Another week of watercolours

Hello everyone, and welcome back to this week’s edition of Loose Watercolours. The eagle-eyed among you may have noticed that there wasn’t a Substack post last week, and you’re right! That’s because the Loose Gang were on an all important trip to- no. More on that later. But I can guarantee that it was a right treat! How’ve you all been getting on in the meantime? Did you get any painting done? Did you treat yourselves to a spot of rest and relaxation? Good. And if not, be sure to take some time out for yourselves this week and give yourselves the chance to slow down and enjoy the ride.

Last week’s broadcast was ‘Golden Display,’ and, as always, it was great to see so many of you along to join in the fun! This week’s paint-a-long is ‘Picket Floral Border,’ and it’s on at the usual time of 8pm GMT. If you’d like to have a go, you can watch the live broadcast by following this link here: https://loosewatercolours.com/live-broadcast/

For those of you on Patreon, you might have spotted a little furry friend this week – that’s right! The new tutorial is ‘Scruffy Dog,’ and he’s a little bundle of joy for you all to practice your wash and line techniques with! Here’s the link if you’d like to paint along: https://www.patreon.com/andrewgeesonloosewatercolours

There’s also another tutorial now available on loosewatcolours.com – ‘Echinacea Trio.’ And I’ll give you a hint on how many tries it took me to spell that correctly. That’s right. More than one. But it’s a lovely little floral that’s perfect for this warm weather, and what better way to enjoy the blossoms at this time of year than to paint them?

This week, the Loose Gang got up to a little plein air practice around the local villages, basking in the sunshine and trying out a few new brush techniques. Here’s a little attempt they did of the local church in a quick forty-five minute session! Sometimes limiting the time you can spend on things helps you to stop overthinking your work, which is key to the loose style! It’s also a fun way to mix up your painting practice if you feel like you’re stuck in a little bit of a creative rut!

And here’s another quick painting of the local pub, where I met lots of locals who were just heading in for a pint or two.

Though the loose gang were on a slightly more exciting trip this week – can you guess where they went from the court below?

That’s right – Wimbledon! They got incredibly lucky in the ticket draw, and managed to get some court-side seats for the final weekend! They enjoyed a spot of Pimm’s in the sunshine, as well as some strawberries and cream whilst they watched the tennis – it went down a treat! They also met some rather more famous faces as they explored the Wimbledon museum…

Though I’d certainly recommend vying for 2025 tickets if you’re tennis fans – it’s the perfect summer treat and a lovely way to spend the weekend.

That’s all from me this week, as Toby and I are about to head down and attend a village BBQ. I can smell the food cooking from the studio window, and it smells delicious – not one to be missed!

There’s some exciting things included at the end of this post for all of you paid subscribers though – not just one, but two exclusive tutorials! The first one of which, ‘Evening Setting,’ is a lovely little landscape painting guaranteed to put you in a relaxing mood as the summer breeze wafts through your kitchen window. The other, ‘Dabs and Dashes,’ is more technique based, and is there to help you improve on your brushstrokes and give you more flexibility in your painting. I hope you all enjoy painting along as much as I did!

Until next time, though, it’s goodbye from Toby and I! Have a lovely week, and happy painting!

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