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Plein air watercolours starting

NM155088 — Fri, 25 Jul 2025 16:03:18 GMT

Starting up plein air watercolour classes!

I'm really excited to have finally got outdoor classes up and running! Painting from life, teaching lovely people, being immersed in nature. It's the best! This has been something I've wanted to do for a long time but haven't quite figured out how it'd work.

These are some hurdles that I was coming up against and some solutions. Also some other questions that I haven't found the answers to:

What happens if it rains?

This was the biggest hurdle for me. I could just imaging the admin it would take to have to change people's tickets all of the time. But I think I was making it much bigger in my head than it actually was. All I do, is if it rains I automatically move everyone's ticket to the following week. If they can't make that week they let me know and we move it to another week. And if they can't make any other weeks at all, the ticket is refunded.

Where are the classes going to be?

I'm not too sure at the moment where are the best places to paint. I have a good list of a bunch that I think are good, but its also about distance and accessibility. So at the moment, on the Whatsapp group we vote each week for which place people want to go. The voting closes a few days before the event and I update the Eventbrite page with the new location every week.

How can you justify charging for these classes when there are others that are free in Brighton?

When planning to set up these classes, I had a look at what else was around Brighton similar to this. There are a few sketching groups that are free, but they are not tutored. So I guess the thing I am offering in these classes is the fact that you will really learn something.

The other part is I feel the easels really make it feel more of a 'class'. Sometimes its quite physically uncomfortable to be hunched over a sketchbook with a million things in your lap, trying to balance them all. I want these classes to be a comfortable, relaxing experience where you don't have to be frustrated by everything blowing away or getting dropped. So I believe this makes the class more 'official'.

How are you going to carry everything to the site?

In all my classes so far I have always provided all of the materials because it makes it more beginner friendly. It also means people get to learn about good quality and cheap materials, as well as making it easier to teach as there won't be problems coming up due to materials, only because of understanding / technique - which are teachable and is what people are paying for.

With the plein air classes, I decided that I would provide the easels but not the materials because it's just too much to carry. A positive side to this, is that people can start to gather together their own set up, get used to using their own equipment and become more familiar with it. This may encourage students to feel more positive about the ease of accessing their equipment, and not being afraid of getting it out of the depths of the cupboard! I feel it enables people to start taking themselves out and make it THEIR thing.

Lastly speaking of 'depths of the cupboard', I found a perfect sized wheely suitcase left over from previous housemates that I now use to transport the easels around!

What are you going to charge people per class?

I've decided to charge a discounted price of £8 for a two hour workshop. This is because I know I have lots to learn about teaching observational painting. When I first started teaching beginner watercolours at the Sidewinder pub in Kemptown, I didn't really know what I was doing, so I charged £6. Which is crazy! I probably wasn't even earning anything at that point. But it was worth it so that I could get some experience. So now I am doing a similar thing with plein air. I am finding each class I am learning more and more about how to teach and its a really satisfying process remember everything I have previously learned in GSCE, A-Level and beyond. These were the times where I learned most about observational drawing and painting - after that it became more about concepts and composition.

How to join the Plein Air Watercolours:

Step 1 - Whatsapp groups

Join the Whatsapp Groups f or either Tuesday or Friday or both. This will allow us to communicate easily about any changes due to weather ��️ and communicate about location��each week!

Step 2 - Location vote

Every week we will vote as to which location we want to paint at. Some examples are:

Step 3 - Book

Once we've chosen a location, or if you don't mind where we go, you can then book your ticket!

Mural Process - 'Sea Library'

Tue, 03 Oct 2023 18:07:06 GMT

Mural Process - Sea Library

Mural commissioned by Woodingdean Primary School, Brighton & Hove

Completed July 2021

This mural was painted in a the new library area of a primary school which was going to be sea themed. My idea was to create lots of different worlds that the children could walk through, from deep sea to coral reefs. The mural is in the corridor area, just down from where all the books and reading area is. So when coming into the library, or walking to their next class the kids and the staff get to walk through a collaboration between the mural and the fish that the children painted hanging from the ceiling.

DESIGN

At first, I started to design this drawing by hand and not using photographic reference, but I soon realised that I have not really ever drawn or painted an under water scene, which is a bit funny when you're just about to get paid a load of money to do a mural that'll be there for 30 yrs or so. Either way - I had belief that I could do it! It couldn't be much harder than the other things I've painted before. This was my first actually BIG mural that I was getting paid properly for. It took me a really long time pricing the whole thing up as it was completely new. But in the end, it turned out the amount of days it took was exactly right (25 days).

So I started by looking on Pinterest as I always do with any creative project and spent hours getting together a mood board of different images of fish and coral and sealife. After a while, the design started to come together. It took lots of brain ache and worry but after trial and error it started to work. After making the rough design, I got it checked, and then put it into the proper mock up. The reason it looks very perfect and measured is because it literally is. The lines are all exactly to size which now I do not do because it's not necessary. But because I had no idea how to price it at the time, I measured it properly which helped me to get the price correct.

