30 Day Challenge - How I got started as an artist

Before 27th December 2018 I had never picked up a paintbrush. Bored and looking for something to do I found a water colour starter set that my wife had bought for me for Christmas a couple of years previous and began to paint. The first picture was of a cottage in a nearby village - it wasn’t great! The next day I decided to have another go and, rather ambitiously, tried to paint the Notre Dame Cathedral in Reims, France. Again, it wasn’t great. So, I decided to set myself a task and a challenge. I would paint every day for 30 days and every day I would paint something different regardless of how the previous day’s attempt went. During this 30 day period I watched hundreds of online videos and read lots of books and blogs so that I could learn about techniques and then try to put them into practice. The result: my paintings progressed rapidly and, after 30 continuous days, painting became something of a habit. Today, I’m still painting everyday but I’m no longer completing one piece each day as my artwork has become more complex and larger and I now have regular commissions that require a lot more time and effort. I’m truly amazed that my art has taken off the way it has and even ended up on BBC radio recently to discuss my success.

I thought it might be interesting to show where I’ve progressed from so below is a selection of some of my early paintings. Feel free to let me have your thoughts and comments via the contact page. Better yet, why not have a go at the 30 day challenge yourself -I’d love to see your progress.

Day 1

My first attempt at painting in water colour. Definitely in need of some refinement! And so the 30 day challenge to paint every day is born.

Day 2

Not one to refrain from a challenge I decided to try to replicate a cathedral in water colour. Perspective was definitely a bit off but it’s progress on day 1.

Day 3

Aiming to paint something different every day, and introducing one of my other hobbies, astronomy, I had a go at painting an exaggerated view of the Milky Way.

As my 30 day challenge continued I found that painting became a habit and I’ve continued ever since. The carousel below is a selection of the many paintings I produced before I started to create artwork that was actually worthy of selling.