Testimonials
Testimonials
” I started watercolour painting a few years ago, in my late fifties, after never having shown any aptitude or interest really in art. I had an injury and a lot of free time, and saw my brother in law painting and just thought I would like to challenge myself to give it a go. I read a lot of books on watercolour and watched many hours of youtube videos. Eventually I decided that I needed in person classes so that I could see up close how the techniques work, and be part of a group learning process. After trying one class with someone who was undoubtedly a very good painter, but not such an effective teacher, I found Richard’s classes, after doing a few searches and checking reviews.
It was quite a way to travel for me but from the first lesson I liked Richard’s style of painting and his style of teaching. There were detailed lesson plans, paint and paper was provided for you ready to go, and it was nice to learn in the studio surrounded by lovely paintings which inspired you as to what might be possible.
Within a few lessons I could see that my own painting was improving, through better use of the techniques which Richard demonstrated, particularly wet in wet washes, and correctly judging dampness of paper for subsequent layers.
I had also been doing a lot of drawing practice and know that good drawing is the foundation of good painting. Together with the techniques learned at Richard’s classes this enabled me to improve significantly.Since attending Richard’s courses over Autumn and Winter 2024-2025, I became even more enthusiastic about my watercolours and continued to practice more frequently and read and learn more. I still have so much to learn but now I am at a point that I did not think that I would get to. I felt confident enough recently to enter one of my paintings into an exhibition contest. Instead of starting locally I went for the International Watercolour Masters exhibition, only because I am attending workshops at the event which takes place in 2026 in Shropshire. I was gobsmacked then to find that my entry had been selected out of over 2000 submissions from 62 countries.
I would highly recommend Richard’s classes and just say to anyone- keep believing. I had no confidence in my ability when I started but adopted a growth mindset. If you keep putting the hours of practice in, and learning new skills, it is really surprising what you can do.”
Jim Rogers
” I decided to join the course as I wanted to learn how to paint in watercolour. In the beginning I felt nervous and did not have much confidence in myself. I didn’t think I could do it. I did a beginners course in watercolour with Richard at NYAS in Scarborough. Found Richard’s hands on approach extremely helpful and knowing Richard was a well established artist inspired confidence and trust.
We did a painting from scratch in every session which gave a feeling of achievement and Richard was on hand every step of the way to guide and help us. Having really enjoyed the course I enrolled on a follow-on course. I have learned lots of new techniques and an understanding of how watercolour behaves as a medium. After the second course finished I did some Pay As You Go classes at Richard’s studio in Bempton. It was lovely to see all of Richard’s paintings mounted and framed. Now that I’ve gained confidence and experience I’m able to do the weekly paintings from the YouTube channel. It’s so satisfying and exciting knowing I can do this on my own. I am so happy I discovered watercolour as it’s something I love, giving me focus and enjoyment in my everyday life. I would strongly recommend it to anyone who is new to painting or more experienced artists who just want to get back into it as it’s so rewarding and fulfilling. This is a recent painting I did from the YouTube Channel of Feeding Gannet which I framed.”
Karl Newman