RESOURCE – Six top tips from Tony Osler
Love what you do
Paint what you know and paint what you love. Your knowledge and love will shine through………..hopefully!
Let go
Try this: Study a photograph for a few minutes. Put the photo away and from memory (no cheating!) paint the scene you have studied. Avoid photo dependency and work with your emotions and feelings.
Change the order
It is easy to spend a lot of time doing a drawing and then “messing-up” when you start putting on your first washes. Try doing the washes first and then the drawing. Unwanted pencil marks will be much easier to remove using this method.
Go bold
Get a 1” hake brush and be bold! Ideal for wetting the paper and putting down a big dramatic sky. Let the brush do the talking and go for it! You may get some nice surprises……
Quality time
Give your Rowney Georgian and W/N Cotman paints and “economy” paper to your children or grandchildren. You can get 8 artists quality tubes and 3 or 4 sheets of Arches or Sanders paper or blocks for less than the cost of a night out for two.
Got gouache?
Keep a tube of white gouache in your kit. Very handy for correcting small errors and it mixes well with the colours you use.


