December! Wow!
Ho ho ho and all that.
Hello everyone, and welcome back to another edition of Loose Watercolours with me, your host. And it’s a Christmassy edition this week, as that’s right - it’s December! If you’re anything like us, the Christmas lights will be twinkling already and the tinsel will be strung up all over the house with great enthusiasm. What can I say? We’re a festive household.
It was lovely to see so many of you join in the holiday fun last week with Monday’s live broadcast, ‘Snowman Moment.’ ‘Lavender at Christmas’ is tonight’s subject - a lovely little festival floral for you all to enjoy - and I’m looking forward to seeing all of your interpretations! I was very impressed with all of your snowmen - I almost felt slightly chilly looking at them all! Tonight’s broadcast is on at the usual time of 8pm GMT, so make sure your brushes are prepped and ready for some festive fun! Here’s the link to join in: https://loosewatercolours.com/live-broadcast/
And of course, Christmas isn’t the only holiday that’s come round quickly. If you’re stateside, you’ll be well aware that it was Thanksgiving last week, so we had some fun on loosewatercolours.com with a new tutorial, ‘Technicolour Turkey.’ It’s a simple tutorial perfect for beginners, only using four different colours, but great fun to paint! And just because you’re still feeling a little full from eating all of that delicious food doesn’t mean the Thanksgiving fun needs to be over, as you can still go and give this fun little tutorial a try. You can find it by following the link here: loosewatercolours.com
Watercolour Basics #5: Using the Mini Dave Brush
This week, I thought we’d also take a little look at the brushes we use in the loose watercolour style, so this time, I wanted to take a look at one that’s a particular favourite - Mini Dave! Mini Dave is a dagger brush, meaning that he can create precise points on the page and add lots of definition to our painting, so why not give it a go yourselves?
Watch the short help video below, where we’ll take a closer look at what he’s all about and how to use him in loose painting.
If you’d like to practice your newly honed Mini Dave skills, why not give them a go with the new tutorial availible on Patreon, ‘Moon & the Church?’ It’s a Christmas-themed Wash & Line, with lots of interesting elements to play with, including the fir trees, wintery cottage, and dramatic church spire in the background. I don’t know about you, but it makes me feel ready for Christmas. If you’d like to give it a go, you can follow the link to my Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/andrewgeesonloosewatercolours
Paint Historic Wells & Somerset: September 2025
I’ve mentioned this before, but just in case you missed it, I’m hosting a Loose Watercolour workshop in September of next year - 7th September to the 11th September to be exact - in the gorgeous setting of Wells & Somerset, so you can paint along to your heart’s content in the scenic landscape of the English South.
Painting destinations will include places like Kilver Court and Nunney, as well as Vicar’s Close with its stone buildings, Bishop’s Palace with its moat, and the captivating medieval market.
The cost is £925 for four days, which includes full accommodation at the Swan Hotel in Wells, as well as personalised tuition in both studio work and plein air painting.
If you’re interesting in finding out more information or you’d like to book, feel free to contact Alpha Painting Holidays for more information. You can reach them at www.alphapaintingholidays.com, or on their phone number at 0044 01934 733877. You’re also more than welcome to contact me if you’re interested, and you can reach me at andrew.geeson@btopenworld.com. You can also follow the link here: Andrew's Painting Holiday in Wells 2025
In terms of my own painting this week, the newly strung-up Christmas decorations have clearly had an effect on me, as I took a quick trip to a Christmassy Paris through painting. Well, it was slightly cheaper than the air fare this time of year. With wintery coats and a purple sunset on the horizon, I was happy with how it turned out.
That’s all from me this week, as there’s a Christmas fair on this week and Toby and I are off to go and sniff it out. And by that, I mean we’re off on a mince pie hunt, which is always my favourite thing about this season.
As always, though, there’s an exclusive tutorial included at the end of this post especially for all of you paid subscribers - after all, it’s your generous support that helps keep this Substack running. So I hope you all enjoy painting along to ‘Winter Walk.’
Until next time though, it’s goodbye from Toby and I, and have a lovely week. I’ll see you all very soon, but in the meantime, happy painting!