Landscape Watercolour of Madrid, 15" x 11".
One of the main entrances to the enclosed Plaza Mayor in Madrid. A slight incline, up through a majestic archway and then the square itself, with just a hint of the parasols shading the restaurant customers on the left inside the square. I think with hindsight the picture needs a few more figures in there on the street - the two there look lonely.
Landscape Watercolour of Chipping Sodbury, 15" x 11".
Higher up the High Street in Chipping Sodbury and a scene of mainly private houses. Steps in this painting - 1) Sky, painting around roof tops and chimneys. 2) A main wash over the buildings and road, painting around the highlights on the cars. 3) Darken up the roof tops a bit more with a warm colour. 4) Second wash over the road coming darker in the foreground. 5) Windows, painted in loosely. 6) Car details and their shadows, then figures.
Landscape Watercolour of Sitges, 15" x 11".
My 600th post and a row of restaurants on the sea front in the resort of Sitges on the Costa Dorada. Hopefully the feeling here of strong sun entering left and catching some of the balcony blinds and tops of the apartments. On the ground floor there's a row of restaurants with not so many customers yet.
Landscape Watercolour of Chipping Sodbury, 22" x 15".
A view of the top end of Chipping Sodbury High Street, away from the shops and mainly private houses or offices. Sometimes between the houses, are small archways to small mews and back gardens. Most of the houses are characterised by repeated gable windows (easier to paint head-on!). Chipping Sodbury has apparently the second widest 'market town' high street in the UK! Major challenge painting the buildings here are whether to paint all the white window frames, so I've just suggested a few here, painted in with weak white gouache.
Landscape Watercolour of the Cotswolds, 15" x 11"
A commission and a typical country lane scene. Winter snow is a great subject for watercolour with it's tonal contrasts and dropping in bits of colour to make the snow a bit more interesting.
This painting is sold.
Landscape Watercolour of Bristol, 15" x 11".
A scene looking across the Bristol Waterfront, with on the right, Pero's Bridge or the Horned Bridge, which joins Queens Square with the Millennium Square. Hopefully an autumnal feel with the low light level, long shadows, a bit of a stormy sky and the fallen leaves on the ground. The building on the far side used to be warehouses on the actual waterfront, but have now been converted to popular bars/restaurants.
Landscape Watercolour of Bath, 15" x 11".
The rear of Jollys Department Store form Queens Square in Bath. The trees in Queen Square are casting shadows over the light honey coloured buildings of Bath in this well-known square. Tricky bit in this painting was the timing of the dappled shadows on the buildings and road. The base wash was whetted and then allowed to go damp, then in with a darker pigment of the shadows, so a sort of wet in wet.
Landscape Watercolour of Madrid, 15" x 11".
The Palacio Real de Madrid, or Royal Palace (but the Royals don't live there) with the formal gardens laid out to the east. A stunning building simplified by me (sorry) with all the architectural details and statues along the tops of columns - just described with little blobs. Hopefully there's the feeling here of a hot summers day.
Painted on Saunders Waterford Rough, 140 lbs.
Landscape Watercolour of Bath, 15" x 11"
A pretty little valley just to the south of the village of South Stoke, looking towards some majestic buildings on the crest of a hill. Hopefully a lot of watercolour techniques are used here from washes, wet in wet, dry brush strokes and negative painting around the car.
Landscape Watercolour of Newquay, 15" x 11".
Small fishing craft along the water's edge in Newquay Harbour. Perhaps a bit of an abstract and moody one this for me with lots of complex horizontal shapes to contend with of the tops of the boats and the buildings behind, with the strong low light coming towards me.