Watercolour and Gouache

Water based mediums are perfect for illustration, as well as for sketching and plein air work. The layering and textures along with the immediacy and play of light are difficult to achieve with other mediums.

Watercolour has a special place in my heart. My great-grandfather was a very accomplised watercolourist. He left Scotland at the young age of sixteen, joined the navy and sailed around the world, all the while documenting his travels in watercolour. He decided Cape Town seemed a good place to stop and left the ship as first mate, there he joined the cavalry and had many more adventures. He continued to paint the landscapes and scenes of South Africa until his death many, many years later. My whole family has many of his paintings and I am lucky enough to have three hanging in our home. I even have one of his first paintings from his adventures featuring a castle in Wales where their ship docked in 1900, hanging in my conservatory.