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Paintings of Italy, Siena

by on May 12, 2012 in Italy Prints and Originals, Original Watercolours

Original Watercolour of Italy

February Morning in Siena

My first visit to Siena was in February 1999. It was a wonderfully bright and crisp, sunny (but cold) morning. When we arrived, the shell shaped Piazza del Campo (where the famous Palio horse racing is held twice a year) was very quiet. It was just a little too cool to do any painting, however I spent quality time observing the locals wandering around the piazza. Most of them were men who would often stop to greet each other and stand chatting. It was lovely seeing them enjoying the bright morning sunlight and their conversations.

On my return to the UK I did a couple of  watercolours capturing the historic centre which has been declared by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, one of which I reproduced as a limited edition print  The other is this one titled  Siena, February Morning which can also be seen at my Studio & Gallery in Ponteland.

 

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Painting of the Grand Canal, Venice

by on May 4, 2012 in Painting in Stages

Last night Susan and I watched the  BBC 2 programme Shakespeare in Italy narrated by Francesco da Mosto. Part of the programme was set in Venice, a city which was Susan’s home for 5 years and a place which has been a content source of inspiration for my paintings of Italy collection. One of my favourite views is taken from the Accademia Bridge, looking at the Santa Marie della Salute. I’ve painted it several times on location and using the sketches, I have produced a number of studio watercolours which have included commissions. On one particular painting, I decided to photograph the painting in stages so that one can see the progression and development of the painting, from the initial pencil drawing through the sequence of washes, to the build up of detail.

After stretching a sheet of hand made Italian watercolour paper on to the drawing board, the first stage was to draw out the main elements of the composition with a B pencil. I like to paint a lot of the detail from observation with my brush, so there isn’t a huge amount of detail in the pencil drawing.

Next, I covered the whole sheet with a wash of clean water then ran in a gentle wash of Winsor and Newton Cadmium Lemon from about a third of the way from the top of the board. This helps to take away the starkness of the white and set the tone and mood for the rest of the painting.

One the yellow had dried I repeated the process of laying a wash of clean water except once it hit the architecture, I began to be more random with the wash leaving some of the paper untouched by water. I quickly ran in a wash of Rose Madder into the water but left some of the yellow showing through as pure yellow.

Before starting the sky, I masked off some of the detailed areas in the water like the poles and boats so that I wasn’t having to paint around them with the blue. I started off the sky with quite an intense wash of French Ultramarine and Manganese Blue, fading it out slightly as the sky came closer to the horizon and then painting around the architecture.

Once it had dried, I deepened the blue for the foreground part of the Grand Canal I then started on the buildings on the right hand side. The detailed photograph shows how some of the blue in the sky and water was used as shadow areas for the buildings.

I finished the right hand side before commencing on the left so that I could use slightly more stronger colours to give the impression of the left hand side being closer.

When I rubbed off the masking fluid, it meant that the colour underneath remained as a base for the poles and boats. Strong, dark refections on the left provided further depth to the painting and once I had added the smaller areas of detail to the architecture and boats, the painting was completed. I have two paintings of the Grand Canal available as limited edition prints available online or from my Studio and Gallery in Ponteland. I also have an original watercolour available of the Grand Canal which I painted using the same process described.

 

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John Knox House, Edinburgh

by on April 30, 2012 in Limited Edition Prints, Scotland Prints

Painting of John Knox House

John Knox House

The Royal Mile in Edinburgh, known by the locals as the High Street, has to be one of the finest streets in Europe. Over the years I’ve painted it many times and captured some of its famous landmarks including St Giles Cathedral, The Tolbooth and of course John Knox House. Many of these watercolours have been successfully reproduced as limited edition prints which can be purchased online, from retailers in Edinburgh and from my Studio and Gallery.

My first limited edition print of John Knox House sold out very quickly however, we still have copies available of this smaller painting, a busy scene depicting various folk going about their daily business, just like multitudes of others, generations before them.

You will notice in the painting that the ultramarine blue is repeated, not just in the sky but in other parts of the painting. Likewise, the deep red of the telephone boxes finds its way into other parts of the painting to add extra life and colour to the cityscape.

