You often hear people bemoaning the appearance of muted or ‘muddy’ colours in their paintings. In general, we all want clean vibrant colours. Muddy colour is the affectionate name given to muted (dull or grey) colour.

When you were hoping for clean vibrant colours, muddy or muted ones can be disappointing.

But these muted tones are not poor cousins of the vibrant ones - far from it. They have a beauty all of their own and can be used quite effectively to tell a part of the story in your watercolour painting.

Have you ever had a bright lively painting in mind, but when you painted it the result seemed a little dull?

Or have you tried to mix a nice modern purple only to find you end up with a sort of grey?

It’s not just you.

It could be more about whether you are working with colours based on the CMYK scheme or the RBY scheme.

Let’s figure how this might affect your watercolour painting.

If you are thinking about your watercolour painting goals and wondering what your strategy should be, I have a simple approach to share.

There’s one thing your watercolour painting process really needs. It also happens to be the simplest way to set your painting goals and measure your success.

Sometimes all it takes to invigorate your sketchbook practice is a change of sketchbook.

Let’s discuss 5 reasons you might want to use a toned sketchbooks and 3 ways you can try one out before you buy it!

You don’t need to find your artistic style. It isn’t lost. Let me explain…

Some of the most joyful watercolour pigments you will find are in the family of pinks and reds - but alas the one you like best is described as ‘fugitive’.

And let me guess… you just had one of those fervent know-it-alls condemn the use of a colour like opera pink because of this particular characteristic. 😲

So let's first clarify what a fugitive paint is and then figure out how much we should care about that in our watercolour adventures.

Tight briefs are good for painters… Not those 🩲 briefs 🙈 - creative briefs! Let me explain.

I know it sounds counterintuitive because we all love the romantic notion of free spirited creatives with limitless possibilities.

But when it comes down to it, infinite possibilities are not as much of a blessing as one might think.

So. sketchbook, visual diary or art journal… what's the difference?

Which one should a beginner take up?

Let’s investigate and find out which one is right for you.

Ever heard that artists should work in a series?

In part, this conventional wisdom is to do with the more commercial aspect of an artist's work - developing  a body of work for which they are known. But really I think this undershadows some of the more important benefits that arise when you work in a series.

Wherever you are in your creative journey there is merit to taking on board some of the ethos of working in a series.

In fact, even if your creative project is your big beautiful life as opposed to a particular creative hobby there is merit to giving yourself some sort of 'series' to work on in order to reap these benefits.

One of the watercolor problems that every artist needs to learn to solve is handling the paintings that they don’t think are good enough. It happens to us all, believe me. Eventually you will hear yourself say I hate my art ! Here are some strategies for handling that eventuality with grace.

Are you wondering about the best brushes for watercolour?

Let’s talk about choosing the right brush for watercolor painting and more importantly, the brush techniques that will give you the most effective watercolor brush strokes - even if you are a beginner.

If you want to paint with watercolour, do you need to be able to draw?

Well, in short no.

But why wouldn’t you want to?

There are a few options available to get you painting even if you feel you can’t draw yet, which we’ll discuss.

But please know that being able to draw provides a satisfaction that is hard to beat. (And it’s really not as hard as you may think.)

Let me explain.

Do you consider tracing to be cheating in art?

That’s a question I have heard a few times before. It makes me chuckle.

Cheating who exactly, I always want to say?

Let’s figure out when and if tracing might be useful to your art practice and then discuss the advantages and disadvantages of tracing.

A sketchbook really is a painter’s best friend.

(Of course, it can be your best friend even if you don’t paint!)

Here are 7 excellent reasons a watercolour painter should get out their sketchbook today.

Ever heard the term chocolate box painting and wondered what it meant?

Let me explain the term and I’ll give you my thoughts on whether or not this bad, low brow art because, obviously, I won’t be able to help myself. 😉

How do you go about choosing colours for painting the sea?

The sea is never just one colour, but since it is that colour that draws us into wanting to paint the sea in the first place it feels like something you really want to get right.

I bet you’ve heard that you can’t fix watercolor mistakes. That’s just not true - in fact I want to show you how I fix an entire bad watercolor painting. I’ll even show you my bad painting and show you the techniques you need to fix a mistake in watercolor.

What is the best painting size for beginners? The size you are most likely to paint!

Here are 7 big reasons to paint small paintings…

Of all the types of watercolour that are available portable watercolour sheets are the most compact and easy to carry. This post dives into what portable watercolour sheets are and how best to use them. I’ll even take you inside my sketchbook and show you one of my projects using my set of Peerless Watercolour Sheets.

Sometimes you get an idea for a painting but you just can’t find the right photo reference for what you have in mind.

Luckily, it is possible to combine multiple references to create the image that you are after. However, there are a few potential pitfalls to avoid.

Let’s review them and figure out the best approach to painting from two or more reference photos.