.
STEP 9
With the edge of your flat brush, ‗drybrush‘ some areas of rust
onto the metal rims, and panels. Then, using a flat brush,
about the same size as the wooden panels, and a strongish mix
of Burnt Umber and Paynes Grey, paint each panel separately
following the contours of the barrel. Take care around the pole.
NOTE HOW THE PAINT WON‘T STICK TO THE WAXED AREA
STEP 10
Using a weak neutral tint, paint the handle of the staff. Then
with a combination of rigger and flat brush (for variety of your
lines) and almost neat Black and Burnt Umber paint, add lines
between the panels and drag some drybrush strokes onto the
barrel, to look like the texture of rough old timber. Add shadow
to the underside of the rims, to give them depth, and also the
inside, darkest part of the barrel, with the same mix.

134

TOP TIP
STILL LIFE PAINTING Ensure that your painting is ‘hard dry‘
HOW TO DO IT ? Continued before adding your ‗sharps‘
then they won‘t blur .
STEP 11
Using your rigger, and Jet Black paint, add ‗sharps‘ to your picture
like knots, nails and cracks. Check the definition, of all the items
in your still life and re-define them if needed, using the same
colours still in your bowls, or re-mix them. An exact colour match
isn‘t absolutely necessary, some variety will add to the overall
atmosphere of your painting. You can see how the wax (circled
right), went onto the metal rim, which was unintentional.
STEP 12
Now, turning your attention to the nearest object in your still life,
the hand made shepherd‘s crook, define it‘s form, by adding lights
(by lifting the damp paint with a moist brush) and darks on the
shadow side by adding blue or black to your Yellow Ochre and
Cobalt Blue mix as before. Carefully define the shape in front of all
your other items of bric-a-brac.
STEP 13
Using a flat brush and a weak Yellow Ochre and Cobalt Blue mix,
define the top of the step and slab, before adding the shadow
side, using your black mix from earlier.
FINALLY
Using your rigger, add all the fine coloured pattern,
on the Jug and cup. Also add a few grasses, and
‗darks‘ between the slabs.
‗As you can see the

painting is not a slavish
copy of the original
photograph and nor
should it be, for that it is
better to take a
photograph and frame
that ‗!
A good still
life, records
everyday
objects, and
items, and The Finished Painting
can be even
combined ‗Still Life
with your Bulgarian Rustic Style‘
floral
paintings too.
135
PAINTING FLOWERS
This final lesson on painting flowers, seems a fitting place to end, as nothing quite does
justice, to the medium of Watercolour Painting, as the subject of flower painting does.
The freshness of translucent washes, and the way wet into wet, bleeds into each other,
makes painting floral subjects, one of my favourites. As I said in the introduction to this
lesson Botanical Painting is an Art Form in itself. My own interpretation of floral
subjects is more impressionistic, than the detailed, more formal
study of the subject, and I like to just feel the joy, and try and
echo the vibrany and freshness of colours created by
Mother Nature.
My personal ‗Koran‘ so to speak, apart from observing
plants and flowers in their natural habitat, is my very old,
but very trusty, Readers Digest Book of Garden Plants and
Flowers.
Nothing echoes life, quite as much, as the bright red

of the Wild Poppy, or the glorious yellow of a
species abundant here in
Bulgaria, The Sunflower.
In the very earliest

introduction to my book,
and throughout, I have
always stressed the need
to mix paint colours, with
a second, or even third
colour, and never to use
them unmixed.
Floral subjects , however
are the only exceptions
that prove the rule as
they say.
Whilst I would never use

an unmixed green from the
tube, which I think
looks completely
un-natural, the
vibrancy and acidity of
Lemon Yellow and
Gamboge, are perfect
yellows for Sunflowers,
as are the reds of
Cadmium for A Selection of my
Poppies & Roses and many floral
Cobalt Blue, for subjects, which are
Hyacinths and the like. great as greetings
cards, as well as
paintings.
SO GO CRAZY WITH COLOUR

