End of Summer 2026 :-(

So it’s fast approaching the end of August, we just have this weekend bank holiday and that it, straight into September and Autumn. We can complain about this summer being a wash out as it hasn’t really rained in months and it been exceptionally hot. Scorcheo!

So I have been busy working away on my YouTube content. It has kept me focused on drawing and painting, just as I intended, because I set myself the goal of producing a video each week. To my mind, as long as I reach 52 videos by the end of the year I will have achieved that target. In terms of subscribers and watch hours it’s been a slow train, but I think it’s heading in the right direction. Yesterday I ticked over to 91 subscribers. I’ve noticed that subscribers come and go — you may gain a few and lose a few — so milestones can feel a bit fluid. I’ll be celebrating properly once I hit 100.

For now it’s all a learning curve: chucking ideas and experiments at the wall to see what sticks, and making sure that what does stick is something I actually want to keep doing. We’ll see how it goes; I still have the target of moving into full-time artist mode around April 2028, if not sooner. The DarkWood series of drawings is progressing well — I’m aiming to finish DarkWood 6 by the end of the year. That would make it the quickest DarkWood sketchbook yet, considering I only started it in December 2024. Keep watching my videos and my DarkWood Instagram for updates and progress shots.

Like Ford above the YouTube journey is going to be a long slow plod..

I did managed to produce a line/wash of a quick sketch I did whilst on our oldest daughter wedding. This has now been gifted to her. I have a couple more I need to work on once I get some time.

View of the wedding venue from the upper terrace.

On the oil painting front, I’ve temporarily parked ‘This Britain 11’ until inspiration returns. In the meantime I’ve bought another large canvas because I feel compelled to start ‘This Britain 12’ — an idea that’s been brewing for a few years now. I even walked up to the top of Kingley Vale and did a little sketching, which I’ll turn into a video. This weekend I need to prep some paintings because I’m the guest artist at the Chichester Yacht Club; I’ll update this post with my setup once that’s all completed next Tuesday.