It’s been a while since I’ve published anything under ‘Colin’s Easel’.  This isn’t, as you might imagine, because he’s been lazing around doing nothing and indulging in the occasional Islay malt!  (Although Islay malts do apparently help inspire the creative process.)  No, far from it – he finished lots of pictures before Christmas but these were all special commissions, and we couldn’t publicise them because that would have risked spoiling someone’s surprise. Here is a series of images showing the progress of a woodcock pin-feather painting – in fact, this one was used as one of our Christmas cards for 2011.  It’s entitled ‘Christmas Morning’. Although Colin paints mostly with a…