Landscape Watercolour of Costa Brava, 15" x 11".
The quaint old town of Tossa de Mar on the Costa Brava, and the backdrop of the busy restaurants just behind the beach. I suppose painting beaches can be a little bit boring, so I have introduced some extra textures with the water splatter marks (put in while the paint was damp) and dry brush strokes of cobalt blue dragged across when everything was dry.
Landscape Watercolour of Costa Brava, 15" x 11".
The boat trip vendors with their booths on the beach at Tossa de Mar on the Costa Brava. It's late in the day and the last tickets are being sold. The booths were quite white, but with the light coming almost towards me, I made their tone darker (but still lighter than the buildings behind) making them stand out against the beach. There was a bit of negative painting on the figures and their lighter tops.
Landscape Watercolour of Bristol, 15" x 11".
A view of the promenade running west from the centre of Bristol along the city's waterfront, with it's many different types of boats tethered up along the way. In the distance, the light catches the roof tops of the apartment blocks of the 'Hotwells' district. A few dry brush strokes make the railings and furniture on the right.
Landscape Watercolour of Barcelona, 15" x 11".
The 'Ramblas' in Barcelona - a mile long, wide street in central Barcelona, lined with everything from florists, cafes, souvenir shops and many human statues. I think it made a good watercolour subject with the light and shade contrasts of the buildings in shade, then the brightly lit market stall awnings, their shade and then the pavement.
Watercolour of Marrakech, 15" x 11".
A little while back I was watching a cable TV channel and a travel program about Marrakech. I put my telly on pause when there was a shot of a workshop and this guy working hard at his trade fashioning some metal into something useful I'm sure. Anyway, I was struck by the lovely colours of the walls and their many tones. A slight departure from my normal landscape pictures.
Landscape Watercolour of Bath, 15" x 11".
Pultney Bridge in Bath and one of only a few bridges in the world with shops on it (another famous one is in venice of course). The view shows the weir over the river here and a favourite place for tourists to take snaps from the other side. My sketch was done quite quickly and looking at it now, I seemed to go quite dark on the buildings.
Painted on Saunders Waterford Rough paper 140 lbs.
Landscape Watercolour of Girona, 15" x 11".
The brightly coloured houses along the River Onyar running through central Girona. They're really quite brightly coloured with different shades of Ochre, Reds, Terracotta, all the warm hues. Shame that because of the distance of the houses, I couldn't get any people into the composition which I normally try to do. I suppose there's a few random blobs of lighter bits above the wall where the shadow comes down, and that might give some hint of the locals.
Landscape Watercolour of Padstow, 15" x 11"
Undeterred from my previous attempt at depicting Padstow Harbour, I tried another one, this time using a different reference photo and a different view. This was more a practice of tonal values and trying to get the effect of very calm conditions in this sheltered harbour.
Landscape Watercolour of Sitges, 15" x 11".
Sitges' Marina area is located slightly outside of the centre of town, in an area called Port d'Aiguadolç. It is a location dedicated to yachts, boats and a small fishing fleet. The marina's seafront is lined with bars and restaurants, all of which have an outdoor terrace to enjoy Sitges' fine weather and look out at the boats.
Landscape Watercolour of Yate, 15" x 11".
A scene very local to me and an old part of Yate which is now mainly a 'new' town. Goose Green is so named because of the Goose Fairs held there a century or two ago. I think what attracted me to the subject was the dark shadows going across the road cutting horizontal lines up the lane. I put the figure and dog in as it's a popular area for dog walking.