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Landscape Watercolour of Lynmouth, 15" x 11".
The seafront at Lynmouth in North Devon, looking towards the bright red medieval tower on the quayside and the Exmoor hills meeting the sea in the background. There was a lot of architectural details on the facades of the Victorian buildings here and I suppose the decision was whether to put them in or leave them out. Well I put some of them in with a bit of white gouache, so a compromise.
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Landscape Watercolour of Kusadisi, 15" x 11".
A view across the bay at Kusadisi towards the mountains behind the town. This was quite a tough sketch as the day was partially cloudy yet bright, so no deep shadows as such, and the hues of the town, boats, quayside and the fishing nets were all so similar.
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Landscape Watercolour of Staithes, 15" x 11".
High Tide (I think) at Staithes, a pretty fishing village on the North Yorkshire coast. The backdrop to the town are the very warm red cliffs that rise up in distinct layers. I think the blueish blob on the water surface must have been a happy accident. The temptation was to go over it, or wash it out.
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Landscape Watercolour of Madrid, 15" x 11".
The curved buildings with their Cafes on Plaza Oriente which have wonderful views over the Royal Palace and formal gardens. I tried to exaggerate a bit the warmth of the buildings catching some late afternoon sun and show a bit of contrast with the figures against the dark background in the distance. The signs were a little made up to add a bit more detail to the sketch.
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Landscape Watercolour of Chipping Sodbury, 15" x 11".
First was was Yellow ochre over the sky top right, leading into Cerulean Blue to the left, away from the sun. Coming down the page, the wash had Alizarin crimson and Cobalt Blue added to it for the buildings and road. After this completely dried, I added the roof tops and shadows right. Then the darker shadows left with the impression of a solitary tree. Next the car and people plus their respective shadows. Last was white highlights and dry brush strokes on the road.
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Landscape Watercolour of Lanzarote, 15" x 11".
The promenade along the side of the new marina at Puerto Calero Lanzarote. Major challenge here is the fifty thousand or so boats and their masts and rigging being very complicated on the left. But I just made a few impressions of the sterns of a few and the cabin tops and leave the rest to the imagination hopefully.
Painted on Saunders Waterford paper, 140 lbs.
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Landscape Watercolour of Yate, 15" x 11".
A recent visit by some traditional gypsies to my home town, offered a new subject with a couple of heavy duty ponies munching away at the grass verge (kept from wondering by some temporary fencing) and a bright yellow caravan with a curved roof. It was a quick sketch and a bit of a practice at painting some horses at distance.
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Landscape Watercolour of Tavira, 15" x 11".
Another Taxi rank picture (I can see a theme coming here), and sort of looking into the light, with the impression of a road-side cafe on the left. I think I maybe could have gone a little darker with the background behind the taxis, but overall it was an okayish sketch. Dry brush strokes as always on the road.
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Landscape Watercolour of Exmouth, 15" x 11".
The Starcross-Exmouth ferry, docked at Exmouth Harbour and the entrance to the marina here. The estuary here is very busy in the summer months with all sorts of traffic going up and down. This is low tide with the pontoon down, and the view across to the sand dunes on the Starcross side.
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Landscape Watercolour of Madeira, 15" x 11".
A narrow back street in the capital of Madeira, Funchal. A good practice for me of doing some 'wet in wet' painting in the shadows of the building and the figure on the right, to try and blend in the shapes and not make them stand out so much. Maybe the red roof was a little too bright, but they are that colour. If I did this again, I would probably add in more detail and take my time.
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