paint a historic coastal tower in sardinia

Paint a Sardinian coastal tower in pen and watercolour
Paint a Sardinian coastal tower in pen and watercolour

All along the coast of Sardinia are these wonderful coastal towers. Every one is a little different and they're always in a spectacular position.

Dating from around 1570 onwards, a series of coastal towers was built right around the island to defend it from pirates coming from North Africa. The idea was to have each tower within communication range of the next one, to be able to give ample warning to the inhabitants.

These towers make wonderful sketching subjects and I thought you might want to follow step-by-step with me on this one.

Full step-by-step tutorial and reference photo on Patreon.

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
summer flowers & an old fence post

summer flowers & an old fence post

16 June 2026

There's something irresistibly paintable about a weathered fence post half-swallowed by summer wildflowers. It's the contrast that does it — rough, sun-bleached wood against the soft, fleeting delic...

Read more →

recap! travel sketching in france, 2026

recap! travel sketching in france, 2026

9 June 2026

Five times at Périgord Retreats, and the magic is still there.. Every single time I hop on the train in southern France and get whisked through French countryside and villages to Gourdon Station — ...

Read more →

painting zebras in watercolour

painting zebras in watercolour

3 June 2026

Ater spending time in South Africa recently, surrounded by the kind of wildlife you only see there, I came home with many sketches of zebras, giraffes, warthogs, baboons and more and a strong urge to ...

Read more →