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Watercolour 15" x 11" on Bockingford NOT paper 300 gms
San Antonio is a well known clubing centre on Ibiza especially during the summer months, but during the off peak season it has a more relaxed pace. This is my 'impression' of a side street off the main promenade with it's palm lined avenues shading the cafes and bars. I think the foreground worked okay in this painting by not overworking it and definitely keeping it vague.
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Watercolour 15" x 11" on Bockingford NOT Paper 300 gms
The perimeter around the citidel in the old town area of Faro has a great collection of all the styles of period Portuguese architecture with wondeful hues of ochres, yellows, dark terracotta roof tiles and bright white-washed walls. The odd Phoenix palm breaks up the lines and throws shadows on the walls.
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Watercolour 15" x 11" on Bockingford Rough Paper 300 gms
Marina Ibiza is right in the heart of Eivissa town and offers a nice walk along the promenade to admire the posh yachts, most of which never seem to go anywhere. But deckhands are hard at work scrubbing and polishing for future guests. Overlooking the marina are many new apartment developments with their terraces angled away to give great views over the bay for their lucky owners.
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Watercolour 15" x 11" on Bockingford NOT paper 300 gms
A bit more of an experimental one here but trying to use all the main techniques of watercolour: A wash on the sky and left hand building, a bit of negative painting on the parasols, wet in wet (always a bit risky, but then you let watercolour do it's own thing) and dry brush strokes. I think if I did this painting again, I would make the deep shadows between the buildings a bit fresher and use less strokes.
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Watercolour 15" x 11" on Saunders Waterford Rough Paper 300 gms
This is a busy town in a busy part of the Côte d'Azur - Monaco is one side and Nice is on the other. A few of the features that make it attractive to visitors are the seaside, with long sandy beaches (the bay is supposed to be in the top 5 worldwide), terrace cafés and restaurants. Villefranche’s Old Town, with most buildings dating from the 12th and 13th centuries, is filled with wonderful provençal colours, flowers, and balconies — all cascading down the hillside to the sea and the waterfront quayside.
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Watercolour on Saunders Waterford Rough paper 300 gms
The harbour in Eivissa is in the old city, and is a busy marina & ferry port with regular trips over to the island of Formenterra plus other mediterranean destinations. With a commanding position over the port, the 'high city' of Dalt Vila is a great backdrop, with views over the bay and beyond.
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Watercolour 15" x 11" on Saunders Waterford Rough paper 300 gms
Old Town Limassol on the Greek side of Cyprus, has a typical Greek feeling about it despite some of the Turkish in it's historical past (and the Venetians and the English have had their influence also). I think what rescued this painting for me was the shadow of the external electrical box or whatever, on the old building in the centre. Sometimes adding a little detail even though you think you might ruin the fresh look of the picture, can just pull it back, especially a little shadow or highlight.
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Watercolour 15" x 11" on Saunders Waterford Rough Paper 300 gms
Mudanya's a prosperous, vibrant town siting on the southern coast of the Marmara Sea (the bit that connects the Black Sea with the Mediterranean). The wonderful old houses here in the centre of town are characterised with their upper floors being larger than the ground floor. Not sure why, or whether it's the Greek style, but it makes an interesting subject and offers great shadows for watercolour.
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Watercolour 15" x 11" on Bockingford NOT Paper 300 gms
My last painting of narrow Alexandrian streets for a bit and I tried to be a bit more adventurous with the initial wash and a bit of Alizarin Crimson on the right hand side to make the sense of darkness of the street yet still a bit of warmth. Anyway hope I got the feeling of the heat of the place and the dusty ground.
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Watercolour 15" x 11" on Bockingford NOT paper 300 gms
The many street markets in Alexandria have agreat buzz about them with many different products on offer - all the normal mediterranean veg, herbs & spices, and plenty of fish and shellfish. The nice thing is that unless you're in a tourist area you won't get the high pressure sales from the vendors if you approach too close. But it's about as far from the aisles of Tescos as you can imagine. I went a bit looser with this painting which I think turned out okay to catch the essence of the scene.
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