How to paint a traditional British canal Roses and Castles scene

A weekend workshop at Stoke Bruerne Canal Museum May 2019.

Traditional Roses & Castles scene painted by me

Traditional English Roses & Castles canal scene

These are my photos from “How to paint Roses and Castles”. I attended this painting course at Stoke Bruerne Canal Museum for the first time in September 2016 and again in May 2019.

A beautiful morning at Stoke Bruerne lock and canal museum 11th May 2019

Stoke Bruerne canal bridge — Stoke Bruerne canal and museuam

Canal Arts by Terence hosted this painting course twice a year at the Stoke Bruerne Canal Museum. I loved it so much, I went back for a refresher.

Practicing the canal rose comma brush strokes…

starting a canal rose with a single comma brush stroke — starting to construct a canal rose

comma stroke painting practice — starting to construct a canal rose

Slideshow of my progress, painting the roses and leaves in stages…

Slideshow progress painting the castle scene in stages…

background water and mountains
sketch castle shape
add light and shadow
add more detail
add more details
now the land is added
and a pathway and roofs
adding windows and doors
finish adding details to the castle scene
finish the castle scene with a border painted around

Progress video from blank board to finished Roses and Castles

This is me in 2016, learning the art of painting Roses and Castles. I thoroughly recommend Terence’s courses. He is a fantastic tutor and talented master decorative painter. You can see all his work here. The atmosphere on the painting course was friendly, relaxed with plenty of support and good humoured banter. Terence’s wife Chrissie was on hand, assisting Terence, topping up our paints and handing out endless cups of tea and coffee! Whatever your skill level and ability, you will come away with a finished piece of work to be proud of.

This is me in 2019, refining the art of painting Roses and Castles.

Terence demonstrating the castle scene and a selfie with his partner Chrissie!

Here’s some of my very early work. I used the book Paint Roses and Castles by Anne Young to teach myself. You can see a huge difference between when I taught myself from a book and my work now, having been tutored by a pro Waterways Canalware Specialist!