136
PAINTING FLOWERS Continued
HOW TO DO IT ?
The actual painting process for impressionistic floral paintings, is very simple and quick
indeed. As you will see with this simple demonstration.
STEP 1
Lightly draw your main flowers onto your paper. Because of the purity
and lightness of the subject, the petals being so thin and delicate, that 1/3rd
you can see light through their shapes, try and keep your drawing to a Rule
minimum. Any lines you draw at this stage will almost definitely be
removed, at the end to reveal the delicate nature of the subject.
Bear in mind too, the third rule of composition, shown by the orange
lines. Here I am painting a spray of brightly coloured flowers, in a solid
jug, which is standing on a table, in front of a wall.
STEP 2
Paint your background, using vertical strokes
of the brush, which can be a medium round brush or a flat
brush. It‘s ok to leave gaps, and try and vary the colour mix,
and amount of water used, which will then look like a stuccoed
textured wall. Here I used Yellow Ochre with a touch of Cobalt
Blue, just to deaden the colour a little. Paint carefully around
your flower shapes, and paint in ‗gaps‘, as circled.
STEP 3
Once your wall is dry, paint your table, here using Cerulean &
Cobalt Blue. Use horizontal brush strokes, painting carefully
around the jug. Pay particular attention in areas like inside the
handle, circled. Add some Paynes Grey, and add shadows, and
grounding marks, while the wash is still wet.
NOTE When choosing background colours, try and avoid those that are in your
flowers ,where possible , but choose colours that compliment them .
STEP 4
Using a mix of Cobalt Blue and Cadmium Red, on a small round
brush, paint your jug. Here the light, is coming from the left, so
mop out the highlights, on the top left of the jug shape, not
forgetting the handle too.
Add some Payne‘s Grey to your mix, and add the ‗darks‘, to the
bottom right, of the jug.
STEP 5
Using a small round brush paint one set of flowers, here red
one‘s. To make your flowers convincing, they should be painted
randomly, changing the angle of your brush, from side to side,
and using the shape of the brushes bristles, to form the petal
shapes. Whilst the flowers are still slightly damp, drop in a
touch of Black or Brown, into the centre of each red flower.
137
PAINTING FLOWERS Continued
HOW TO DO IT ?
STEP 6
Now mix a second colour, here a rich purple, using Cadmium Red
and Cobalt Blue, and paint another set of flowers, again making
sure that they are fairly randomly painted, and altering the
direction of your paint brush. Alter the size of your round brush
too, that way the flowers will vary in size and shape. Add dark to
the centre of some of the flowers, but not them all. Then lift out
some highlights (circled).
STEP 7
Repeat the process, with the next set of flowers, here the Yellow
one‘s, using almost pure Lemon Yellow. Overlap some of these light
coloured flowers, (which could be yellow or white), but make sure
the dark flowers are hard dry, before you paint the light ones over
them, or the stronger colour will bleed into the light ones.
Once again, add centres, and lift out highlights, with a damp brush.
STEP 8
Using a green (here Lemon Yellow mixed with Cobalt Blue), and a
rigger, carefully paint the gaps between the flowers, darkening the
green mix, in the centre, and bottom of the bouquet of flowers.
Indicate some stalks, and stems, and the occasional slender leaves
outside of the floral arrangement. Paint some stems in front of
flowers, some behind, and some that come and go.
STEP 9
Add some Paynes Grey to your, now darker, green mix, and as the
stems and foliage enter the jug, make them almost pure Black.
Add some shadows, and extra flowers, that would inevitably spill
over the edge of the jug. Define the remaining visible parts of the
dark side of the jug, and spout, as here. Finally add some shadows
onto the jug surface, onto the table, and on the wall behind.
Whether you are painting formal

flower arrangements, as we
have done here, or flowers in
their natural environment, the
theory of how to paint them, is
exactly the same, and these few
Golden Rules, apply to both.
GOLDEN RULES FOR FLOWERS
 KEEP DRAWING TO A MINIMUM
 TRY TO PAINT IN AN UPWARDS
DIRECTION, AND VARY THE ANGLES
 PAINT FLOWERS AND LEAVES RANDOMLY
 AVOID ‗PATTERNS‘ THAT LOOK UN-NATURAL
 FINALLY KEEP YOU WORK CLEAN AND FRESH

138
28. LESSON 19 — PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER, THE PAINTING PROCESS
Now that we have finished the Lessons in my book, I hope that you have gathered that
by ‗KEEPING IT SIMPLE‘, and following a few simple guidelines, and processes, that
with practise you will be able to approach any subject matter with ease.
The list below, has been done without pictures, on purpose, so you can use it as a
checklist, when you paint.
HOW TO DO IT ? THE PAINTING CHECKLIST
1. Decide on your subject matter, and be clear about, roughly how you want it to
look, when it‘s finished.
2. Decide on your colour palette, you want to use, and prepare the mixes, or at least
have your dishes and paints clean, and ready to use.
3. Get your two pots of clean water.
4. Tape your paper to your board (if you‘re having a pre wash, on your paper, try
and prepare this the previous day, as it may take some drying, so the paper is
perfectly flat). Or if you‘re stretching it, do it the day before, if possible.
5. If your referring to photos or a sketch have them nearby, or on your pc or laptop.
6. Mark your 1/3rd composition marks, and an arrow, to show where the sun, or
other light source is coming from, so you can refer to it, throughout the painting.
7. Sketch your scene lightly onto your paper. It can be quite detailed, or hardly
anything at all, depending on how complicated the subject matter is. Sometimes
the wash comes after the sketch, so you can lift highlights, out of the wash.
8. Consider where your highlights are on your painting at the start, and use any
masking fluid, or other resists, like wax at this stage, and let them dry fully, before
proceeding further.
9. Split your painting up, clearly in your mind, into planes. This will help you to
decide how strong each colour mix needs to be. Each one stronger than the last,
as you work forward into the foreground.
10. Now paint the furthest plane, usually the sky.
11. Now Paint the middle ground.
12. Now paint the foreground.
13. Now paint the highlights, and ‗brights‘ (this is what really makes a painting come
alive, so you can be quite bold, and strong with colour now.
14. Half close your eyes, and make sure that there are no tonal, or lining up issues,
if there are, correct them now.
15. Sign your painting, once it‘s hard dry.
16. If you want to, remove all the pencil lines, using a soft clean putty rubber, but
make sure everything is hard dry first, or you may smudge it.
17. Carefully cut through the tape, holding it to your board.
18. Carefully, and without tearing the paper, remove the masking tape gently, to
reveal the white border.
19. Trim up square, using a guillotine, or trimmer, if you have one.
20. Add any titles, website or email address, and any details, to the back of your work.
21. Mount or frame, for best effect.
Note
Masking fluid should be removed from each area, as it has been completed, so this
should be done zonally, and may be removed in stages, depending on the painting.
Remove using a clean finger, or a clean putty rubber.
139
29. LESSON 20 — FINDING YOUR OWN STYLE -GOOD OR BAD THING ?
Finding your own style, is your unique signature, your own take on things you see, and
will naturally develop into your own ‗look‘, Something that only you or record in your
own personal way. So that, whatever subject you paint, it will always have that, ‗it‘s
one of his, or hers‘ style to it.
Having your own ‗look‘ can be restrictive in itself though, and can lead to predictability,
and sameness. Whilst some stability is called for especially when learning (with a
restricted palette of just a few colours, as I recommend in this book, for instance).
But, at some point, you will find yourself heading off naturally, and starting to make
your own decisions, and having your own preferences, about subject matter, colours,
techniques, and styles.
If you look online, you will see that, probably my own style, is based on an
amalgamation, with my own twist, of Ron Ranson‘s loose approach, and John Blockley‘s
love of textures. Also in evidence, would be the capturing of the weather by fellow
Yorkshireman Ashley Jackson, and finally, the master himself, the late Rowland Hilder,
who‘s quality, and handling of the medium, I can only dream of emulating. His hard
back books were always a special Christmas treat every year from family members.
YOU MAY LIKE TO TRY

