Bath, UK, 22" x 15"
A bigger size painting for a scene I have done before, but just introduce different figures. The scene is a good one to choose for watercolour because of the different tonal values through the composition - the light coming across the foreground and some darks with the centre figure and larger figure right. Not many cars in this area and they would detract from what is mainly a pedestrian area.
St Foy La Grande, France, 15" x 11".
My fascination with rows of parked cars continues. One of the backstreets near where the popular Saturday market happens in the South West town of St Foy la Grande. Maybe the cars belong to shoppers - don't know. Painted with my 3-colour palette of selected Sennelier paints.
Painted on Saunders Waterford paper, NOT surface and 300 gms weight.
Avoncliff, near Bath, 15" x 11".
My last plein air at Avoncliff. Well it was windy on the last one, even windier under the bridge. Not only did my lightweight easel fly away, but my palette ended up in the mud. I must find a way of tethering the thing down or adding some ballast for stability. Anyway, quickly done in about half an hour before I had to pack up and leave. Also done with my 3-colour palette (plus mud).
Painted on Saunders Waterford, NOT, 300 gms.
Madrid, Spain, 15" x 11"
Rows of parked cars feature a lot in my paintings and here's 2 or 3. A view looking down Calle Amaniel in central Madrid. Both cars and buildings are simplified here - made easier when it's contre jour. Not sure if there was a pedestrian crossing in the foreground, but I think it needed something in that area to lead the eye round to the right down another side street.
Porlock Weir, England, 15" x 11".
An exercise in simplification. The distant boats of which there were many, are simplified here - less in number and just thinking about their basic hull shapes and lines and masts. Painting done with my 3-colour palette, so I decided to make the harbour floor a cool colour to be compatible with the blue tarps covering the boats.
Painted on Saunders Waterford, 300 gms, NOT.
Madrid, Spain, 15" x 11"
I took an old photo I had taken and tried to make something of it. The main thing I change when painting based on a photo is moving the people around. My photo had loads of people which I reduced in numbers for my painting. I especially wanted some people of the left interacting with the shadows and columns.
Painted on Saunders Waterford, 300 gms, NOT paper.
Avoncliff, near Bath, 15" x 11"
Another plein air on qtr sheet, and a contre jour scene. I used my travel palette of just three colours. It was a very windy day and my lightweight easel blew over a couple of times - hence the erratic stripe coming from one of the wheel arches. But overall, hopefully a scene showing the strong summer sunshine coming towards us.
Painted on Saunders Waterford, 300gms, NOT.
Watercolour, 22" x 15"
So I had just purchased a second hand draughtsman board, and after setup had to try a half sheet scene to see how I got on. It took a bit of getting used to as regards getting the lighting correct (I have an angle poise lamp above the board) and the angle of the board (the easel I mainly use can be tilted in all sorts of directions). So far so good. A simple scene, contre jour with foreground, middle ground and background. Now onto the next one!
Painted on Saunders Waterford, 300 gms, NOT.
Burano, Italy, 15" x 22"
A plein air on the island of Burano and a view up the main street towards the bell tower of Parish S Martino Vescovo. A couple of challenges with this one - It was a warm day with quite a bit of wind. The larger the size of your picture, the quicker you need to work or use very big brushes! Second challenge was half the way into the painting I had to stop and make way for a funeral procession plus coffin. I was blocking the way because of the view, so my fault 100%.
Painted on Saunders Waterford, 300 gms NOT.
Hotwells, Bristol, 15" x 22".
A plein air from last year, done on a trip out with the 'Exiles' painting group. This time a fairly dull day (we had some light rain as well to contend with) painting down the end of the harbour side area of Bristol. Painting was done in an hour or so and shows the waterfront with Hotwell and Clifton area of Bristol as the background. Luckily when it rained, we had the cover of the boatyard behind us to take shelter and complete our sketches.
Painted on Saunders Waterford, NOT 300 gms.