Original Watercolours by Tim Wilmot

Puerto del Carmen - Old Town 9 - and painting on the non normal side of Saunders Waterford

Puerto del Carmen, Lanzarote, 15" x 11"

Not sure exactly where this was painted from, but another typical Spanish street scene with white-washed buildings.  This was done quite quickly in about 45 minutes.  The white-washed buildings are not of course white, but inherit other colours and I first put in some random bluish tinges here and there.  The middle figure was a bit of an afterthought - just needed something in there.  Notice the paper watermark bottom left corner?  Yes, I painted on the non-normal side - on Saunders you get more of a random pattern on this side. 

 

Tavira, Algarve 17

Tavira, Portugal, 15" x 11".

These terracotta roofs are always a dilema for me - all those tiles and distinct peaks and troughs casting deep shadows.  So do you paint every line and detail or just suggest a few darker areas and lighter areas catching the light?  Maybe I've gone down the middle with this one with a little bit of both.  Certainly if they were very distant buildings there would be no detail and maybe lighter in tone with a hint of blue.

 

New Harbour, Chania, Crete, 3

Chania, Crete, 22" x 15".

A lone fishing boat moored up in the 'newer' harbour of Chania, Crete.  If it wasn't for the sun shelter over the boat, I might not have gone for this composition.  The shelter almost becomes a focal point and a nice bit of light contrast against the darker water.  The background apartment blocks were left very simple.  When the darker reflections were done of the far boats, while the paint was still damp I lifted out the lighter areas below the hulls.

 

Muristan St Old City Jerusalem

Jerusalem, Israel, 15" x 11".

A side street in the Old City area of Jerusalem.  Mainly souvenir shops and cafes here with their curved blinds (tricky to get right and the perspective).  Again, I am trying to connect all the shapes with some deep shadows, shadows which are cooler at the bottom with a touch of cobalt blue.  Also in this painting I did a bit of scraping out with the sharp end of a nail file.  You have to scrape when the paint is still moist and timing is important - too early and the gap you made closes out, too late and you damage the surface of the paper.

 

Small Square - Faro Old Town

Faro, Portugal, 15" x 11".

Not intentional, but I ended up with a cool left side to this painting and a warm right side, and they merge in the middle.  Consciously I also tried to connect objects horizontally - for example the parked cars and their shadows joining with the next.  Two figures on the left, connect the foreground with the middle ground.  The other thing I was thinking of was go easy on the white gouache for highlights - painting around the lighter areas I think is just as nice and less overworked.