painting seashells

seashells - mixed media painting
seashells - mixed media painting

Last week we did a two day hike on the West Coast of New Zealand. This world heritage area is huge, wild and undeveloped.

We spent day 1 walking through rivers and incredible rain forest.

And day 2 we spent walking along the coast - boulder hopping, beach combing, rock pool splashing and watching seals and dolphins and all sorts of lovely sea birds.

Te Wāhipounamu - South West New Zealand World Heritage Area
Te Wāhipounamu - South West New Zealand World Heritage Area

When I'm by the sea I can't help fossicking. By the time I got back to the car, my pockets were filled with little treasures.

So, onto the next page in my 'In My Backyard' sketchbook with a marine background and lots and lots of shells drawn on top.

The making of "seashells"

You can buy a print of this painting here....
www.scatterlings.co.nz/in_my_backyard_prints.htm

Paint a free watercolour online lesson

A free lesson for you!

One of my all-time favourite paintings of a stormy day in a ruined Roman town in Spain.

You can do this! Let me show you how. Join my community to receive this free video tutorial.

Join here
pen before the watercolour wash

pen before the watercolour wash

27 February 2026

Last weekend I ran a poll on Patreon and it seems a number of people are interested in different ways to approach watercolours and adding different media. I'm excited about this! Let's mix things up a...

Read more →

an olive branch in watercolour

an olive branch in watercolour

12 February 2026

There’s something wonderfully calming about painting botanicals. You don’t need to rush — you can slow right down and paint one leaf at a time, dipping in and out of the painting whenever you fi...

Read more →