Have you ever looked at a gorgeous coloured pencil pet portrait and thought… I’d love to be able to do that. Maybe you’d love to draw your own pet, create something special for somebody you love, or even take on pet portrait commissions one day. Drawing pets is where so many artists start, and I […]

I recently had my Polychromos colour swatches framed, and I absolutely LOVE how they’ve turned out! I don’t normally go for coloured frames, but this purple picks up the Quinacridone Magenta beautifully and makes the whole piece feel fun and a little bit different. And it reminded me just how much the right frame can […]

Have you ever caught yourself thinking… I need to practise more.I need to understand colour better.I need to be more confident. Then I’ll feel like a proper artist. I’ve been thinking about the word “enough” lately, particularly when it comes to creativity. Because so many of us seem to be waiting for that imaginary moment […]

It’s International Dog Day today, and I can’t think of a lovelier day to tell you about something very special I’m doing to support The Yorkshire Rescue – a wonderful charity local to me here in Yorkshire!  From 21st- 25th September 2026, I’m holding a very special charity coloured pencil workshop and I’d absolutely love […]

Choosing a reference photo might sound like the easiest part of starting a coloured pencil drawing. If you’re working on a commission, it can be fairly straightforward. Your client may send you a handful of photographs, have a favourite already, or one image might naturally stand out because it has the best composition. But what […]

Cream-coloured fur can be one of the trickiest things you’ll ever draw. At first glance it looks simple enough, but when you really start looking, you realise it’s anything but! Is it yellow? Beige? Pink? Grey? Sometimes it feels like it’s all of those colours at once. It’s one of the questions I’m asked most […]

When Faber-Castell announced 20 brand new Polychromos coloured pencils, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on them. Like many coloured pencil artists, I already have my trusted favourites, so I was curious to see whether these new additions would genuinely fill gaps in the range or simply look nice in the tin. After swatching […]

One of the biggest turning points in my coloured pencil journey wasn’t buying more pencils. It was learning how the colours I already owned worked together. Once you understand colour relationships, choosing colours becomes much more intuitive. Instead of relying on someone else’s pencil list, you start making your own decisions with confidence. That’s when […]

Hair has always been one of my favourite things to draw. There’s something incredibly satisfying about watching it slowly come to life as you build the colour, develop the values and finally add those little wispy flyaway hairs right at the very end. The lovely thing is, creating realistic hair isn’t about drawing hundreds of […]

When we think about drawing realistic eyes, it’s easy to assume that every tiny eyelash, highlight and reflection needs to be included. But that’s not always true. In fact, when you’re drawing a full animal rather than a close-up portrait, the eyes are often much smaller than you realise. Trying to squeeze every little detail […]