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Gouache has a really unique look and feel and can be more forgiving than traditional watercolour. But is it that much different from acrylic paint and what about traditional vs acrylic gouache?

In the video below, I'll cover the pros and cons of traditional gouache and acrylic gouache and give you ...

In this coloured pencils lesson, aimed at beginners and newcomers, follow along with me as we create a simple pear study.

This project is designed to get you familiar and comfortable with the most important coloured pencil techniques that you will use in practically all your coloured pencil art goi...

Combining two different mediums into a single drawing is a great way to mix things up, try new styles, and get creative playing about with your art materials. 

In this video, I'll show you six options for combining different drawing mediums that I think are well worth you playing about with. 

I cr...

You've decided to make your next piece of art. And this one is going to be with a coloured medium.

You'd like to make full use of your artistic licence and come up with your own unique mix of colours - rather than being a slave to the reference photograph and copying the colours exactly. 

But you...

Pastels create dust and, when inhaled, there are some concerns amongst the artist community that it can be harmful.

The worry is that dust particles can settle in the respiratory system and, over time, potentially cause problems. Some pigments may also be toxic (as is the case with other mediums su...

By Bob Davies

If you apply watercolour paint (or water) to a dry sheet of paper, it will expand where it's wet and you end up with paper that is warped and buckled, instead of nice and flat.

It's impossible to paint on printer or copier paper for this reason - look at the photo below to see what h...

By Bob Davies

So you're fed up working with your paper or canvas flat on the kitchen table because it hurts your back leaning over it, whether you're standing or sitting?

And you're trying to work in your own shadow?

Or you're in full flow but then have to move everything as the table needs to be...

This guide covers the different types of pastels available and which ones you might want to consider starting with. I’m assuming you’re either a newcomer or early on in your pastel painting adventure and my aim is to save you from lots of tedious research and wasted money on equipment you don’t need...

The enveloping method helps you to draw proportions more accurately and is often used in figure drawing. In this lesson, I take you through a drawing of a simple figure using a white charcoal pencil on a black piece of paper.

However, you can follow the first half of the lesson (the envelope techni...

Surface choices in most mediums are so varied nowadays that it can become a bit overwhelming. Pastel papers and surfaces are no exception!

Fortunately, we can simplify things a lot by looking at the main categories and skimming over the more obscure or expensive that I wouldn’t recommend for beginn...

I'd like to share with you five techniques and tips that form the backbone of my approach to drawing with coloured pencils.

I think drawing with coloured pencils is often made far more complicated than it needs to be. Especially for newcomers!

I've seen artists making dozens of complex colour char...