Reviews

I take my painting outside as often as I can — there’s something about the day's shifting light, wind, and the odd passerby that keeps my practice alive and frank. Over the years I’ve tried a few solutions for portable light when the weather turns grey or when I want to extend a short golden hour: headlamps, clamp lights, even lanterns. Recently I started using small LED panels designed for photographers and videographers, and they’ve...

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I often get asked whether the finish you choose for a piece — glossy, satin or matte — actually changes the perceived depth and vibrancy of colour, especially in mixed-media work where papers, inks, gouache and acrylic interact in unpredictable ways. To answer that, I ran a simple, practical test with three widely used archival varnishes and documented how each affected colour depth, texture and handling. I want to share the set-up, what I...

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I switched to Schmincke Horadam Gouache for my studio sketching routine about nine months ago, and the change surprised me in small, practical ways — and in some bigger, more creative ones too. I’d been using a mix of Winsor & Newton Designers’ Gouache and student tubes when I wanted quick colour studies, and acrylic when I needed fast, matte blocks of colour. The move to Schmincke felt like upgrading a tool that I’d used casually into...

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