Original Watercolours by Tim Wilmot

Office blocks on Boulevard de Dunkerque, Marseille

Watercolour of Marseilles, 15" x 11" on Saunders Waterford Rough 300 gms.

A wide boulevard near the port area in Marseilles.  The plain office block being a similar tone to the sky at the time, needed some shadows to add a bit of depth and I had to paint over the sky twice owing to it being too light first time round.  I normally try to avoid going over the sky twice - there's always the danger of loosing that 'fresh' feel and I had the added challenge of the building almost cutting the sky in two making it more difficult to lay down a single wash.  Plus I'm a bit impatient when it comes to skies - for me it's sometimes the least important part of the composition.  Windows got a fairly swift treatment also - just dabs with thicker pigment.

 

Lock Keepers Inn and Lock, Keynsham, Bristol

Watercolour of Keynsham, Bristol, 22" x 15" on Saunders Waterford Rough 300 gms.

My second plein air painting, on a recent outing with local artist Jem Bowden.  The afternoon brought out some much needed sunshine.  Here's a view of the other side of the Lock Keepers Inn.  During the painting a couple of boats came through the lock, so I had to remember the original water level of course.  The sky had a pretty loose treatment.  Washes dried fairly quickly, being outside, so there was no hanging about and the whole thing was done in an hour or so, despite the boat distractions.

 

Don't paint with watercolour in the rain!

Watercolour of Keynsham, Bristol, 15" x 22" on Saunders Waterford Rough 300 gms.

I was out 'plein air' painting with local watercolour artist Jem Bowden recently.  Well the day started off nice and dry.  We had setup to do our first sketch from the river bank - a scene of an old pub, and all was going fairly well until almost at the end we had some persistent light rain.  Well as you can see, it looks like someone has had a go with a spray gun with all that mottling effect.  Anyway, we retired for a bit until the weather situation improved.  Moral of the story, check the weather forecast before plein air painting out in the countryside - especially in a UK summer!

 

The Roman Bridge at Tavira, Portugal

Watercolour of Tavira, 15" x 11" on Saunders Waterford Rough 300 gms.

A 'pedestrian' only bridge in Tavira Portugal, and looking to some whitewashed buildings on the far side.  It's low tide and there's just a slight reflection in the mud and shallow waters of this tidal river.  There was a bit of careful painting around the roof tops and chimneys and the white building was made not too white, but tainted a bit with some blues and any old paint off the palette.

 

Railway Bridge, St Raphael, France

Watercolour of St. Raphael, France, 15" x 11" on Saunders Waterford Rough 300 gms.

A Railway Bridge in central St Raphael, a coastal town in southern France.  Looking through the bridge I tried to resit overdoing the background buildings (apartment blocks I think), and also try to connect all the main components of the picture so nothing is left out on it's own.  Pavements and roads are often made out of different materials of course and I often find pavements to be 'warm' and roads a cooler tone, so a bit of blue.  Here, pavement and road were done in one go and left to merge into each other.

 

Penberth Cove Cornwall

Watercolour of Penberth, Cornwall, 22" x 15" on Saunders Waterford Rough 300 gms.

Penberth is a little cove/old fishing village in deepest Cornwall.  Apologies to local residents - I don't think dogs are allowed now in Penberth Cove, so Mr 'fatman' and his dog are only making a 'virtual' appearance in this painting.  I went quite dark with the boat shadows - a bit of neutral tint with ultramarine blue or alizarin crimson.  Bits of the foreground left unpainted, soon became rocks helped with a bit of a shadow next to them.

 

Tavira Algarve 6 - Row of shops and parked cars with deep shadows

Watercolour of Tavira, Algarve, 22" x 15" on Saunders Waterford Rough 300 gms

A view of central Tavira, a town near the coast in eastern Algarve.  Looking across the street and a row of shops/cafes.  This sort of composition I think is great for watercolour - areas of light and dark shade coming down the painting.  Wish we had those strong lights in the UK.  Car windscreens are sometimes a bit of a challenge - they're not flat and they take in reflections from everywhere, so I just give them a very loose treatment and leave in some lighter areas.

 

Russel Mews and view towards St Johns Church Chipping Sodbury

Watercolour of Chipping Sodbury, 15" x 22" on Saunders Waterford Rough 300 gms.

Russell Mews in Chipping Sodbury, looking down the alley way to the tower of the local Church behind some lock up garages.  The mews is named after the famous cricketer and England player who now has a gallery in the town.  The Church tower was painted in quite loosely, then the shadows were quite important here - all the different angles and giving depth to small details like the sign on the door and the red bin.

 

Albufeira Old Town 5

Watercolour of Albufeira, 15" x 11" on Saunders Waterford Rough 300 gms

A windy road leading down into the old part of Albufeira Town.  The pedestrian crossing was not made too perfect - I try to make the perspective correct with the initial pencil drawing (I use a 2B or 3B), and then 'mess' it up a bit by not keeping too rigidly to the lines and a few tyre marks at the end of the painting - some sweeping curves with the dry brush strokes of a synthetic brush.

 

South Stoke Bath 3 - Plein air demonstration

Watercolour of South Stoke Bath, 15" x 11" on Saunders Waterford Rough 300 gms.

A plein air demonstration for the South Stoke Art Society this summer.  It's a view of the heart of the village and the old telephone box.  I can remember having two challenges with the painting - it was quite a warm day so the paint was drying so quickly, then half way through the painting a gust of wind blew over my lightweight easel.