Getting Loose With It

By Lisa Chandler, 11 January, 2026

For a long time, I have been a little too “colour inside the lines” for my own liking, in many parts of my life. Today, I am not making a metaphor, I am talking about art.

Yesterday’s virtual course Pen & Paint - Paint & Pen! by Danny Gregory was a perfect path out. In three short hours, Peter and I each sketched and painted (or painted and sketched depending on the technique) four individual fish (see below).

I quickly embraced the idea offered that “there is no federal quality inspector coming to judge my fish” and went from precision to who gives a damn?! I would never choose to paint fish so that made it even easier to not care. I think Danny likely knows this.

Peter gave me the course as a thoughtful Christmas gift. He never shys away from giving me creative wings and I love him for this. He’d taken courses from Danny Gregory’s Sketchbook Skool before, and knew there would be value here for me.

Admittedly, I arrived in front of the screen feeling impatient and not in the mood for three hours of art. A lot had been going on in my week and I felt reluctant to commit my Saturday afternoon. My impatience continued for the first 30 minutes. A bit too much time was spent on set up. But once we got though that, I could have kept going all day. There really is magic in learning in real time with a good teacher, my partner, and 400 other people from around the world.

A few techniques will stick with me for sure (wet on wet, glazing etc.) What I most remember, though, is the exhilaration of creating my fish however I wanted. I can bring this into my printmaking life. It’s time to carve looser lines and print pink foxes!

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First the inspiration images provided, followed by the fish painting.