There are a few simple tips you may like to try to help evolve your style
which may include :-
1. Consider always tinting your paper the same colour. My personal
favourite is tints of Yellow, and Ochre.
Turner used light blue extensively, I believe.
2. Always add a ‘signature‘ key colour, to every mix, in a painting, which
gives it a certain uniformity and harmony.
Try a small quantity of Ultramarine Blue say.
3. Stick with one particular palette (set of colours).
Though not a great believer in ‗copying‘ ,another thing I like to do, is to study a particular work, by
another artist, and using the techniques I know, try to capture the essence of that painting.
Just being in the same ‗groove‘ as the artist, and trying to do what they did, and feel what they felt, has
helped me personally. I used to do this with paintings by Sergeant, Hilder ,and Turner, and learned
much from them.
Have a look on the internet, and in your local Library, at the Masters works, but also on the
numerous online Galleries, where there are many superb New Artists, featuring their work.
You can also join in, by uploading your own work, and get critiqued too.
Presumably you bought this ebook, because you wanted to learn the basics, which by now,
should start to feel comfortable to you. It could be that like me, you find joy, and satisfaction,
painting pure clean land, town and seascapes, and to record decay and weather, in all it‘s
glory. Or you may end up throwing painted models, against a canvas, or making modern Art,
or trying other mediums, only you know which direction you want to go.
One thing is certain, only you can decide that, and the journey has never been so
inexpensive, and accessible to all, so enjoy the ride. This, my first book is the
culmination of a lifetime of learning, and just a few months hard work.
I hope you have enjoyed the fruits of my labours.
Above all, relax, and enjoy your own personal Art Watercolour Journey, I am !
Martin Stephenson (Stevo)

140
30. PRESENTATION
PRESENTING YOUR WORK

The presentation of your watercolours, really depends on what you want to do with
them, and if you intend to try and sell them.
It may be, that you just paint for your own pleasure, and you may be happy just to
keep them clean, and flat in a drawer, though a cheap and durable portfolio, will hold
lots of paintings, in a clean, dust free environment.
The white border created with the masking tape gives a nice border to your paintings
anyway, and they are quite presentable as they are. Though there is nothing as nice as
a professionally, framed picture, with a carefully selected mount, and frame.
CARE OF YOUR WATERCOLOURS

Watercolours do tend to move, depending on moisture, temperature, and humidity, so
they are best stored flat. When you move a painting, to a different room, or house, you
would normally expect it to ‗cockle‘ for a few days, before it settles, and acclimatises to
its new environment, this is quite normal.
A professional framer usually only attaches the painting at the top, inside of the mount,
and that way, it is allowed to move inside the frame.
FRAMES
If you do decide to have your work framed, there is an endless selection of frames,
from man made, to real timber, in hundreds of colours and profiles. I like to select a
standard frame throughout, especially for an Exhibition, usually in a mid oak colour, as
it‘s a colour usually found in my landscapes and compliments most interior decorations.
MOUNTS
In an Exhibition, as with the frames, I use a standard mount throughout, and cream is
my preferred colour, for a similar reason as the frames, as I always use off white as
highlights in most of my watercolours.
HANGINGS
The best quality hangings are metal, and either picture hooks, or plugged screws are
the most secure ways of hanging your pictures, on the wall.
There is nothing quite like seeing your

work well framed, and hanging on a wall.
It is possible to make both your own mounts, and frames, but it‘s difficult to get
professional looking results, so I would strongly recommend having your pictures
professionally framed, if funds allow.
141
31. MARKETING
HOW TO SELL YOUR WORK, AND WHETHER YOU WANT TO
The way you market your pictures, will depend if you want to sell them, or not. If your
not interested in selling them, then please skip this section, as it‘s unlikely to be of any
interest to you.
There are several ways to sell your pictures, and the price you get for them will depend
on many factors, and may include the subject matter, your location, target market and
competition. It goes without saying that when marketing your work it should be to a
good standard and well presented.
The marketing of individual‘s works has never been easier, with the advent of the
internet. I list below, some of my marketing activities, for your information. Some or all
of which, may be relevant to your own art work, and where you would like to try to sell
it. I have tried to list these in the order that they usually happen naturally.
FRIENDS AND FAMILY

