Original Watercolours by Tim Wilmot

Shop window reflections, Fabriano, Italy

Fabriano, Italy, 22" x 15".

Via Enrico Cialdini, Fabriano.  With some big shop windows, a chance to experiment with some reflections.  This is the main street going through the middle of this beautiful Italian town and there's plenty of traffic.  If I did this scene again, I might try and have the light coloured person swapped with the dark person to its right.  Having the dark figure in front of a white car and a lighter person in front of a dark background might make the picture totally different.  The smoke effects are done with some white gouache dropped into moist clear water.  It's normally the last stage of the painting.

 

Boats and Surf, Playa de las Canteras, Gran Canaria

Gran Canaria, Spain, 15" x 11".

The Playa de las Canteras in the north of the island and a composition of boats and people on the beach.  Sand can be a tricky thing to paint.  It's almost like painting moving water - you have these highlighted peaks and then bits of shadow behind them.  Timing is very important.  The beach was is laid down then paint in the shadows and lift out the highlights.  I have tried also to create a good bit of bright light from the surf and put some darker figures in front for contrast.

 

Plaza El Patriotismo, Santa Cruz de Tenerife

Santa Cruz, Tenerife, 15" x 11".

Plaza El Patriotismo, a busy square in the main city in Tenerife.  In this painting I have a cool left hand side and a warm right hand side - generally a pleasing thing to have in a watercolour.  The right hand buildings were done in a loose style with a suggestion of a few windows and perspective.  I don't normally paint around tree trunks against a dark background, but here there is only three, so a fairly easy think to do and of course date palm tree trunks are rarely 100% vertical with smooth sides.