PRACTICAL WATERCOLOUR
Peter Cronin
works from his studio in south Wales. He is a member of the Royal Society of Marine Artists and was one of the art experts for the Watercolour Challenge programme in 2022. He has produced two books with Search Press: Pure Watercolour Painting and Sketching for the Absolute Beginner and is a regular visitor to art societies, giving demonstrations of his watercolour and sketching techniques. See more on Instagram and at
As a young man working in the once mighty steelworks at Port Talbot in south Wales, I would take my breaks sitting right at the end of the unloading jetty and watch the five tugs acting like sheepdogs, cajoling, pushing and heaving the 300,000 tonne iron ore carriers into dock. These huge vessels often had rust streaming through the paintwork and the tugs were under such strain that they would stream black diesel exhaust into the wind. It always was an impressive, possibly ugly sight, but to me, a
