Yep! Its true and its great news… I have just launched my Patreon Channel and I am really excited about it. Its super early days in this exciting new quest, and building it will take time and effort, but I have a lot of optimism for its potential for both my path, and for yours as well.
My vision is to create a positive learning environment and community around the things we love. I believe there is a lot to be gained on both sides, enabling me to continue creating, and to keep creating wonderful new courses for you to enjoy as I go too. With my community behind me, so much os possible! This potential of mutual gain it now offers us is key to me going ahead and launching my channel… 10 years after creating it! Its not about time, or better late than never, its about it being exactly the right time, and thats a really awesome feeling to have around a new venture.
Already, I have started sharing content on the Channel that Ive never shared before. Reference images to paint from, past workshop images you can explore as you please. Ill be sharing more and never seen before field work footage and experiences with you, Q&As if theres anything youd like to know more about… just ask… behind the scenes insights of my own work both private and commercial, real time and exclusive footage from my studio to you, special offers, heads up on news first, a far more personal and engaging environment to be a part of… and for students… a new painting lesson, based around natural history subjects and inspirations to enjoy every month.
Im hoping itll work. You never know till you try as they say, so like everything, Im giving it a red hot go and I am really enjoying it already. This month I created a lovely lesson for my members painting a seagull portrait, exploring pigment poor washes, preserving our lights and a delicate touch which is often a real challenge to paint. Its actually a really sweet subject, giving students a little taste of pigment rich, and pigment poor applications and elements, especially great if youre starting out in watercolour and bird illustration.
Since then I have been working on Januarys lesson which is more a in depth, complex exercise in blue, exploring a vibrant, pigment rich Splendid Wren. Today I fiiinallly completed editing it all together for you, phew, its an epic amount of work but its beautiful, its done, and its ready for its launch on the Channel in the new year… so get your blues out for that one!
So what will be next, you ask? Well, in the interim, I have been rallying my fantastic photographers to the show, and the great news is that every single one of them has come on board to make it great, and I am just so stoked about that. Peter Caddy, Phillip & Sharon Start, Peter Evans, Corey Raffel and Andrew Haysom… ❤️🙏🏻 Now we have absolutely wonderful reference images to learn and create from, from these absolutely wonderful humans and photographers, who generosity to us all makes good things possible. For us it brings a wealth of content and opportunity to our fingertips, and I am all set for the wonderful painting lessons and exercises it means I can bring you.
I must thank my students for the suggestion and support they have shown in my kicking this off with me. I appreciate your knowledge, interest, input and enthusiasm in my world. I have always been very mindful of trying to support and inspire others as I go on my journey, but finding answers, ideas and direction is often a wonderful two way street – just as Patreon will be, and I love that synchronicity. Shared loves are a special kind of richness in life and I look forward to growing our community together. Thank you to those who have joined me already! Of course, I cant do it on my own, so the more the merrier. Hopefully youll get on board and help me create something really fantastic.
Its fluid, but I am committed ⭐️