Fabriano, Italy, 15" x 11".
A view down to the central square in Fabriano. I was going for two focal points here - the first one with the guy on the left in light clothing with the dark arch behind and then the angular shadow on the right hand red building. For the shadows in the bottom right hand corner I dropped in clear water while the wash was still damp, and added in thicker, darker paint for the deeper shadows by the car and the figure.
Provence, France, 22" x 15".
A couple of country houses in Provence. This was a demonstration painting for a tutorial session run recently and based on a reference photo. The trick I think with French country houses is to not make them too neat with lines and colours. Dirty them up a bit and put in some bright blue shutters. The foreground had to have a bit of texture, so different tones of green were applied. I regularly do not use any 'green' paint, but prefer to mix my own - of course a bright yellow and ultramarine blue, or cobalt turquoise and yellow ochre makes a duller green.
Bath, England, 15" x 11".
A demo painting I did recently and a scene I have done once before. The requested subject was for an urban scene with figures and cars. The no entry sign is very poignant for me as last year I drove through this very area not knowing it was only for taxis and buses, and landed myself a £75 fine. Serves me right for not paying attention! Anyway, I love this area and there's loads of different painting possibilities all around you. A bit difficult for plein air painting - far too busy with shoppers and tourists.
Sainte Foy La Grande, France, 15" x 11".
I think this is the Marie's building in central St Foy La Grande, SW France. A complicated scene with all the parked cars and vans pointing in different directions. I allowed the background buildings roof tops blend in a little with the sky - sometimes that technique works, sometimes it does not. I think having a cool sky against warmer tones of a building works well, and those buildings need to be roughed up a little to make them look old, some blending in some greys and blues while the wash is still damp.
Ancona, Italy, 15" x 11".
A city gate in the old part of Ancona, Italy. This was a good exercise in many watercolour techniques - 1) the initial wash and leaving out part of the road surface by painting with the side of a mop brush, 2) wet in wet areas in the shadows 3) softening edges with a brush and clear water (the foreground shadow) 4) negative painting around figures and the car, and 5) using a bit of body paint for figure details and the no entry sign.
St Foy La Grande, France, 15" x 11".
A view up Rue Jean Louis Faure to the main market square. After promising myself not to attempt a painting with the light coming behind, I do it again. Always a bit tricky with sometimes uniform tones and shadows going the wrong way - here made perhaps more difficult with the shadows running into a row of dark cars. Perhaps I could have made one of the cars white and one of those figures could have had lighter clothing. Maybe next time. I never go back and tamper with paintings. Leave them and go onto the next one, but trying to remember my previous debrief.
St Foy la Grande, France, 15" x 11"
A quiet back street of this French town on the banks of the River Dordogne. My key focus in this painting was to try and get a little bit of light on the side of the upper level dormer windows and try and get a sense of the warm stone colour and typical window shutter colour. Cars can be quite tricky to paint when they are in part shade and light is bouncing off an opposite wall to create many complicated patterns on the car body.
Eymet, France, 15" x 11".
I can't remember where exactly this is in Eymet, but I think the central market area of this town in the Dordogne region of France. The foreground has had a bit of wet in wet treatment to give those cauliflower effects - I know some watercolourists avoid them but I love them. It's what watercolour does, so why fight it? Also using proper watercolour paper helps. I am using Saunders Waterford, rough paper. If I used anything cheaper you just would not achieve the same results!
Recent Comments