Happy New Year!

Hello everyone, and a very warm welcome back to Andrew Geeson Loose Watercolours! I hope you all had a lovely Christmas, and a very happy new year to you all! We’re only a week in, so how are you all faring? Managed to stick to those resolutions? Have you just finished enjoying all of that delicious Christmas food? Whatever you’ve been up to so far in 2024, I hope it’s been a good one. And of course, how’s your painting coming along? If, like me, you’ve made plenty of paint-based resolutions, this is the year for you. Or if you haven’t even picked up a brush yet this calendar year, don’t worry! You can start today.

A very warm welcome as well to those of you that joined us over the Christmas break! It’s great to see so many of you interested in the loose style, and this Substack comes out each Monday to tell you all about what’s happening in the world of Andrew Geeson Loose Watercolours – with details of all the new tutorials, live broadcasts, and different bits and bobs that are happening throughout the week, so you don’t miss a thing. And of course, whatever I’ve been up to, which varies from week to week. After all, I’m a real homebody at heart, and I love nothing more than sitting and painting – either in my studio, or out and about if the weather allows. Well, that, and playing with Toby the dog.

If you’d like more immediate reminders, or just want to join a welcoming community of likeminded artists, why not join our Beginners Facebook Group? With over two thousand members, there’s links to all the new tutorials and live broadcasts, as well as all sorts of hints and tips to help you improve your painting. Plus, it’s the easiest way to get hold of me if you have any specific questions about art, or anything else really. I can’t promise I’ll be able to answer all of the non-art related ones though. If you’re interested, here’s the link.

Now, what’s going on this week? Well, the first live broadcast on loosewatercolours.com is on tonight at 8pm GMT, where we’ll be painting along to ‘Purple Blooms.’ These broadcasts are usually every Monday night (and if not, I’ll let you know!), so it’s a great way to have a set time to paint every week. After all, the best way to improve your painting is to practice! If you want to join in the fun, you can find the link here.

If you fancy more painting practice this week, there’s also a new tutorial available on the website – ‘Four Roses.’ I love roses! You love roses! Everybody loves roses! It’s a great way to start off the year, and it gives us a bit more practice at negative painting. Even though the technique can be a little finicky at times, I can promise it’ll turn out great at the end – you have to trust the process.

And if that wasn’t enough, and you want a bit of 60s charm with more flower power, be sure to check out the new tutorial on Patreon, which – surprise, surprise – is also floral themed. You can try out ‘Potty Geranium’ right here.

As you can see, the Loose Gang are already getting stuck in to all the floral based painting this week!

That’s all in terms of painting this week, but as I mentioned before Christmas, we’ve got some exciting things in store for you all this year! We’re currently working on a rebrand of the website, making it easier to find all of your favourite tutorials, which means less time navigating, and more time splashing paint onto paper! It looks great so far, and I can’t wait to show you what it looks like! More news on this to follow.

We’ve also got some more posts coming up on this Substack especially for you paid subscribers, as it’s your support that keeps this running. I won’t go too much into this now – after all, the suspense keeps it interesting – but you’ll be hearing from me later this week alongside some exclusive tutorials especially for you, so keep your eyes peeled!

And with that, I’ve got some work to do. After all, those pictures won’t paint themselves! So I’ll be back in your inboxes next week with some more loose watercolour joy, and until then, happy painting! I hope you all have a fabulous week, and a fabulous 2024 to come!