This is usually the first avenue for budding artists, to show, sell, or give your work to
family and friends, and is a good start, to a career or hobby as an artist.
Though this adulation is nice, please take it for what it is. It‘s only when you put your
work onto the open market, that you will see the true value, and criticism of it too,
which should be considered as constructive, especially if from a respected source.
COMMISSIONS
When friends, family, and colleagues, know you paint, they can be inclined to give you
orders for Birthdays and Special Occasions. What you charge is usually the most
difficult thing, just try and do yourself justice, and don‘t undersell your talent.
SELLING DIRECT TO THE PUBLIC / DOING LIVE DEMONSTRATIONS

If you have the confidence nothing draws a crowd like an artist painting, and spreading
out your best work will inevitably lead to Sales. Just check your local laws before doing
this. It‘s possible to sell work after doing a demonstration live, but this can be quite
intimidating at first. Try and plan ahead and practise your subject matter first, and
maybe even sketch the drawing lightly so only you can see it.
Though working vertically is best for everyone to see, consider working flat on the floor
or on a low table. If you do paint vertically, on an easel say, be prepared to mop up
quickly and avoid the wettest of subjects.
SELLING TO ART GALLERIES

Art Galleries lifeblood, (stock), is to have fresh new work, all of the time, and you‘ll
soon know, if they like your work or not. They can be a cagey lot though, and you must
be prepared for rejection, and disappointment. Walking into a Gallery with your life‘s
work, and maybe even your life long dream, under your arm, is daunting at first, and is
the opposite, to the adulation, you may have received to date, from well meaning
family, and friends.
I remember one of my first approaches to a Gallery in Bulgaria. The owner flicked
through the work so fast, and I was thinking ‗he hates them‘. He then went back
through the pile, and sorted them out into two piles, again all very quickly, and I did
then wonder. He then took over 20 of my pictures…….. and smiled at me !

142
31. MARKETING Continued
SELLING TO GALLERIES Continued

The point, about the owner of that particular Gallery, and I dare say most others, is
that they know their clients, and what they like, and also the prices they are willing to
pay, so, for them, the selection process is quite simple.,
You soon get to know if your on the right track, after a few Gallery visits, and it can be
a very sobering time. I know it was for me. But the way to deal with that is to take any
constructive criticism on the chin, and go away, and improve before returning.
The Galleries are unlikely to take your work if it‘s amateurish or poorly presented ,
don‘t forget they have their reputation to consider too.
For most struggling artists (and I am no exception) framing costs are inhibitive, but
producing work, is relatively cheap. Try just putting an inexpensive mount over them,
or even just mounting them on co-ordinating coloured card.
It‘s unusual for Galleries to buy your work outright, but usually to pay you, when they
sell them, and typically charge 20-35% Commission.
ONLINE GALLERIES
This is the simplest, quickest, and easiest way of getting your Art seen, and your name
out there, though in my experience it‘s more for lookers, than it is for buyers, so treat
it as such. There is a list of such sites, in the ‗links page‘ on my website. Just go to
Google and type in ‗online art galleries‘ and you will see how many there are. They all
work in a similar way, you register, upload your work, criticize others work, and see
what comes back. Because these sites are pretty much unregulated, they can attract
art from all and sundry, so the standards can be very low. An old boss of mine use to
use the phrase ‗look at the man‘ when considering advice, which has always stood me
in good stead. It is good advice here too. In other words if someone raves about your
work, look at theirs, to see if they are qualified to critique. Be gracious, but only
seriously consider criticism from good artists, and respond accordingly. I have met
some very good, ‗virtual friends‘ worldwide, in this way and Artists generally are good
fun and nice folk.
YOUR OWN WEBSITE

Again, it‘s never been easier, or cheaper, to have your own website. I am no pc geek,
but even I can easily maintain my own site. My own website www.artstevo.com has
been completely designed by me, with the help of a template from my hosting
company. These types of DIY website companies products, are easy to use ,cheap and
are usually based on Wizards that just guide you through the process. This means you
end up with a professionally looking worldwide presence. Beware though as once you
master the way they work, you keep coming up with new ideas for your site.
I remember saying ‗oh I just want a single page, telling people my email address, and
showing a picture of my work‘. A friend
did it for me, and I include it below. It‘s
now grown to about 30 fully interactive
pages, that I maintain myself daily.
These templates also let you use bits

from them, for business stationery, like
letterheads and business cards, which
gives you a fully co-ordinating package,
and a professional, corporate identity.
143
LOCAL PRESS/ RADIO AND TV

I my opinion, forget advertising, it simply doesn't work. All you get, is more calls from
people, who think you have an advertising Budget to spend. Leaflets drops, are also
not a realistic option. What you really need, is a ‗story‘ that‘s unique or unusual.
That way, you send Press Releases out to all relevant media, and get a news story
which more people are likely to read, and also is completely free.
What you need to bear in mind is that Newspapers and Magazine‘s are scratching their
heads, trying to fill their publications, every single, week, day or month, so are only too
happy to feature an interesting ‗story‘ especially, if you make it easy for them.
So write the story yourself as if you‘re the reporter talking in the third party.
An example of this type of feature, (and I have had many), was when I painted a
picture of a Trabant being used as a chicken hutch in our village, and an abandoned
Gaz truck. I thought that they were unusual subjects to paint, so I thought ‗I wonder
who might be interested in these pictures‘ so searched East European car clubs on
Google. Three months later, the paintings, a story, and a free full page advert, were all
featured, inside and on the covers of the UK‘s Trabant Owners Magazine.
The feature cost me nothing, except an email or two, and a couple of digital pictures
with associated third party writing. It immediately lead to sales, and more exposure.
If you can also get to know your local Press, T.V. and Radio reporters, all the better,
then just send them regular activities, and your news, with pictures, by e-mail.
SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES AND BLOGS

