#233 Brioche

'Qu'ils mangent de la brioche' is a phrase I wish my jeans would allow me to live by. Happy Bastille day tout le monde! Watercolour and pencil 29cm x19cm click here to bid.

#232 Two Seeds and a Needle

From left: maple seed, horse chesnut seed, and a pine needle. Given that all of these trees had labels attached to them I should have made a note and shown off with their latin names..but I didnt. All collected yesterday at Westonbirt I didnt think they would miss them and if anyone complains I will replace them all. watercolour and pencil 19cm x14cm click here to bid.

#231 Wind Up Robot

As is tradtional on July the Twelfth I celebrate my birthday, usually by taking the day off work, opening a few gifts and spending the day exactly as I please! This July the 12th is no different so, we went to Westonbirt Arboretum which was lovely. This little mechanical man has nothing to do with that (more on Westonbirt tomorrow maybe) Velazquez (for that is his name) is my new studio assistant and as you can see he is entrusted with looking after my pencil. I like to think of him as my morph. Click here to watch me paint him at high speed (tomorrow probably) or here to bid on him at your leisure!

#230 Travel Books

World cup final so, here is a pair of guide books, one each for the two capitol cities of the two countries that are contesting the Footballing World Cup. Click the picture to see the video of it being painted or here to bid.

#229 Red and Yellow Cards

Heres one for the referees, and people who like colour! Watercolour and pencil 19cm x14cm click here to bid.

#228 Small Watercolour Dish

I have had an 'exciting day' playing with you tube, you can now view (very rudimentary) Dan Young, Daily TV I need to spend a little more time with the editing software so I can speed these up, unless your happy to watch me paint in real time. Anyway we all have to start somewhere and I started with a small watercolour mixing dish. Watercolour and pencil 14cm x9cm click here to bid.

#227 Mixing Dish

I have a burgening collection of watercolour mixing dishes, this one I have had for years. I am pretty sure it was part of my first 'proper' set of watercolour paints that I got either as a birthday or Christmas present from my Mum and Dad. Watercolour and pencil 29cm x 19cm click here to bid.

#226 Lobster and Bear

Here we go with another obscure pairing of objects that relate to two countries that are playing in world cup semi finals. First the wind-up Lobster is representing Spain as a reference to Salvador Dali's Lobster Phone and the Bear is representing Germany, because I have only been to Germany once, to Berlin, and the streets were full of painted bears. The bear being a symbol of Berlin. So, I am sure you will agree, a perfectly rational subject matter for a painting. Watercolour and pencil 29cm x19cm click here to bid.

#225 Sun Stick and Tile Puzzle

Mmmm this is going to take some explaining! Uruguay v Holland in the football this evening (interupting my traditional painting time) so the holland reference is simple its a puzzle thing from Amsterdam depicting a series of old dutch tiles. Nice. The sun cream is a reference to the sun on the flag of Uruguay which, I assume, is a reference to their aztec origins. Oh ok maybe that was easy to explain after all. In other news a big Happy Birthday to my Mum! Watercolour and pencil 29cm x19cm click here to bid.

#224 Shaving Brush

I have no idea where this came from but it has been in the studio for ages, it always reminds me of my grandads shaving jug thing that my Dad had in the bathroom...but Dad used and still uses an electric razor. It obviously skips a generation because I wet shave but not using a shaving brush, maybe I should start...Watercolour and pencil 14cm x19cm click here to bid.

#223 Wind up Manatee

Who knows why the wind up toy people decided a wind up manatee would be a top seller but I am glad they did its such an economical shape to describe a quite lumpy and unattractive sea creature. Commonly called a 'sea cow' and often cited as the reason 'ye olde' sailors thought they had seen mermaids when they had actually just been weak from scurvy and drunk on rum. I don't fancy yours much 'Long John'. Watercolour and pencil 19cm x14cm click here to bid.

#222 Toy VW Beetle

Fisrt of all Happy Birthday to Jack my little nephew! This painting is a little less obscure than yesterdays! Germany playing football this is a german car (Jack likes cars but isn't German). I couldnt find anything to represent Argentina (ideas anyone? In case they win!). Watercolour and pencil 19cm x14cm click here to bid.

#221 Sandcastle

OK, so Quarter finals start today in the world cup and Brazil are playing in the first one against the Netherlands, I have just been in the loft because we have a porcelain clog somewhere but I couldn't find it so, I started to think about Brazil and I thought flip flops, beach, bikini's, football on the beach and making sandcastles on the beach. So I made a mini sandcastle using a thimble, as you do. watercolour and pencil 14cm x9cm click here to bid.

#220 Pak Choi Heart

This is the middle from the pak choi we had in our stir fry beef and noodles this evening, I always think pak choi look superreal and almost plastic when they are whole, not the ones we grow, they get riddled with flea beetle holes and decimated by slugs bah! watercolour and pencil 14cm x9cm click here to bid.