Landscape Watercolour of South Stoke Bath, 15" x 11".

I mostly have used Bockingford and Saunders watercolour papers over the last few years but decided to try Fabriano's top of the range paper (well cotton I think) in the rough.  It had a stiffer feel compared to Saunders, and had a bit if a shiny surface too.  I think you get accustomed to certain papers, and for me this took a bit of getting used to.  It's a brighter surface and less absorbent I felt than Saunders.  Probably a little rougher than the equivalent Saunders as well.  It would probably be good if you like giving your paper a lot of abuse and rubbing out.  Nice paper, but would need quite a few sheets for me to get used to.

Landscape Watercolour of Lanzarote, 22" x 15".

A larger size of a scene I have done before, and a few minor changes with the boats.  The composition was simple - basic background, row of boats and water in the foreground with reflections.  Trickiest bit was preserving the light in the sky (paper left showing) and the lighter part of the sea, without the darker surrounding colours creeping in.

Landscape Watercolour of Lynmouth, 15" x 11".

The East Lyn river, passing through large boulders as it makes it's way down to the sea at Lynmouth.  This was quite a complex scene with a) the background buildings and trying to decide how much detail to put in, and then the rocks and boulders with their different shapes and shadows.

Landscape Watercolour of South Stoke, 22" x 15".

A second demo painting for the South Stoke Art Group.  The village pub, called the Packhorse, has sadly closed and is now slowly deteriorating.  I resurrected it for this sketch and tried to imagine as it was, open for business, with the village church tower just off to the right.  Steps for the painting, 1) Sky plus initial wash over building and foreground.  I dropped in a bit more pigment on the building while still damp.  2)  Then the darker roof, in quite a warm tone.  3) Church Tower.  4) Shrubs/trees left and right.  5) Then a second wash on the road, painting around the car.  6) Shadows along the wall and foreground and then the figures and window details.

Landscape Watercolour of Alexandria, 22" x 15".

A larger size painting of an Alexandrian Market, than my previous paintings.  Lots of earthy warm colours went into this one.  Steps 1) Sky.  2) Wash on buildings down to street, leaving out parasols, some figures and stall covers on the left.  3)  Details on buildings in really loose.  4)  Parasols and shop blinds and figures.  5)  Dark shadows running across the middle and main shadows on the right hand building.  6)  Details of power cables and parasol poles.

Landscape Watercolour of Tetbury, 15" x 11".

Chipping Street in central Tetbury, looking towards Christ Church on the right.  The day was actually quite cloudy, so I had to assume some shadows and the largish foreground shadow.  There's a little bit of negative painting around the windows on the left hand building showing some light, and around the car.  Not too careful to still leave a loose feeling hopefully.

Landscape Watercolour of Yate, 22" x 15".

Last year I was kindly invited to the South Stoke Art Group in Bath.  This was my first demonstration painting and the theme was 'figures in landscape'.  Of course figures help a landscape painting with greater interest, help the composition and giving it scale. 

The scene is quite a simple one - a single cottage, dark trees in the background, a bit of grass to the right, and almost centre my figure with dog.

Landscape Watercolour of Chipping Sodbury, 22" x 15".

An old pub in Chipping Sodbury, the Beaufort Hunt.  In the winter it always has a nice log fire going.  Anyway, steps for the painting 1) Sky and wash over rest of painting, coming warmer on the road.  2) After fairly dry, went in with the roof tops and paint around figures and car tops.  3) Cars and windscreens.  4)  Deeper shadows of the buildings and timber details.  5)  Last was figure details and deeper shadows of the cars.

This painting won first prize in my local art competition, the 'Yate Open' in 2013.

Landscape Watercolour of Madrid, 15" x 11".

The Plaza Provincia just adjacent to the larger Plaza Mayor in central Madrid. Steps for this painting were 1) Sky (leaving out the roof of the tower right) and foreground (foreground a little darker coming towards us).  2) Roof tops, painting around the upper windows.  3) After that's all really dry, the buildings go in very dark with the warmish tones of the main building.  Paint around the figures.  4)  Shadow of buildings with a little cobalt in them.  5)  Figures and bollards.  Lines on pavement.  6) Highlights on bollards and some window frame details.

Landscape Watercolour of Chipping Sodbury, 22" x 15".

Bowling Hill on the entry to the market town of Chipping Sodbury - the main road is to the left and there's a little dead end on the right, lined with period buildings.  Large trees on the left provide a bit of dark contrast to the light of the road surface.  While the road wash was still a bit damp, it was splattered with clear water and a bit of extra pigment dropped in.

Painted on Saunders Waterford Rough, 140 lbs.