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Spanish Steps

by on April 30, 2012 in Italy Prints and Originals, Original Watercolours

Spanish Steps

Spanish Steps

Paintings of Italy have always proved popular with those folk who love all things Italian. My limited edition prints of Tuscany, Venice and Umbria continue to sell consistently well with folk buying online and from my Studio & Gallery in Ponteland.

Around 1998 I decided to add Rome to my collection of Italian cities and visited several times to produce a range of on the spot watercolours from which to work from. One such scene was the picturesque Spanish Steps. At about 9:30am I found a suitable fountain from which to rest my watercolour block on and began to paint the steps which were virtually deserted. By the time I had finished the painting, you could hardly see the steps for the people sitting on them, enjoying the warm October sun.

The scene above is the studio painting which I’ve since reproduced as a limited edition print. The location study can also be seen at my Studio & Gallery. Please contact for further information.

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Oman Paintings, Jebel Akhdar

by on April 24, 2012 in Oman Paintings, Original Watercolours

Jebel Akhdar

Jebel Akhdar, Oman

Jebel Akhdar, (Green Mountain) is part of the Al Hajar Mountain range in Oman. It is the highest point in the whole of Oman and eastern Arabia. The area is over 2 hours drive from Muscat and one must drive through a passport control point in a 4 x 4 if one wishes to explore the fascinating villages dotted around the area. The locals grow pomegranates, apricots, peaches and walnuts on the ancient terraces which are irrigated by an equally old but sophisticated irrigation system called falaj. The area is also famous for rose water extraction.

I’ve painted a number of commissioned watercolours over the last few years of various views of Jebel Akhdar and over the last few years I’ve been a couple of times to paint on location. It’s noticeably cooler than sea level which is why many folk living in Oman often take the journey up the mountains in the scorching temperatures of summer. The new Sahab hotel situated on the plateaux at the summit boasts fine views over the surrounding mountains. It was from their grounds that I did a small sketchbook watercolour and took the photographs necessary to do this large watercolour titled Jebel Akhdar.

 

 

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Ravello

by on March 24, 2012 in Italy Prints and Originals, Limited Edition Prints

Ravello

Ravello

The Amalfi coast is a spectacular area of dramatic scenery. I’ve only been the one time which was for a week back in 2003 but I was inspired to do a number of sketchbook watercolours and this limited edition print of Ravello.

I have vivid memories of the brief trip we made to this small town perched high above the distant sea below. We had spent the morning getting to  Amalfi by boat so by the time we arrived at 12:45pm the shops had closed for lunch. It was 2:30 before we boarded a small bus that took us up the rather perilous road to Ravello. I quickly found this iconic view of the tree in the beautiful gardens of Villa Rufolo which is often a venue for wedding photographs. Indeed, we actually saw a newly wed couple being photographed in the grounds. After gathering some suitable reference material we took an even more memorable bus trip back to Amalfi.

The heavens had opened, so we were packed into the tiny bus like sardines. The rain was gushing down the 5 km of bending road like a Scottish river in full spate and the wipers seemed to have little effect in making the driver’s view clearer. In fact, the driver was oblivious to the conditions as there was a very attractive young blond lady standing almost on top of him and he was more concerned about holding a conversation with her than keeping his eyes on the road. Twenty minutes later, I was relieved to be back to sea level in Amalfi. Almost as quickly as the heavens had opened, the sun came out and we were able to take a rather more pleasurable journey by foot to the oldest paper mill in Italy, famous for its hand made paper. I purchased some and was also given several sheets of imperfect paper from the museum on which I later painted  a scene of Rome’s Colosseum.

Back in my studio I produced two original watercolours of Ravello, one of which I reproduced as this limited edition print. It can be purchased online or from my Studio & Gallery in Ponteland.

