Preparing for a live art demo - A Street in York

Every month for the last few years I’ve sat down under a camera to create a painting from scratch for an online audience from across the world. The chances of something going very wrong are very high. How do I prepare for this monthly display of creativity?

​It all starts with sketching...

In April 2026 my theme was a street in York. My first idea, above, was a view of Petergate with York Minster in the background. This led to a finished study and a further piece which formed part of the exhibition Great British Travel Posters. However I decided to use a picture of the Shambles - York's ancient street of the butchers - for painting live online. The street is somewhere most visitors to York remember and it also captures to the medieval quality of many of York's buildings. 
So I gathered my materials, started sketching, working through ideas for colours and the emotional register I wanted for the painting and, well, here's the result.

I managed to complete the picture just before the hour was up, but it was a close run thing!

You can join Watching Paint Dry every month by going to the Happy House Calendar HERE 
and you can see all the work from Great British Travels Posters HERE