When the cacio e pepe arrived in a local trattoria, my friend Max tasted it and asked the waitress: “Is there cream in this?” When the waitress said that there was, Max said: “Take it away, please!” And they did, with little or no demur. Max, like many Italians, is passionate about food. He’s also […]
Enjoy the cold March wind and the warmth of Randy’s online tuition
Yes, you’ll be glad of the warmth of your own home for Randy Hale‘s next interactive, online session with the Watermill, which features a roaring March wind and swirling snow that chills you to the bone. The cold of his subject will also be relieved by thewarmth of Randy’s teaching. Here’s his practice painting: Painting along […]
We’ve helped to prevent a billion plastic bottles from polluting our oceans. Thank you
Yes, the tremendous news this week is that one of the ‘watery’ charities that the Watermill supports, Ocean Bottle, has just reached a major milestone in its fight against ocean-bound plastic pollution. We are proud to have made our own (very small) contribution, aided by all the guests on our creative courses. Ocean bottle announced: […]
Let the March wind blow cold as you paint along warmly with Randy
Yes, as Lois says in the video above, you will be glad of the warmth of your own home for Randy Hale‘s next interactive, online session with the Watermill, which features a roaring March wind and swirling snow that chills you to the bone. Here’s Randy’s practice painting: Painting along in comfort, you will be […]
From drawing on a warm Italian beach to capturing the cold winds of an American winter, paint along online with our Watermill tutors
Participants on yesterday’s online interactive painting session with Mike Willdridge enjoyed (vicariously, at least) the warmth of the Italian seaside, painting two girls sketching on the shore. As usual. I made a little montage (above) of some of the pictures they sent in to our gallery, chosen entirely at random. Our thanks to everyone who […]
Be blue and brighten up!
Have you ever tried painting on coloured paper? It can give your work more contrasting values and greater colour interaction. Blue seems to be the flavour of the year, with exhibitions at two of the world’s most famous galleries: the Courtauld in London and the J Paul Getty in Los Angeles. (Details below.) Watermill tutor […]
Draw-along and paint-along with Mike in our next interactive, online session
There’s still time to join Mike Willdridge’s next interactive, online session on Thursday 15 February and to prepare your own version of Mike’s drawing of two girls drawing (above). Let’s let Lois explain: So, when you register for Mike’s session we will give you, as usual, a copy of his preliminary drawing, but this time […]
Fun with rock salt, masking fluid, gesso, gum arabic and even washing-up liquid, to make your watercolours zing
Some 250 people signed up for Thursday’s online Zoom teach-in with Sue Ford on the use of water-resistant techniques to enhance your paintings. And what fun the participants had, adding ingredients such as rock salt, masking fluid, gesso, gum arabic , and even washing-up liquid (dishwashing soap) to their watercolours to create vibrant effects. One […]
On mnemonics and psalms (to say nothing of chutzpah): Why does English have so many silent letters?
We whose native tongue is English sometimes run into pronunciation difficulties when speaking Italian, confusing our c’s and ch’s (cello, chiara, Cimabue, Brunelleschi and so on) but at least there are fairly straightforward rules. Just think of the nightmare our Italian friends have when trying to pronounce English. For a start, there are many words […]
Enjoy a relaxed ‘draw-along’ with Mike online besides the sea
Mike Willdridge’s next interactive, online session on 15 February is a warm, relaxed and peaceful scene: two girls drawing by the sea at Vernazza, one of the picturesque villages in the Cinque Terre, Liguria, Italy But it is the figures in which we are really interested, because Mike would like to give you some tips […]