Montpon, France, 15" x 11".
Another shot at the centre of this town on South West France. I think the building in the middle is an employment office - looks more like a Hotel or the Marie's office to me. Key points to this painting - 1) sky quickly done with some random spots of clear water then dropping in some clouds and finally some cerulean blue for bits of sky. Then 2) carefully painting around the street lights and tops of cars to fill them in at a later stage. The balls of the street lights were done with a bit of white gouache mixed up with some paint in the palette to give it that light grey colour.
Bergerac, France, 15" x 11"
A view along the river to the bridge crossing the River Dordogne in Bergerac. It was a late summer afternoon and the sun was strong, coming from the right. So when the light is behind, I sometimes let the background building blend into the sky so that is is less sharp in outline. One minor thing I might change if I did this scene again is maybe leave out the foreground parked cars and just extend the shadow across that area instead.
Bath, England, 15" x 11".
A view up High Street in Bath towards the Abbey. It's a busy spot in the centre of the city with lots of visiting tourists making their way between Pulteney Bridge and the Abbey. The picture was completed in mainly 3 stages - 1) Sky and foreground wash. Then left everything dry completely. 2) Buildings, cars, people and shadows. 3) Architectural details, street furniture and white gouache highlights on a few objects.
Bath, England, 15" x 11".
A view up/down York Street in Bath towards the Roman Baths. Quite a busy little street - quite narrow and throngs of visitors on this early summer's day. Quite a loose painting really done in three phases - 1) Initial wash, the let dry. 2) second layer of darker areas and shadows, Cars and People. 3) Darker lines reinforcing architectural details.
Bath, England, 15" x 11".
A view up Bridge Street in Bath from the famous Pulteney Bridge. Bath is famous for it's Period buildings and architecture all constructed in the lovely local Bath Stone - a combination of my yellow ochre, burnt sienna and some 21st century dirt added in with some blue. Sorry to the locals with my simplification of the Georgian architecture. I have just really hinted at it with a loose style and not too precise with the lines and window details.
Bruges, Belgium, 15" x 11".
A small square near the centre of Bruges with market stalls and cafes. And the typical 'stepped' gable ends to many of the lovely buildings here. The people sitting in the cafe on the right had a very loose approach - almost random lines and strokes to give the feel of figures, tables, chairs and all their legs! Perhaps there is a bit of a focal point on the right - the brightly lit side of the building contrasting with the deep tones of the background trees.
Bergerac, France, 15" x 11".
Place Malbec, a small square in Bergerac, south west France. A fairly quick sketch and the main challenge are all those windows and shutters. The decision is either paint the windows in great detail (but then everything else should be also detailed) or go for a looser approach and miss out the odd window or two and make them all look a little bit different. Also I changed the direction the cars were parked in - I have them facing me and not a side on view.
Bath, England, 15" x 11".
Terrace Walk in Bath, a central part of the city and a popular dropping off point for tour buses. Here's a view towards a couple of pubs and the tip of the abbey tower in the background. A summer's scene like this needs plenty of people in the picture. In fact I think I should have put a few more in with all their shadows connecting to some other element in the picture. The buildings needed a couple of washes with mostly a yellow ochre/burnt sienna element. The line of bollards was the last part of the painting, done with some quick strokes of neutral tint - almost pure pigment out of the tube.
Duras, France, 15" x 11".
Place du 11 Novembre - a square in the town of Duras in South West France. The sky was done with a preliminary wash of a dirty colour (whatever was left in my palette from the previous painting) in a random fashion with the side of a mop brush. Then quickly afterwards I dragged in some cerulean blue again with the side of the same brush, meeting the clouds and allowing them to blend with each other. The whole painting was done with two brushes - a medium mop and a smaller mop (size 8).
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