Original Watercolours by Tim Wilmot

River Dee, Llangollen

Llangollen, Wales, 15" x 11"

Llangollen is a small town and community in Denbighshire, north-east Wales, on the River Dee at the edge of the Berwyn mountains and the Clwydian Range.  Here's a view looking up river near the town centre and the boulders strewn across the whole width of the river.

Painted on Saunders Waterford, Cold Press, 300 gms

 

Watercolour, 15" x 11"

Bristol Savages (the painting society I am a member of) sketch night and the topic given by the Chairman for the evening "Three Feathers".  Inspired by Prince Charles 70th birthday on that day and the badge of the Prince of Wales so we have a plume of three feathers.  We now had 2 hours to complete a painting based on that theme without using any reference material, so now Google search!!  Luckily I had painted in a previous week a scene for Ledbury Artists and their Church Street with the Prince of Wales Pub.  Ideal and fresh in my memory!

Painted on Saunders Waterford, Cold Press, 300 gms

 

Rue Notre Dame du Chateau - Bergerac France

Bergerac, France, 15" x 11"

A little side street close to the Dordogne River in Bergerac and a sunny corner.  A few watercolour techniques used here - wet in wet on the left hand building and some dry brush strokes on the road and building in shade on the right.  Had to slip in a couple of figures in the shade.

Painted on Saunders Waterford, Cold Press, NOT

A shady corner - Piazza Yenne, Cagliari

Cagliari, Sardinia, 15" x 11"

Another fun exercise in some splattering and connecting (joining up major objects in the composition).  A scene of people under the shade of a canopy in the Piazza Yenne area of Cagliari.  Some made up figures going in different directions and the background deliberately kept simple.  Also quite a limited palette used for this and concentrating on tonal values.

Painted on Saunders Waterford. Cold Press, NOT, 300 gms

Blog article from Ledbury Art Society on my recent two hour demo there

Tim Wilmot - Ledbury Scenes in Watercolour

 

The Market House, Ledbury

Tim has a very loose style and this enabled him to complete two paintings in less than two hours. Impressive! He brought along two photographs of Ledbury: the Market House and Church Lane looking towards the church tower and spire.

Based in Bristol, Tim specialises in vibrant watercolours exploiting the medium with tone and light. He has painted all his life and is completely self-taught. He loves to paint landscapes and is well known for his harbour and boat paintings. Nearly all his landscapes include figures and cars to give focal interest to the scene. You can see more of his work on his website http://www.timwilmot.com/ His YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/timwilmot has more than 40 full length demonstration videos with commentary.

 

Below you'll find images showing the progress of this and his second painting and also one of his  YouTube videos.

Pencil sketch

Wet sky wash

For both demonstrations Tim used a quarter sheet of 300gsm Saunders Waterford watercolour paper taped around the edges with masking tape. He doesn't stretch the paper so it does cockle a bit as he works but it dries flat. The first step for each was to quickly sketch the scenes using a 3B pencil. The drawings were kept simple and it was at this stage that he made decisions about what to put in and what to leave out. For instance, in the Market House scene the photograph showed lots of white vans parked between the Market House and the right hand edge of the image, presumably it was a market day, and there were no figures nor was there a van to the left of the Market House blocking the bus bay.

 

The next step was applying background washes while avoiding the light and white areas. This was done with a large synthetic mop brush. Later he used a smaller squirrel mop and a No. 8 round to add some hints of detail.

 

I was fascinated by his palette - Winsor red, ultramarine blue, yellow ochre and neutral tint. He also had a cerulean blue but didn't make much use of this.

 

More washes

These demonstrations gave dramatic and lively results. I wonder if any of our members will have the courage to attempt such a loose and dynamic way of painting. I think its worth trying. The experiment will only cost you paper and a little time. Perhaps its worth setting yourself a time limit, somewhere between 30 and 60 minutes will force you to simplify.

 

 

 

 

 

Shadows washed in

 

The Market House

 

 

The second painting shows the famous detached bell-tower which sits alongside Ledbury Parish Church. To the left is the Prince of Wales, surely the best pub in the county with its wide selection of real ales. Also on the left in the foreground is the entrance to the Weavers Gallery where Ledbury Art Society holds its exhibitions. Behind the railings and out of the picture is the Butchers Row Museum housed in a timber frame building that used to stand in a row of buildings in the middle of the High Street. Beyond the pub and not visible here is a magnificent timber framed building, formerly a Grammar School it now house the Heritage Centre.

 

Church Street sketch

 

Darker tones added

 

 

More darks

 

Church Street - the completed demonstration

 

The full article is here

Blog article from Ledbury Art Society on my recent two hour demo there

Tim Wilmot - Ledbury Scenes in Watercolour

 

The Market House, Ledbury

Tim has a very loose style and this enabled him to complete two paintings in less than two hours. Impressive! He brought along two photographs of Ledbury: the Market House and Church Lane looking towards the church tower and spire.