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North Shields Fish Quay

by on February 7, 2012 in Original Watercolours

North Shields Fish Quay Original Watercolour

North Shields Fish Quay

One of the first commissions I received when I went self employed back in 1984 was to do two original watercolours of the Tyne near the North Shields Fish Quay area for a leading North East businessman. Over the years I’ve kept going back to the reference material I gathered back then to do fresh interpretations of the same scenes. My watercolour style and technique has changed over the years but it still ends up being a joy to tackle paintings of the Tyne which capture a bygone era.

This particular watercolour depicts fishing trawlers berthed at the North Shields Fish Quay. It’s winter time, so the sun is low over the River Tyne and its dying rays are casting a warm glow over the battered hulls of the boats and the architecture. Further mood and atmosphere has been created by lifting out a little of the colour over some of the boats to give the effect of smoke rising from their engines. The use of counterchange for the masts, highlighted against the darker buildings, then dark against the wintery sky gives further added interest. The odd dot of red for the buoys brings extra sparkle to the painting. Achieving the orange and yellow clouds in a cool blue sky is always a challenge in watercolour as it’s easy for the colours to merge and become a dirty green, however I managed to pull it off. The original painting is currently on show at my Studio & Gallery in Ponteland.

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Grand Canal, Venetian Dawn

by on February 3, 2012 in Italy Prints and Originals, Limited Edition Prints

 

Grand Canal, Venetian Dawn

Grand Canal, Venetian Dawn

In 2006, Susan and I spent a week in the Dolomites with an old Venetian lady who has a holiday home there. I spent the week awestruck by the majesty and spectacle of God’s creation and produced many sketchbook watercolours painted on location. At the end of the week, we then went to Venice for a few days where we were able to enjoy the Venetian Regatta.

Our flight back to the UK was from Verona, so we had to leave Venice before the sun rose. From the stern of the vaporetto that chugged along the Grand Canal, I looked back towards the Santa Maria Salute to take in the first colours of the Venetian dawn. There was no time to do a painting but I managed to take a few photographs of the scene. Using the photos and sketches I had painted from the Accademia Bridge on previous trips, I produced this very small studio watercolour which I have reproduced as a limited edition print. The deckled edge of the paper has also been reproduced which helps to give the painting a fresh, almost sketchbook feel. It is one of many paintings of Italy I have reproduced as part of my print collection.

 

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Portrait in Charcoal

by on December 1, 2011 in Commissions, Portraits

Margaret in Charcoal

Margaret in Charcoal

Although I’m best known for my watercolours of cityscapes, landscapes and seascapes, I’ve painted a number of portrait commissions, going back to the mid 1980′s. I’ve recently found myself being drawn back to the artistic challenge of capturing people’s portraits from life. This particular drawing of Margaret was made over three sittings in charcoal and was a preliminary study for an oil painting that can be seen below.

The oil painting took four sittings and I have to say that Margaret was a lovely model to paint. She was able to sit motionless for a couple of hours at a time and has beautiful features that are a delight to paint. Her family and those who know her say that both pictures are a very good likeness and that I’ve really captured her personality. I’m looking forward to painting her again soon.

Margaret in Oils

Margaret in Oils

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The Bailey, Durham

by on October 4, 2011 in Commissions, Painting on Location

The current painting project I am working on is a commission of the Bailey in Durham, an historic area in the centre of Durham. I took advantage of the glorious weather last week to do a couple of sketchbook watercolours and take some reference photographs so that the client can choose exactly the view that captures the scene that holds special memories.

Looking towards the church into the early morning light was an attractive scene, however I felt drawn towards the view in the other direction and did a sketchbook watercolour of the street looking slightly downhill. The paint was drying quickly because of the extraordinarily warm weather, so I was able to complete the study and commence on another sketch. This time I walked towards the church and took up position looking towards the area that I had been standing in for the first painting. Once again, it was an attractive scene which, with the light behind me, created an interesting composition with the fine old buildings and folk walking up the street.

On the way back to the car park, the light was forming some strong sunlight and shadow areas on the south part of Saddler Street which I photographed for reference, as it too, would make a strong painting. Now that I’ve been able to do the sketchbook studies and see the photographs, I’m looking forward to tackling the finished painting of the Bailey.

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