ORIGINAL WATERCOLOURS

In my twenty years as a professional botanical watercolour artist, I have painted hundreds of different species of plant, flower, herb, fruit, vegetable and even fungi. However, there are many thousands more I have yet to paint, and every one is a fresh challenge.

Browse the gallery opposite to see examples of my work, past and present.

It’s true that there are some ‘old favourites’ that people ask for again and again, but whenever I have the opportunity, I’ll try something new. However, as I generally only paint from life, availability of good specimens tends to dictate when this can be.

Another feature of my work is that I only paint at actual size. This ensures the greatest possible botanical accuracy and realistic representation of the subject, but it does govern the overall picture size.

People often question how the deep, dense, rich colours in some of my paintings can be achieved without addition of other mediums, but they are pure watercolour. It is the combination of repeated overpainting techniques and the use of the heaviest weight of textured watercolour paper that makes this possible.

I am now also painting on vellum. Before the introduction of modern watercolour papers, botanical studies were usually painted on vellum. Flower painters such as the famous Pierre Joseph Redouté (1759-1840) used vellum as their everyday painting surface.

Vellum is made from calfskin and has a surface quality and translucence that demands different techniques on the part of the artist, but enhances the appearance of the image as no paper can.

Please contact me for more details of currently available original watercolours or to discuss commissioning a picture.

To view original watercolours currently for sale, click here