Based in Bristol, Tim specialises in vibrant watercolours exploiting the medium with tone and light. He has painted all his life and is completely self-taught. He loves to paint landscapes and is well known for his harbour and boat paintings. Nearly all his landscapes include figures and cars to give focal interest to the scene. You can see more of his work on his website https://www.timwilmot.com/ His YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/timwilmot has more than 40 full length demonstration videos with commentary.

 

Below you'll find images showing the progress of this and his second painting and also one of his  YouTube videos.

Pencil sketch

Wet sky wash

For both demonstrations Tim used a quarter sheet of 300gsm Saunders Waterford watercolour paper taped around the edges with masking tape. He doesn't stretch the paper so it does cockle a bit as he works but it dries flat. The first step for each was to quickly sketch the scenes using a 3B pencil. The drawings were kept simple and it was at this stage that he made decisions about what to put in and what to leave out. For instance, in the Market House scene the photograph showed lots of white vans parked between the Market House and the right hand edge of the image, presumably it was a market day, and there were no figures nor was there a van to the left of the Market House blocking the bus bay.

 

The next step was applying background washes while avoiding the light and white areas. This was done with a large synthetic mop brush. Later he used a smaller squirrel mop and a No. 8 round to add some hints of detail.

 

I was fascinated by his palette - Winsor red, ultramarine blue, yellow ochre and neutral tint. He also had a cerulean blue but didn't make much use of this.

 

More washes

These demonstrations gave dramatic and lively results. I wonder if any of our members will have the courage to attempt such a loose and dynamic way of painting. I think its worth trying. The experiment will only cost you paper and a little time. Perhaps its worth setting yourself a time limit, somewhere between 30 and 60 minutes will force you to simplify.

 

 

 

 

 

Shadows washed in

 

The Market House

 

 

The second painting shows the famous detached bell-tower which sits alongside Ledbury Parish Church. To the left is the Prince of Wales, surely the best pub in the county with its wide selection of real ales. Also on the left in the foreground is the entrance to the Weavers Gallery where Ledbury Art Society holds its exhibitions. Behind the railings and out of the picture is the Butchers Row Museum housed in a timber frame building that used to stand in a row of buildings in the middle of the High Street. Beyond the pub and not visible here is a magnificent timber framed building, formerly a Grammar School it now house the Heritage Centre.

 

Church Street sketch

 

Darker tones added

 

 

More darks

 

Church Street - the completed demonstration

 

The full article is here

Ledbury Art Society have their annual exhibition in the Weavers Gallery, Church Lane, Ledbury HR8 1DW, Monday 19 - Sunday 25 November. They should have at least 70 paintings on display!

 

After the market has gone - St Foy la Grande, France

St Foy la Grande, France, 15" x 11"

St Foy has a very busy and popular Saturday Market in SW France.  I took a photo of the main street on a Saturday afternoon, after the market had cleared up, and the town is really quiet compared to the morning's hustle and bustle.  My photo looked like Armageddon had happened, so I added in some people and a few cars.  I love bunting across the street.  A great way of connecting the two sides and adds a little bit of framing over the top.

Painted on Saunders Waterford, Cold Press, 140lbs.

 

Biddestone Plein Air #3 - Outside the White Horse Pub

Biddestone, UK, 15" x 11"

Trying to prove to myself that you can do a number of paintings from the same spot, but just look in a different direction.  Useful exercise and here what captured me was really just the table with its slats all leading into the composition.  Also with the sun having moved around after lunch, a great chance to do some contra jour ans and have a figure coming towards me.

Painted on Saunders Waterford, Cold Press, 300 gms.

 

Bristol Savages Sketch Night - "Season of Mists"

Watercolour, 15" x 11"

So Wednesday Night Sketch Night at my Art Group, the Bristol Savages, and Chairman for the evening gave the topic "Season of Mists" after the well know Keats poem, "To Autumn".  So we have 2 hours to come up with a painting without use of reference material.  So from memory/imagination.  Well going on the mists theme (I don't do mists - I like sun!) I went with a theme based on Lynmouth Harbour at low tide and put the hills in the background into a very light and soft value.  But had to bring some sun in the foreground.

Painted on Saunders Waterford, Cold Press, 300 gms.

 

Biddestone Plein Air #2 - Outside the White Horse Pub

Biddestone, Wiltshire, 15" x 11"

Just a slightly different angle from #1 plein air, and a view right down the front of the White Horse pub and the row of pretty cottages on this side of the village centre.  I raised the pub sign just a little to suit the composition.  Can't remember if there really was a 'Real Ale' sign there, but they served real ales in the pub anyway!  Last painting before lunch on the day with the 'Exiles' Plein Air painting group.

Painted on Saunders Waterford, Cold Press, 300 gms paper.