Hi I’m Keith

I took up painting about 2 years ago now, after my daughters bought me a watercolour set for Christmas. I always used to draw cartoons with them when they were younger, and they wanted me to have a go at proper painting.

So here we are.. There have been lots of painting disasters along the way, as this example of my earliest effort shows. Click on different parts of the image to see my comments about why its such a disaster...

I thought about creating this site to encourage others to get started and give it a go. However, saying that, let's get the negatives out of the way now I am not trying to teach you how to paint or improve only to encourage. There are hundreds of great sites that can teach and advise on things such as materials, techniques etc.

When I started, I realised that I had no one to refer to, to tell me if I was good or not so good . Looking on the web I got a little disheartened as there was a wealth of experts that seemed to me to highlight how poor my work was compared to them. I also joined a painting group, however I didn’t find this a particularly useful experience as I felt a little inferior to others and got the impression of snobbery. Anyway I didn’t renew my membership .

Then one night after a glass or two of red wine it hit me. I shouldn’t compare my work with experts or others, I should be learning from them, as we all have our own styles and skill base. I should be painting because I enjoy it, and not to put myself down by comparing and worrying. Once I realised this, I really started to enjoy myself and get a buzz out of finishing a painting (there are lows too, when things don’t work out as planned or you make a mistake, but luckily I don’t get hung up on it. Just put it down to experience and start planning next project, remember mistakes happen that’s why they put rubbers on pencils!)

I don’t throw away the ones I don’t like, I keep them to learn from and turn them into a positive. And guess what, after the revelation above I actually sold a painting ….…and not to a member of my family or friend, so thank you red wine.

If you're thinking about having a go, get yourself some basic (very basic) watercolours, a couple of cheap brushes and a medium size pad of watercolour paper. Visit your nearest library or book shop and find yourself a "Teach yourself Watercolours" book and…….Just do it and enjoy.

If you want to contact me feel free to email me with comments about the site etc and I’ll get back to you