I‘m not sure that I am qualified to give you advice on these, but all I know is that you
join them, talk about what your doing regularly, and somehow it attracts attention from
the world. Try Facebook, Twitter, Blogspot and the like. I have absolutely no idea how
they work or why, but just know that they do. And they give you opportunities to
constantly plug your work and your website. The links created by them get your
website up the rankings too, so just join every group you can, and it just snowballs.
NETWORKING AND CHARITIES

Telling everyone you know about your work, is also important, so don‘t be shy when it
comes to heightening awareness of what you do.
There are also more structured, virtual, and real networking sites too, so just join
everything, including your favourite Charities, and Local Rotary Clubs.

144
PUBS, HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS

These establishments, are a good way of getting your work on local walls, and to get
your name known. Like Galleries, it‘s unlikely someone will buy your work outright, but
more likely that they will pay you a commission, if they sell something. This can vary
from nothing to 40% or even more. The costs involved, are that the work would
deteriorate badly, in those environments, unless they were framed. I took all my
unsold, framed pictures to one Restaurant, for a month after my Exhibition, and then
on to another, when I felt they had sold all they were going to. If you stick to standard
sizes for your pictures, and also AVOID the temptation to add and extra 1‘‘ onto the
bottom of the mounts, you can then swap any unsold paintings with new work, and
either portrait or landscape pictures will still fit in the frames, if you change the format.
EXHIBITIONS
Whilst relatively inexperienced, having had just one major Exhibition under my belt,
I felt that I learned really fast, leading up to, and during the Exhibition.
It was with my fellow villager, and friend Geoff Taylor who
is a keen, traditional
Photographer. I think it‘s
important to theme things, so
they are easy to market.
We called ours ‘Two
Englishmen Abroad‘ and
certainly with cheap desktop
packages, like Publisher to
produce your own cheap
professional flyers, and
advertising material.
These should be distributed widely, leading up to, and
during, the Exhibition.
The Exhibition was a great success, and made a healthy

profit. I think it‘s important to present well at an
Exhibition, so I spent much time, deciding on the order of paintings, so they followed
on from each other, and also alternated the format of the pictures where I could. Each
painting was priced individually, and had a descriptive hand written sign, on
watercolour paper, telling the story of each painting.
The secret to a good Exhibition is :-
 PROMOTE WELL BEFOREHAND

 PRESS RELEASE THE MEDIA
 ENSURE YOU ARE ORGANISED
 ALLOW LOTS OF TIME TO SET UP
 RESEARCH THE PRICES
 BE COMMITTED TO IT
 ENSURE IT‘S EASY FOR PEOPLE TO BUY
 SUPPLY PACKAGING MATERIALS
 PROVIDE DRINKS AND NIBBLES
 LOOK AFTER YOU VIP‘S & HAVE PLENTY OF PICTURES TAKEN WITH THEM
145
32. THE PAINTINGS & DRAWINGS
The following pages (roughly in date order) and seen together for the first time ever
anywhere, show all of my major original Watercolours, Graphite sketches and Pen and
Inks that survive. Most of them are sold, and in Private Collections, and I thank the
owners, for allowing me to reproduce them for my e-book. There are many others, in
the UK, and elsewhere in the world, from my past painting stints, but most of my body
of work, has been done since I started painting again, in Bulgaria in 2009.
There are plans to reproduce my work for Limited Edition Print Runs in the future. Please let me know if these are of interest.
These photographs may vary slightly, from the original paintings , due to the format of these pages.
If you would like any original photographs, for Private Study Purposes, these are available, via email, for a small charge.
All Images, and intellectual Artistic property rights to my original work ,are retained by me,
Martin Stephenson, and are subject to International Copyright Law
WATERCOLOURS
2
4
6 3
5 8
7 9
11 12 13
10
1 The Rock Pool for Julie NFS 2 Burnsall Barns S 3 Wall and Tree Study FS
4 Frozen Puddle S 5 More Snow on the way S 6 Nessebar Harbour S 14
7 Nessebar Old Harbour FS 8 Karnobat Centrum S 9 Track Cherkovo Lake S
10 Oil Rape seed fields S 11 Old School Doors S 12 The Blue Overalls S
13 Sharon (Ink on card) FS 14 Wall and Tree study (set of 4 pen and wash) S KEY TO SYMBOLS
Notes 12 Was my first painting back 6/8 Donated to Charities 2 In Australia FS—FOR SALE S—SOLD NFS—NOT FOR SALE

146
32. THE PAINTINGS & DRAWINGS Continued
WATERCOLOURS
15 16 17 18
20
19 21 22
26
24
23
28
14 25
27
29
30
11
15 Nude Line and Wash S 16 Poppies and Wall S 17 Still Life S

