Eymet, France, 15" x 11".
Painting figures in shadows or part shade is always a bit tricky. Do you make them darker than the shadows or lighter? How detailed do you make them? Are they a focal point of the painting. Well in this one a did a bit of everything. Also the building on the left in bright light is left a little bit understated with just a few window details. The buildings on the right also had a bit of reflected light coming from the left, so I leave a few areas unpainted.
Avebury, England, 22" x 15"
Another Avebury painting based on some recent trip photos of mine. The subject here is the walk you can take around the ancient stones that surround the village. In the composition I wanted to have the bright stones contrasting with a dark background being the trees. Then the shadows of the stones almost merge in with the trees and connect with them. As regards the figures, when there's a group of them, I try to have a mixture of some in the middle ground and some in the background. One or two, like the stones, are in contrast to the background.
Fabriano, Italy, 22" x 15".
A shopping street in central Fabriano (where the Fabriano watercolor paper comes from) Italy. Based on a reference photo of mine and I wish I had taken many more on a visit there. 100's of subjects in this town and typical of many 'medieval' towns in this part of Italy. Buildings left and right were given vary loose treatment. Well the one on the right was just some dry brush strokes to give the impression of window frames etc.. Buildings also had plenty of extra colour added to them while the first wash was drying.
Chipping Sodbury, England, 22" x 15".
Not a 'plein air' ! While at the front of the queue in some roadworks near me a while back, I took a quick photo on my phone's camera. So the challenge is to make a painting out of a really ordinary every day scene. I changed a few things around, but the main focus is on the middle ground and a row of almost connected things. Had to use the white gouache of course for the traffic lights and the road sign writing!
Puerto del Carmen, Lanzarote, 15" x 11".
The promenade along the seafront in Puerto del Carmen, and some cyclists passing the Tourist Office. I have never painted cyclists before and the main challenge is making the bicycles 'look right' (their proportions, distance of wheels from each other) and having a sense of movement and speed. So I understate the moving parts - pedals and legs - so that they are just a blur. I am painting on Saunders Waterford rough paper, and this helps with the reflections on the sea - I use the side of a mop brush with paint that is not too 'thin' or watery.
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.
San Sebastian, La Gomera, 15" x 11".
A gathering of people in the Plaza de la Constitucion on the Canarian Island of La Gomera. Basically repeating patterns of people, masts from the nearby marina and thick palm tree trunks. I decided to slice one of the trunks at the base with the highlighted dog lead. When there's a group of people in the frame here, I have to think of having them coming from all different directions and not all coming towards you like Michael Jackson's Thriller video.
Istanbul, Turkey, 22" x 15".
A view across the Golden Horn, a major waterway which leads into the Bosphorus in Istanbul. On the opposite side are the mosques and minarets surrounding the covered bazaar and shopping areas. The main bridge over the Golden Horn is even more popular for fishing with hundreds of rods leaning over the sides. The smoke effect was done when everything was dry. A little clear water was lightly dropped onto the smoke area. Then a thickish mixture of white gouache plus cobalt blue was quickly and randomly added in.
Weston-Super-Mare, England, 22" x 15"
A small pedestrianised square in the seaside town of Weston-Super-Mare. Centrally placed is a busy cafe with outside seating. In this painting I went for some high contrast where the tree tops are lit up against the background house and then with the base of the building and the pavement. I introduced some figures coming and going and a foreground shadow, joined with a walker. Right across the middle of the painting, nearly everything is connected.
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