You're in the Sierra de Madrid. You're about to catch a train into the mountains. You try to look out the windows, but they're covered in paint and you can't see the landscape.

You lean out and...

There I am. Painting the side of the train.

And I've properly screwed your journey. You're stuck.

NAH, I DON'T DO THAT ANYMORE.

(Already prescribed, don't worry.)

My art's evolved. I paint watercolours now.

Don't get me wrong, I still look at graffiti on trains. That's something you carry in your veins forever.

I talk about these stories (now safely beyond the statute of limitations) in my almost-daily emails.

Plus how you can start collecting original watercolours without spending a fortune.

This always happens to me:

"You paint? And you sell it? You're a full-time artist?"

(with *those* looks)

— "Yeah, look, let me show you what I paint."

I show them a photo and...

— "Blimey!" (this time without the looks)

It's watercolour because I fell in love with watercolour when I started painting in my tiny London bedroom—so small it was technically illegal to rent out.

And I fell in love with art at university in Madrid. Along with a few dodgy loves, what times... The corridor smelled of weed. I just painted. Such memories. We called it "the cannabic."

But when I started painting watercolours, let's be honest: I was rubbish.

Wonky compositions. Crooked lines. Muddy colours.

Paintings where I'd just hit every button in Photoshop hoping something would work.

Thank God those poor paintings are sleeping peacefully on my hard drive.

But through trial and error—looking, thinking, learning from other artists, training with a few, practising everything I could near home, painting on Hampstead Heath again and again...

That's how I became a watercolour artist.

Because as they say: when you do things, things happen.

And the first thing you can do is read some of these learnings in my emails.

But who the hell is José?

• Spanish, living in London since 2018 (no, I'm not a banker)
• Started as a graffiti artist. Now I paint watercolours. Character development.
• I have OCD about straight lines. Painting Tower Bridge nearly sent me to therapy.
• Studied Fine Arts in Madrid. The corridor smelled of weed. I just painted.
• Moved to London in an illegal bedroom. Started painting properly.
• If there's good light on Hampstead Heath, call me. Even at 6am. Especially at 6am.

Because... d'you know I talk about all this (and how you can start collecting original art without getting ripped off) in my mailing list?

P.S. — This isn't my engagement photo, and I'm not two ladies from Valencia, though I have been to Valencia. But it's hard to take a photo without looking like a panda or the walking dead. So I had to use it.