David Webb
My background is in illustration, specialising in natural history subjects for books and magazines, so drawing has always been important to me. I now paint in watercolour in a looser, more impressionistic style but my paintings are still based on sound drawing. My courses at St Ives School of Painting are a combination of outdoor and studio work. My teaching involves drawing, composition, understanding the importance of tonal values and the techniques required to paint successfully with watercolour. As its name implies, watercolour is a very fluid medium. It is transparent and relies on the whiteness of the paper to shine through a series of washes built up from light to dark.
As watercolour is quick to work with, I often find that the easiest way to show a watercolour technique is to demonstrate it to my students.
The mistakes and problems commonly associated with watercolour are all things that I’ve had to overcome, and so it is quite satisfying to be able help a student to overcome their frustration and enable them to enjoy the medium.
What our students say
[David] was very good at explaining and demonstrating. He had a gentle way of providing support and direction.
David was absolutely brilliant – the techniques were so easy to follow – I just need to practice practice practice!
I loved the session, it was brilliant! Thank you for an inspiring and easy to follow process
Thanks for the session with David Webb. I painted along and really enjoyed the washes.
The school is very atmospheric and the staff were delightful, highly recommend courses at the School. It’s a fantastic way to relax and learn new skills.”
I have attended classes in watercolour painting before and not many of them were as instructive as this one. The teacher was very friendly, he made sure we made progress, and he was full of little hints and ideas on how to improve each individual painting. We spent delightful mornings sketching St Ives and then moved to the studio to turn the sketches into watercolour paintings. The studio was spacious, brightly lit by daylight, and fitted with everything we needed. We were supplied with all the materials and were allowed to keep the sketchbook. Friendly staff members cared for coffee and tea and requests of material. Our small group was very delightful and thanks to our teacher all our individual levels of skills and knowledge were merged into one instructive and yet easy and friendly weekend.
I really enjoyed the session, David is a great tutor as well as watercolourist.
Courses with David Webb
Cornwall's Rugged Coast in Watercolour (rec)
Online Pre-recorded - Watercolour - Seascapes
Active sort order:
Course ID: a004J00000Qpt1G
Active Instance: a024J00000Dyky1QAB, 01-Sep-2026
Discover how to capture the beauty and intensity of Cornwall's dramatic coastline in dynamic watercolour.
| £30 | Book |
Coves, Rocks + Cliffs in Watercolour
Online Pre-recorded - Watercolour - Landscape
Active sort order:
Course ID: a004J00000DDM6A
Active Instance: a024J00000Bdy9NQAR, 01-Sep-2026
Learn how to use watercolour to depict coves, rocks and cliffs with artist David Webb in this webinar recording. Learn to look at a scene with an artist’s eye and choose which elements are important and which can be left out.
| £30 | Book |
Seascape Impressions in Watercolour
Art Courses - Watercolour - Landscape
Active sort order:
Course ID: a004J00000BqRvx
Active Instance: a02Nz000009BrILIA0, 07-Jul-2025
Explore unique techniques of watercolour and how it can be used to portray the atmosphere of sea, sky and coast in an impressionistic style.
| 7 - 10 Jul - 4 days - £495 | Book |
St Ives in Watercolour
Art Courses - Watercolour - Landscape
Active sort order:
Course ID: a004J00000K5QhU
Active Instance: a02Nz000009BlxhIAC, 05-May-2025
Join artist David Webb for this exploration through the streets and thoroughfares of St Ives. Working in watercolour, learn how to capture the character of this unique location.
St Ives in Watercolour
Art Courses - Watercolour - Landscape
Active sort order:
Course ID: a004J00000K5QhU
Active Instance: a02Nz000009BtlZIAS, 19-Sep-2025
Join artist David Webb for this exploration through the streets and thoroughfares of St Ives. Working in watercolour, learn how to capture the character of this unique location.
Watercolour Painting en plein air
Art Courses - Watercolour - Seascapes
Active sort order:
Course ID: a004J00000QqBDF
Active Instance: a02Nz000009BoYzIAK, 09-Jun-2025
Learn the skills of painting en plein air with watercolours, observing and painting what you see, outside in the St. Ives landscape with watercolour artist David Webb.
| 9 - 11 Jun - 3 days - £425 | Book |