Despite finalising my urban sketching watercolour palette in 2025, and vowing not to change it. I needed a replacement for New Gamboge, and did a pigment assessment of the other yellows I have on hand, to see if one of them would be a good replacement. Turns out Permanent Yellow Deep is a much better warm yellow to have in my palette, and here’s why.

Despite finalising my urban sketching watercolour palette in 2025, and vowing not to change it. I’m getting rid of my Phthalo Green and replacing it with a premixed green. But I wanted to make sure I could still create the beautiful bright turquoise that I love when mixing Phthalo Green and Phthalo Blue.

Refining my urban sketchers watercolour palette for 2026, by replacing Indigo Blue with Cobalt Blue. Exploring the way to mix replacements for my premixed greens. Discovering if I really have a use for my Phthalo Green.

An overview of the colours in my urban sketching palette and why they’re in there.

Different approaches I’ve taken to sketching Portuguese boats.

10 days into my 100 day Project and I’m learning how to improve my 15-minute building sketches.

My very paired-down urban sketching art kit for our 4 week trip to Turkey. Traveling Light with just split primaries, one brush, one pen, and a watercolour book.

A couple of tips that I use to make art tutorials more engaging and relevant to me.

Sometimes you don’t go looking for your watercolour style choices, they’re just happy accidents.

Discover how I’m approach June’s Tonal challenge with my current urban sketching watercolour kit.

The Direção Regional de Cultura do Algarve printed a set of our urban sketched postcards of Tavira market, as part of the Mediterranean Diet festival this year. One of my sketches was included.

Here’s how I experimented to reduce the greens in my travel palette from 3 to 1.

My Algarve Urban sketches on show at a Tavira Market exhibition

I painted the same scene in two styles—Wobbly urban sketch and precise studio sketch.

A recap of my first urban sketching event with the Algarve group at the Tavira Market, where we were sketching scenes to be used at the Mediterranean Diet Festival later in the year. I also did some colour mixing to create a complimentary and cohesive colour to depict Tavira stone on the local buildings.

How not to get overwhelmed with TMI about the technical side of watercolour.

I thought the Culver City Stairs was an ideal local hiking trail, and would be good exercise. Turns out it’s good for creativity too.

Join me as I begin a new journey to discover my artistic style, and get inspired to find your own.

I’m gathering Bookbinding Videos and Equipment resources to continue my handmade journey

Don’t let Covid stop your entrepreneurial spirit. I’m using skills I learnt nearly 40 years ago to start a new venture in 2021.

Day 8 in quarantine and I’m starting to think about souvenirs.

The British version of quarantining is pretty lax. Is there any wonder that the virus is so rampant?

Created in 2005. Looking back on this in the same month in 2022. When we relocated to Turkey I threw…