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Watercolour of Chipping Sodbury, 15" x 11" on Saunders Waterford Rough 300 gms.
Horse Street in the market town of Chipping Sodbury. 200 metres ahead, the road takes a sharp left, and the retail shops make way for residencies. The main was set the scene with the sky done quickly - warm clouds first, then dropped in some cerulean blue. Down to the foreground, it was a yellow ochre patch on the left and a light grey for the road (ultramarine blue and burnt sienna).
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Watercolour of Ilfracombe Devon, 15" x 11" on Saunders Waterford Rough 300 gms
A view across Ilfracombe Harbour from it's small car park on one side. What caught my attention for the composition was the slate roof of St Nicholas Chapel catching the morning light, and being the brightest thing in the picture. Small parts of the background buildings were lifted out while the wash was still moist to give the appearance of smoke or a misty bit.
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Watercolour of Newquay Cornwall, 22" x 15" on Saunders Waterford Rough 300 gms.
Central Inn, as the name suggests is a pub located in the centre of Newquay. By night it's a very lively place and by day a nice place to have a coffee or sit outside if the weather's nice. Round the area, there's plenty of fast food outlets and of course Cornish pasty shops. Put in plenty of bright red in this one starting with the parasols outside the pub, then the no entry sign and another splash on the left for good measure.
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Watercolour of South Stoke, 22" x 15" on Saunders Waterford Rough 300 gms
A Plein Air demo done for a local art group. Subject is a wonderful old house in the centre of South Stoke Village with commanding views over the valley below. I am not sure if I did the colours of the stonework justice - they were really glowing in the morning sunshine. And coming up the lane is my normal 'man and dog' to give a bit of scale.
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Watercolour of St Raphael France, 15" x 11" on Saunders Waterford Rough 300 gms
A view looking through the trees and palm trees running along the coast at St Raphael and over to the other side of the bay. A chance to run wild with the brush with all those leaves and branches. Thinner branches and leaves were done with a 'dagger' brush. Green was mixed with ultramarine blue and cad yellow. Of course the darks and shadows on the ground went in last.
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Watercolour of St Tropez, 15" x 11" on Saunders Waterford Rough 300 gms.
The Rue Francois Sibilli in St Tropez and lined with top-end shops yet still has a laid back feel. I can see I went to town with plenty of heavy warm tones for the buildings, bits of cadmium orange mixed with yellow ochre and light red. All cooled down a bit and darker into the foreground shadows.
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Watercolour of Faversham, 15" x 11" on Saunders Waterford Rough 300 gms
The Guildhall Market building in Faversham. Painted from a reference photo, much of the detail on the right hand side and background were simplified. The pillars had some dry brush strokes to get the texture of the stone. It was also quite an exercise in perspective with all the shadows and beams going in different directions.
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Watercolour of St Tropez, 15" x 11" on Saunders Waterford Rough 300 gms.
The buildings surrounding St Tropez harbour have this lovely warm reddish tone and sit well with the cooler colours in this cloudy spring day. Painting was kept loose - there's too many details of windows, people on the far quayside, and paraphernalia to worry about. Watercolour lends itself well to these bands of light, dark, light, dark coming down the picture.
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Watercolour of Newquay, 22" x 15" on Saunders Waterford Rough 300 gms
A stormy day out to sea beyond Newquay Harbour. Shellfish is the primary catch here for the local fishermen. Sky was done quite quickly - wetted all over, then drop in some random clouds, leaving spaces. Then drop in some sky - here a greeny mix of cobalt turquoise and cobalt blue. The waves were just unpainted paper with soft top and bottom to it's edge.
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Watercolour of Saint Raphael, 22" x 15" on Sanders Waterford Rough 300 gms
The marina at Saint Raphael in South East France. The wide promenade here follows the perimeter with lots of right-angled bends. This is the posh end with smarter up-market yachts. Further away from town the boats are smaller and a bit shabby looking. Thickish pigment was used for the palm trees - maybe an easy type of tree to paint with a few bold strokes from the crown of the tree outwards. White gouache was used for the ropes to show up against the darker background.
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