There’s an old blues song called Nobody’s Fault But Mine. Originally it came from Blind Willie Johnson in 1927 (and not Led Zeppelin in 1976) and the theme is that, if you don’t read your Bible, it’s your own fault that your soul is in peril.

The reason I came to paint it was that I was reflecting about how I’m struggling a bit with my current watercolour project and I think it is partly that I’m using suboptimal materials. In particular, the sketchbook I found isn’t working out as well as I’d hoped – the paper isn’t heavy enough to hold a decent water load and, although the small size (slightly less than A5) means I don’t have a lot of space to cover, it inhibits me from bold, confident painting.

I’ve given in and purchased what should be better (Daler Rowney – not top flight but a respectable brand and decent paper weight at 300gsm compared to approx 90gsm), due to arrive earlier next week. Meanwhile, it’s nobody’s fault but mine that I’m struggling.

That said, I was quite pleased with this one though – my bible depicted in a pairing of teal and orange mixes (the ‘black’ is the combination of the two). There is a nice bit of ‘watercolouryness’ on the spine and I’m very pleased with how the cover came out – I painted it dark and then pressed down a textured piece of kitchen towel which lifted and patterned the surface in a way reminiscent of the bible’s black leather cover.