I knew we were in trouble when I opened the car door and brown water started flooded in.

‘Shut the door!’ shouted Vanessa.

“Mon Dieu, Mon Dieu!” muttered our French driver, holding her head in her hands.

The car had stalled.

The small country road we had driven along in brilliant sunshine only a few short hours ago was now a raging torrent of water.

I tried the electric windows, no power.

We were trapped.

I saw the water was rising quickly, it was now half way up the car door.

I started to panic.

We were in Provence (just last month) on the trail of Cézanne’s studio, and our idyllic country retreat was rapidly turning into a disaster…

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I’ve been reflecting on all the positivity and creativity that has come through the Art School blog.

So I’d like to thank you all for your support & encouragement this year. The most rewarding thing for me is seeing students progress in their drawing and painting where they’d previously been struggling.

I’ve also broken through the 500,000 views on YouTube, Woohoo! so thanks for watching and more videos will be coming soon.

I’ve been working hard on the ‘Simple Guide to Colour Mixing Course‘ which should be launched in the next couple of weeks.

In pumpkin pie envy, me and Vanessa are off to the Pudding Club Extravaganza in our local Town Hall – think 50 puddings and 2 fast spoons!

Have a great weekend,

Will

Off the peg or bespoke? The dilemmas of a modern man.
Choosing a canvas is much like deciding between Savile Row, the high street or knitting your own!

With Bespoke, you get:

Neat edges on the back, staple-free sides, a choice of fabric, a choice of finish (unprimed, sized, oil-primed) an exact choice of size, a choice of stretcher bar thickness and a skilled craftsman making it for you, all coming with a premium price tag.

High street, you get:

Neat edges on the back, less robust stretcher bars, not as heavyweight canvas, machine-made but a very reasonable bill.

Knitting your own:

It can be a bit of a headache! But you do get a choice of fabric, choice of size, choice of the stretcher bar, and it’s a very economical way to achieve what you want if working on a lot of canvases the same size. Huge flexibility in finish mixed with the glow of satisfaction when stretching your own canvas…

“First of all respect your paper!”
J.M.W.Turner

Ever walked into an art shop and felt daunted by the sheer volume of paper choices with confusing names, got flustered and walk out?!

You are not alone!

Choosing the correct watercolour paper doesn’t have to be as complicated as Manufacturers seem to make it…