18 Tumbledown House S 19 Rape Seed Fields S 20 Abandoned Workhorse FS
21 Line & Wash Study S 22 Long Shadows S 23 Fruit Seller Sozopol S
24 Hammock Wars NFS 25 Coloured Wash S 26 Fine Residence for pigeons S
27 We are not a number S 28 Cherkovo Church S 29 Bourgas Pier S
30 Bissera Gallery Sozopol S
Further Notes
20 Abandoned workhorse was featured on the back cover of Trabant Owners Magazine KEY TO SYMBOLS
23/30 Are different views of the same building Winter—Veg Shop ,Summer—Gallery FS—FOR SALE S—SOLD NFS—NOT FOR SALE
24 Was a structure in my back garden until I sat in the hammock ouch !
147
WATERCOLOURS
31 32 33 34
37
35 20
36
19
40
39
38
43
42
41
45
44
14 25
29
11
46
31 Bourgas Pier S 32 Trawler at Sozopol S 33 Cherkovo Bridge S

34 The Roof Garden Bourgas FS 35 Karnobat Hill S 36 Misty Field Cherkovo S
37 Dining Out with a view S 38 Karnobat Church S 39 Cherkovo Centrum S
40 Sozopol Naval College S 41 A Fish out of Water S 42 Bluebell Wood S
43 Gone Fishing Cherkovo S 44 Lunch in the Lynham style S
45 Antimovo Magazine S 46 Karnobat Old and New S
Further Notes
34 The Roof Garden Bourgas is I think my best picture to date but strangely is unsold. KEY TO SYMBOLS
45/46 Were paintings I did of these very distinctive shops in Bulgaria one in the next FS—FOR SALE S—SOLD
village and the other in Karnobat. I gave the paintings to the shops owners. NFS—NOT FOR SALE

148
WATERCOLOURS
47 48 49
33 50
37
53
51
52
55
54
57
58
56 KEY
FS—FOR SALE
S—SOLD
NFS—NOT FOR
SALE
59 60
47 Sozopol Naval College V11 S 48 Sozopol Marina Bar S 49 Sozopol Headland S 50 Safe Haven Sozopol S
51 Sozopol Chimney S 52 The Bag Lady Sozopol S 53 Old Wooden Boat S 54 The Onion Collectors S
55 The Importance of the Blue Barrels S 56 Venice S 57 The Lovers Sozopol S 58 Karnobat Panorama S
59 Sozopol Panorama from The Kalithea Restaurant S 60 Rock near Rusokastro S
Further Notes
47 This was version 2 of the scene, version 1 (which I think was superior ) now in a friends Private Collection).
59 Painted after many smaller studies as a commission and remains my largest work to date.
52 The stall owner here was actually on laptop, but I changed it for reading material. 56 Is a small study of a future painting.
58 Was bought by the Mayor of Karnobat for his Private Collection
60 The Rock called ‘Rupka the Dupka‘ (or something similar) is the stuff of local folklore, and was painted as a wedding present .
149
WATERCOLOURS
61 62 63
64 65
20 69
66
67 68
72 To see
37 73
70
14 all of my
current
41
71 and
newest
works
keep
having a
look at
25 my site
75
76
74
11
61 Bluebells S 62 Bourgas Panorama FS 63 Cormorants Cherni Vrah FS

64 Lukoil Plant Bourgas FS 65 Bourgas Flats FS 66 Cherkovo Church FS
67 Misty Lakeside S 68 Dining Out Sepia S 69 Karnobat Clock Tower S
70 Poppies in Cornfield FS 71 Deere John FS 72 Night Sail Sozopol FS
73 Nessebar Windmill FS 74 Snow Scene Karnobat S 75 Monday is Washing Day FS
76 Recording The Last Chrysanthemums S
Further Notes
62 This painting was the first wide format painting I tried , and subsequently was cut
down twice to fit smaller Portfolio‘s losing the left hand bush and the right hand pylon. KEY TO SYMBOLS
74 Was painted for my very first You Tube Tutorial and given away as a Christmas Card. FS—FOR SALE S—SOLD NFS—NOT FOR SALE

150
WATERCOLOURS
78 79 81
77
80
83
84 85
82
88
86 36
38
87
90
89
14 25
77 Seven Sunflowers S 78 Sozopol Centrum FS 79 Wintry Scene Cherkovo S

80 Opposite my house S 81 Magazine, Magazine 82 Corporation Buildings S
91 92
83 Sozopol Church FS 84 Sozopol from the sea S 85 The Avid Concert Goer FS
86 Trabbi, Fallen Icon to Chicken Shack FS 87 Wall and Field 3 S
88 Woodland Path S 89 Cormorants near Cherni Vrah II FS
90 The Lone Tree FS 91 Spring Hedgerow FS 92 Wet Washing Day FS
Further Notes
81 Was the second version of this subject. Magazine is Bulgarian for shop, so one that
sells magazines would be called …. hence the title ! 84 Was the original of this subject.
85 This is the original version, with the swastika graffiti on the wall, subsequently
removed on the painting but not on the outside theatre in the Sea Gardens in Bourgas.
86 This painting was used for the front cover of the UK Trabant Owners Club Magazine
in Autumn 2009 and though loved by many, remains unsold. 89 This is the second KEY TO SYMBOLS
FS—FOR SALE S—SOLD NFS—NOT FOR SALE
version of this subject which I love , this one included the raft and electric pylon.

