One of my favourite aspects of watercolour is the way the paint creates wonderful surprises. I think this is probably one of the greatest thrills of working in watercolour for most artists. This little fir tree is a perfect example – painted with only two colours. The first layer of paint in Daniel Smith Green Gold was applied reasonably dry so that the dry brushstrokes created the branch structure. Then a second layer of paint (Pthalo Turquoise – also Daniel Smith) was applied again using dry brushstroke. The final step was the risk and the thrill. Spraying water from a reasonable height softened the turquoise and filled out the tree. This is today’s Advent give away.

Advent Artists Day 19:

David Poxon is my advent artist for today. I first encountered David’s work at the Royal Watercolour Society’s annual exhibition at The Mall Galleries a couple of years ago. David’s painting of a barn door caught my attention and I started following his extraordinary work. David paints machinery and parts of buildings which have been abandoned by people and are showing a degree of decay. His realism is amazing and his paintings so evocative that I sometimes think I can smell the rust or the rotting wood.

Recently, David built a studio in which he will run a series of workshops starting next year. For more information about David’s workshops, you can drop him an email.