Frank's background was in advertising but he began teaching watercolour painting on Zoom during Covid. He describes himself as more of an 'art tutor' than artist, teaching the fundamentals to create 'loose, expressive, lively' works - although of course, he is a talented artist!   His work and advice has featured in Artists and Illustrators magazine.  He talked about some of his favourite living artists and some of the 'greats' of the past.  His particular role model from the past is John Singer Sargent, and suggested we all look at his watercolours.  Frank believes atmosphere is more important than detail in a painting - he said 'don't be a slave to what you see - be a master of what you want to convey'.

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After telling us about the tools, materials and colours he uses, Frank began on two compositions, using photographs of local scenes as his source. For the first, the canal bridge, he sketched the outline of main features with paint, and for the second, the castle ruins, he sketched lightly in pencil.  For both, he quickly and energetically painted the sky, using cobalt blue and a large mop brush. Then he added the first layer of colour to the rest of the composition, leaving some gaps 'to retain the light'.  While one painting was drying, he worked on the other.  You can see this first layer below.

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