151
WATERCOLOURS
93 94 95 96
99
97
20
98
19 101
100
102
104
105
103
106
14
11 107 108
93 Co-Op Buildings Cherkovo S 94 Baba‘s Excursion S 95 Bourgas S

96 Bourgas Docks Portrait FS 97 Bourgas Docks FS 98 Column FS
99 Sunflowers S 100 Two Sunflowers FS 101 Bourgas Portrait FS
102 Field of Sunflowers FS 103 Bourgas Statue FS 104 Bourgas Old House
105 Bulgarian Rustic Still Life FS 106 Plovdiv Courtyard V1 S
107 First Spring Flowers S 108 Blue Flowers in a glass jug S
Further Notes
94 This was from an idea from a friend, Toni in Sofia, and I love the comedy of it.
104 Is part of a painting of the house next to ‘The Roof Garden‘ in Bourgas. KEY TO SYMBOLS
106 Was a small test for my first work for a Gallery in Plovdiv. FS—FOR SALE S—SOLD NFS—NOT FOR SALE

152
WATERCOLOURS
109 110 111 112
113 114
115
20 116 117 118
119 120 121 122

102
19
11
109 Manor House Plovdiv FS 110 White & Blue Church FS

111 Plovdiv Courtyard VII FS 112 Roman Amphitheatre Plovdiv FS 123 124 125
14
113 Lukoil Panorama Bourgas FS 114 Bourgas Panorama FS
115 First Spring Flowers FS 116 First Floral Painting S
117 Yachts S 118 First Snowdrops S 119 Candle and Holly S
120 Poppies S 121 Blue Flowers in a pot S 122 Vine Festival S
123 Xmas Hyacinth S 124 Abstract Card S 125 Orange Flowers S
Further Notes
109-112 Were specially painted for The Autograph Gallery Old Town Plovdiv. KEY TO SYMBOLS
113/114 Were painted as a pair and as a more optimistic pair of panorama‘s of FS—FOR SALE S—SOLD NFS—NOT FOR SALE
Bourgas, than my earlier works. The rest are from my popular Greetings Cards.
153
33. THE DRAWINGS
GRAPHITE DRAWINGS
The Graphite drawings that follow, were sometimes done as sketches, for paintings to
follow, or as studies in their own right, like the first two.
The Pen and Inks, following, are all of older work, some over 20 years old, so apologies
for the quality of some of the photographs, but they were taken before the idea of
e-books were even invented, and only just after the advent of the Digital Camera.
126 127 128
129
114
130 Graphite Drawings
131 132
134
133
135
137
138 139
136
KEY TO SYMBOLS
FS—FOR SALE
S—SOLD
NFS—NOT FOR SALE
140 141
126 Sharon Laying NFS 127 Sharon Seated S

128 Gypsy Camp FS 129 Combine FS 130 Baba Marinka NFS
131 Sozopol Bay FS 132 Birds and Chickens Studies S
133 Sheep Study S 134 Horse and Cart Study S
135 Sinister Man FS 136 Always in a hurry FS
137 Wartburg FS 138 Trabbi FS 139 Donkey and Cart S
140 Onion Picker FS 141 Gypsy Georgie S
Further Notes
131 Is the original sketch done over breakfast of Sozopol Bay. 129 Is the sketch
for Deere John. 138 Is the first sketch, subsequently changed, for Icon to
Chicken Shack. Others generally done, to use in future, or existing paintings.

154
34. THE DRAWINGS Continued
PEN AND INK DRAWINGS
142 143 144
146
145 147
148
151
150
149
152
142 York 5 scenes on a circular Design NFS 143 Water Bag Bank Knaresborough NFS
144 York Version II Part Finished NFS 145 York City Walls NFS 14
146 Old Water Pump Leeds FS 147 Betty‘s Café Harrogate NFS
148 Farnhill near Bradford S 149 Trees Tonal Study FS
150 Poor Cow FS 151 Boats Study I FS 152 Boats Study II FS
Further Notes
142/144 Were pre production drawings of layout for a China Plate Company in Harrogate,
Yorkshire, England. 143 Is the only existing China Plate that was produced.
145 Is the City walls of the Town of my Birth, York. 146/147 Are studies from other towns
KEY TO SYMBOLS
FS—FOR SALE S—SOLD
and cities where I have lived Leeds and Harrogate. 151/152 Were sketches done on NFS—NOT FOR SALE
holiday of boats in Bridlington Harbour, Yorkshire. 150 This was done just for a bit of fun !
155
34. THE DRAWINGS Continued
PEN AND INK DRAWINGS

The pen and ink drawings below, have been scanned, from the only record I have of this period
of work, which are my treasured copies of the Yorkshire Magazine ‗Select‘ from 1991.
I was commissioned regularly, to draw a series of views of Yorkshire Towns and Villages for
this bi-monthly magazine. The average picture took me about 50 hours work, I had to give it
up, due to other work commitments, but the exercise of drawing in shades of black and white,
taught me much about tonal values. I was also there freelance Artist for some advertising
work, for a little while. It seems a little self indulgent to include these, but felt it right to do so,
as I was very proud of the quality, of this body of work, so please forgive my self indulgence.
152 153 154
155
111
110 160
156
112
159
157
19
109
158
163
161 162 164

