Watercolour 15" x 11"

My late brother, Ian Wilmot, was a very good photographer.  I was looking through his archives the other day from his travels, and quite a few of his black and white photos (that was his specialty for mood and atmosphere) I thought could be paintable.  Now I have no idea where this location is, but I believe it's in Cornwall.  Painting from a black and white photo is great for helping you and suggesting values, but you're on your own with the colours!

Cheers Ian, wherever you are!  RIP.

#watercolor #cornwallharbour #cornwallpainting

Watercolour 15" x 11"

Benalmadena and a couple of kiosks on the pavement.  I liked the angle of the light coming down the street balancing the angle of the background roof tops.  I also dropped in a little yellow into the foreground shadows to connect with that background.  The figure was an afterthought - there was a little slither of light and I used that as a bit of highlight on the figure's head.

Watercolor 15" x 11"

A bit of an imaginary one this.  Just taking the outline of some buildings and loosely basing the composition on a view towards Kingswear on the other side of the river Dart from Dartsmouth.  I'm going for a fairly calm scene here and a touch of bright light ober in the distance to the right.

#riverdart #dartsmouthart #watercolor

Watercolor 15" x 11"

The bridge over the river that gave its name to the region of Dordogne in South West France.  My source photo had no bridge reflections to talk of.  Photos can be quite boring and uninteresting.  So I made more of a feature of the reflections, lifted the horizon a bit and introduced a small rowing boat as a focal point

#watercolor #bergerac #river dordogne

My favourite aspect, contre jour and painting against the light.  Yate Rocks again, near me, and a view up the road back into Yate from the river.  This semi lockdown has a nice effect of making me think more about local subjects.  How many great paining opportunities are there within a mile or two of your home, or even your garden (if you are lucky to have one)?

#watercolor #contrejour #yate #sodbury

A well-known 'beauty spot' near to where I live called Yate Rocks.  It's out from the main town and a narrow 'Ford' (a shallow place in a river or stream allowing one to walk or drive across) surrounded by some pretty cottages.  My first attempt at painting a willow tree with its long pendulous branches.

Just a cautionary note to be careful not to use too much white paint in watercolor when creating highlights.  Use in moderation, normally towards the end of the painting, just to pick up a few brighter areas in a sunlit scene.  So here, masts, rigging gets the treatment.  Don't over do it, especially with weak white paint that dries like a grey, milky colour.

An imaginary scene based perhaps on somewhere in Cornwall, UK.

2 Practices for my Watercolor Workshop last April and the live painting I did on the day.  All about a bit of freedom with the brush and using your imagination to come up with a stormy seascape.  Heavy use of viridian green.

Next workshop is August 29th and we are painting a tricky street scene perspective, some figures and some lively shadows.  More information at

https://www.crowdcast.io/e/august-2020-watercolor/register

A view of the old Catholic Church which has a commanding position on the higher part of Sitges and great view over the beach and town.  This, perhaps a more unusual view with the surrounding high wall in front of the church and a framing of the scene with the buildings on either side of the street.  Quite a few of the darker brush strokes were done when the paper was still damp, so I get a bit of a softer edge to some of them.

Watercolor 15" x 11"

My latest YouTube video is based on a photo very kindly sent me by one of my Patreon Members.  Thanks Sandy!  This is Monhegan Island, Maine USA.  A couple of lovely timber buildings, small boats and some dramatic shadows.  Going for some dark shadows here to contrast with the boats