First news is that my new independent blog, to be linked to my website (www.isleofwightlandscapes.net) can be found, in a semi-completed state, at http://wightpaint.blogspot.com. I hope to work out how to enable comments etc soon.... it will consist of random tips, thoughts, and a bit of blatant self-promotion. And, for those who do not subscribe to Leisure Painter (a rattling good read at only £3.50....) the editorial team has very kindly featured one of my paintings plus a bit of background on me in this month's (ie the July) issue, as this month's choice from the website gallery. So what are you wasting time reading this for, off you go to your local newsagent... I wish, in passing, there were a way of working out if a painting's going to succeed or not before embarking on it - but I've concluded that although you can more or less guarantee a reasonable stab at it, particularly by paying attention to the placement of things in the composition (the rule of thirds may be predictable and dull, but it does work) you can never tell beforehand if you're going to really hit the spot or miss it by a greater or lesser distance - it's probably baying for the moon, but I find myself wishing I could always paint what I actually see, and get the vision down as I saw it in my mind's eye... Hardly ever happens; now and then, I manage a better picture than I'd anticipated - the one in Leisure Painter (got your copy yet? You don't want to risk them selling out...) was one of those. Much more often, the end result just isn't where I want it to be, and as we all know there comes a point where you can just do no more to a painting without ruining whatever merit it HAS got; so you have to stop, even if it's still lightyears away from the way you envisaged it.