ALL FOR SELECT MAGAZINE - NONE FOR SALE
152 The Market Square Ripon 153 Mother Shipton‘s Pub, Knaresborough 154 Knaresborough viaduct
155 Waterbag Bank , Knaresborough 156 West Tanfield 157 Ripon Cathedral
158 The Almshouses Harrogate 159 The Manor House Ilkley 160 High Mill, Addingham
161 Montpelier Mews , Harrogate 162 Knox Bridge, Harrogate 163 Ilkley Church
164 Church Street, Wetherby ONCE AGAIN APOLOGIES FOR THE QUALITY OF THESE SCANNED IMAGES

156
35. AND FINALLY
FURTHER HELP AND SUPPORT
Thank-you for buying this, my first ever book, ‗Watercolours for Beginners‘.
I consider this to be just the start, and not the end of your purchase, and if you
register your copy with me by e-mail, you will receive a quarterly newsletter, and be
advised of news, amendments, and updates to the book. Also any new publications,
other activities, Exhibitions, and any new tutorials, on Youtube.
IF YOU FIND YOURSELF STUCK AND NEEDING HELP

There are several ways that I may be able to help, including :-
 Help by email enquiries@artstevo.com
 Video help with Skype stevo1954 first session Free
 Youtube Videos my youtube channel bedlam1954
 Personal advice by phone on skype 0113-815-0028 or Mobile 089-237-5928
though please bear in mind that there is no GSM coverage because of our village‘s
location, in a valley.
 Free Art Club Membership, and Monthly Newsletter (if you want to go on the
mailing list let me know)
 Free Access to Students Page, on my website—password bedlam
 Forums, details to be confirmed
 Twitter, Blogs and Facebook just search for artstevo or Martin Stephenson
If you need any help with any of the above just email me enquiries@artstevo.com
IF YOU WANT SOME PERSONAL TUITION IN BULGARIA

Black Sea Coast or Village Locations
 Private Tuition—Groups and Personal Tuition, reasonable rates.
 Art Club Sryada—Every Wednesday in Cherkovo, Burgas Region, near Karnobat.
 Art Holidays at The Aztec Yoga Centre, Ravadinovo, near Sozopol, Bulgaria.
 Art Holidays in Pomorie, Bulgaria.
 Live Demonstrations to Groups, Business‘s and Corporations.
 Commissions.
 Teaching Children and Adults at The London Pub Bourgas
WHERE CAN I SEE THE LATEST NEWS, ART WORK, EXHIBITIONS AND ACTIVITIES ?
 The first port of call would always be my website, www.artstevo.com as this is
updated by me, almost daily, so will always be relevant and up to date.
 If you want to see my latest work, I post them on facebook and twitter first.
 My Art can be seen on many online Galleries, just search for my name, the full list
of these sites, is on the links page, of my website.
 Links to my favourite artists sites, suppliers and friends is also on my website.
 Further Reading—A list of books is featured on my website too.
WHERE COULD WE MEET

Apart from painting at home, or in my home Town of Karnobat, I can usually be found
in the following locations year round :-
SUMMER—BLACK SEA COAST TOWNS OF SOZOPOL, NESSEBAR, BOURGAS & POMORIE
WINTER—SKI RESORTS AND CAPITAL—BOROVETS, PLOVDIV AND SOFIA

157
36. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This book has been written over the last six months, and is the culmination of a
lifetime of learning. 2009/2010 will be personally recorded as two of those ‗Anus
Horibalis‘ for many personal reasons, but will also be the years I finally started to fulfil
my life long ambition, to become an Artist.
The Winter of this year, was one of the toughest in Living Memory, weather wise, in
Bulgaria, with daytime Winter Temperatures in the –low 20‘s regularly. And I, amongst
many others, found out the true value, of living in one room, like the locals do. My
enforced incarceration, and the surprisingly reliable power, and internet connections,
enabled me to concentrate on this labour of love, which I hope you have enjoyed.
The sight of me typing in fingerless gloves, inside an Arctic sleeping Bag, with layer
upon layer of clothes, and wearing scarves and a balaclava, were maybe not ideal
conditions for writing my first book. But it kept the brain fairly sharp, (well as sharp as
it ever was) ! The reason for writing this book is also that with age, memory fades, so I
wanted a reference book, for me too.
In addition to all the friends and family members I thanked at the beginning, I would
also like to publicly thank the following special individuals who inspired me, helped me
to keep going, as well as for their practical help, and support.
To my parents Norman and Aileen Stephenson, for giving us kids

the freedom to express ourselves through Art, and Music.
To my sister Julie, who inspired everyone she ever met, including me.
To all the artists (living and dead) who‘s works have inspired me .
To Geoff and Cath Taylor, for your unstinting help and support, and for Geoff‘s original
encouragement, to start teaching. Also for funding my first ever Exhibition
(Two Englishmen Abroad) in Karnobat, in the Autumn of 2009.
To Rali and Lucho at The Bissera Gallery in Sozopol and Borovets, for being the first
Gallery to accept my work in Bulgaria, and for your help and support since.
To all my Bulgarian ‗virtual Artist friends‘ who I hope to meet one day.
To Reporter Neli Zhelyazkova, for all of your help promoting my fledgling career.
To Milka Xristova for her support and help,

despite our joint reliance on ‗Google translate‘ to communicate.
For the people of Cherkovo, Karnobat, and Bulgaria for your inspiration, acceptance
and enthusiasm, and for accepting me as your adopted son.
I truly feel at home in your beautiful Country, and amongst your beautiful people.
Martin Stephenson (aka Martin Stefanov)


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Watercolours for Beginners by Martin Stephenson www.artstevo.com

For Julie Howland