You might also notice that the design for the doors is different to the main mural - the reason is in a school / building that the public use you have to make it so its obvious where the doors are otherwise people (especially with visual impairment) might think its a wall and not be able to get out in a fire etc.

FINISHED MURAL

THE BASE LAYER

The first step of this mural was to get the walls the right colour. When finding ways to make the mural cheaper, the school staff came in to help with the base layer. The paint was ordered in, and I came in and painted lines across the walls where the different layers of colour would be painted. As you can see there are 4 different blues. So on my first day of painting, the background was already ready to go.

PAINTING

I stared off with the most complicated bit of the mural which was the coral reef in the corner. I specifically placed the coral reef in the corner because it is the spot that people will look directly at when they are walking from each end of the corridor, so it needed to be the most beautiful part. I sketched out the shapes of the coral and the fish in a watery glaze, and then started to fill in with opaque colour.

IMPORTANT DETAILS

When I was a child one of the things I did with my family was watch David Attenborough documentaries, and my favourite thing ever (and it still is) is looking at the weird deep sea creatures. The ones I added to the wall here are called Comb Jellies and have amazing colourful strings of light that go down their body. To imitate this in the mural, I bought some multicoloured metallic paper that changed colour when looking at it from different angles. I cut it up into tiny strips and stuck them in rows down the lines of the Comb Jellies. Another detail that I added was using shiny gloss over the top of the jellies so when you walked past or touched them they would feel different to the rest of the wall. This was something I also used on the eyes of the fish and the eel.

I NSTALLATION BY THE KIDS

One part of the brief was that they wanted some sea life hanging from the ceiling, and instead of me making these, I thought it would be fun for the kids to get involved in true primary school spirit. So I made a few simple fish shape designs, which were cut by another local school (I cant remember which one now but pretty sure it was Longhill High School) and then each class was given a different colour to paint in. As you can see from the photos the fish have been purposefully ordered around the library so that they slowly change colour. For example as we get closer to the deep sea area, they become more blue and silver, and in other areas they are much more bright and warm colours.

FINAL PHOTOS

In total the mural took 25 days to paint. There was really a lot of detail in this, especially with the coral reef and the shiny paper on the Comb Jellies. But because people are going to be so close up to the mural every day, it was important to me that it looks good close up. When painting murals on buildings out doors its not such an issue because they are just walking past. But this indoor one needed to look really good, and I think it was work spending the time on the make it look great!

Mural Process - 'Pearls of Bliss'

Mon, 02 Oct 2023 13:32:16 GMT

Mural Process - 'Pearls of Bliss'

Mural commissioned by the School of Philosophy and Economic Science, London

Completed on the 30th of July 2023

When I was asked to create something in this space, the client was open to the exact placement of the mural. So we walked around the room looking at the different walls to see what best would brighten up the space. In the end we chose the spot under the stairs because it is a bit of a 'dead space' which in my head just means somewhere that collects dust or that's a bit dark. The other thing about it is the walls kind of frame it either side which means when a mural is painted inside, it will create a kind of tank that you can step inside of, like going into a new world.

DESIGN

After travelling back to Brighton I sent designs back and forth and this was the one that we decided on. The theme of the mural was about a swan eating 'pearls of bliss'. The story was by a holy man from India called 'Sri Shantananda Saraswati'. I also included to the right some Koi fish as a nod to Zen buddhism as the building is a school of philosophy and Zen buddhism is studied in their classes too. Originally the idea was to just have the swan on its own under the stairs. But if you're gonna paint a mural, you might as well go all out. So the design flowed the whole way round the inside of that space and stopped where the main cafeteria started.

FINAL MURAL

PAINTING

The first step of painting this mural was to get the turquoise water in. The first day was spent just getting the whole base all over that area and creating a flow around the walls. You've got to be a bit careful when going around corners so it doesn't look too pointy. This was especially important when i was painting the swans neck. I had to think about what spot in the room people were going to most often see it from and make sure from that angle the neck didn't look weird. You might be wondering. Why didn't I just do the swan on one wall. Yes it would have been easier, but I feel like there's an immersive about bringing something around the wall, it makes it feel more 3D rather than something just plonked on a flat wall. If you're gonna do that you might as well hang a piece of art on the wall rather than paint a mural!

One of the hardest things I've ever painted was the back of this bloody swan. Even to subtlest change in white would ruin the pattern of the feathers. And the lighting really wasn't that great for painting. I couldn't tell what colour was in the palette, what colour was in the tin and what colour was on the wall because it all looked different when it was wet and dry. So in the end, I had to organise the paints on the table by number, and make a chart that I kept holding up to the wall as I was painting so I could see what was going on. In the end I was pretty happy with how it came out but it was really really challenging.

FINAL PHOTOS

In total the mural took 10 days to complete. Maybe that doesn't sound like that much? Even though the mural takes up a big area, most of it it just turquoise blank space - although I did purposely put layers of glaze on those areas & did blending so it wasn't just flat colour as you'll see in these close ups.

THE MURALS FIRST DEBUT!

A few weeks after the mural was finished, there was an event held about Persian Poetry & Persian Philosophers. Here are some photos of people enjoying the mural and the event and the lovely food!