Monthly Archives: November 2019

Kent, The English County that’s Home!

Rochester,visions of 1937,.A Sunderland flying boat makes it’s maiden flight.

Hi All

Another dreary November day, more rain and not much golf!

We seem to be having a very wet early Winter this year and as the leaves fall into ever increasing piles my mind wandered to all the lovely places that Kent has to offer all year round.

I thought I would see how many watercolour paintings I have produced over the past few years and it seems there are a lot, over 70 in fact and many have been in various posts in the past.

So here is post dedicated to Kent, our home County of England.

I hope you will enjoy seeing some of them.

Lets start in Hastings, such a famous town and still noted for its fishing fleet located on the “Stad”, or beach.

Fishing Boats at Hastings

Fishing boats at Hastings

 

 

More fishing boats at Hythe and Littestone


Towards the East are The White Cliffs, Dover and at South Foreland Lighthouse

Dover from the Cruise Ship Terminal. 15 inches by 6.5.

South Foreland Lighthouse on the Cliffs

And further to the East the traditional seaside town of Broadstairs

Broadstairs 18 inches by 14

 

Nearby on the Isle of Thanet, the most easterly point of Kent, and there we find is Margate, famous for it association with WM Turner.

Margate sunset 14 inches by 10

Towards the Swale and Thames Estuaries is Faversham, a very old town famous for Barges and its old buildings. There are many creeks in this area and boats and barges are often moored there.

Barge as Oare, near Faversham

Barges and Barge races are common around the Kent coast. Here are couple of watercolours of some barges

Barges racing in the Thames Estuary

The 2016 Medway Barge Race

Inland lies the great city of Canterbury with its magnificent Cathedral

Mist over the City of Canterbury

Sketch of Canterbury Cathedral

In spring Kent is famous for the beautiful Blue woods and the rolling countryside around Horsmonden

Bluebells

Near Horsmonden

i have posted before about the famous Oast Houses of the South of England, and Kent especially

Here is just one  watercolour

Kentish Oasts

 

And finally back to winter, no snow yet but will there be some for Christmas?

 

 

 

Oasts in the Snow

 

The gardens at Sissinghurst Castle.

Well I hope you have enjoyed this quick visit to Kent,The Garden of England,so I will leave you with a final image of Sissinghurst castle and it’s beautiful gardens.

Come and visit Kent sometime, there is so much to see and enjoy. 

And so many more watercolours, I may venture to part 2!

Happy travelling

Brian

A quick visit to The Seven Sisters in Sussex

The Seven Sister in Sussex Watercolour 12 inches by 10.

I had the opportunity to spend some time at the Country Park that overlooks the Seven Sister Cliffs at Seaford Head recently.

It gave me a little time to sketch the scene and start a painting of the view.

As it was November it was a pretty cold day but there was a lovely morning glow way out to sea in the English Channel and this just had to be in the watercolour, together with very threatening dark clouds nearer to where I was standing.

I love this iconic scene with the Coastguard Cottages in the foreground and the mouth of the river emerging into the calm ,cold sea.

so this quick post is just that one watercolour which is now for sale on Artfinder ,or you can contact me directly.

i hope you like it and if you get a chance make your way to the Country Park and walk down towards the Cotteges and enjoy this oh so English scene.

incidentally I also had lunch at the Seaford Head Golf Club which open to non memebers and it was very good and I was made very welcome there too.

Well worth a visit!

Happy travelling

Brian

brian@brianswatercolours.com

 

Lest we Forget

Poppies in the Field

It is now 101 years since the end of the First World War.

Today we remember those whose sacrifices both in that War and since have enabled us to enjoy the freedoms we have today.

We will never forget them.

I am reminded of this in the personal sacrifices of members of my Wife’s family in 1917.

We have visited Ypres twice in recent years following the final days of my Wife’s great Uncles who were killed at Passchendaele in 1917. Visiting there was a remarkable and very moving experience.

David Andrews ,from Larne in Northern Ireland, was reported as “missing in action” at Passchendaele in the Ypres area on 17th August 1917.  His body was never recovered. David was serving as a Lance Corporal with the 14th Battalion of the Royal Irish Rifles when he was killed.
Tragically his brother, Frank, was also killed on the very same day, also at Ypres, but serving in the 9th Battalion of the Royal Irish Fusiliers.   Two brothers killed on the same day. 
They and many hundreds of thousands also killed in the Ypres area, are commemorated on the magnificent Tyne Cot War Grave Memorial at Ypres. Their Battalions had only engaged that day.  Their other brother Harry also served in the First World War and was gassed, but he returned home eventually. Alas many of their friends never did.

 

We will always remember the great sacrifices made by so many over 100 years ago that give us all the freedoms we enjoy today.

Brian

Occasional larger watercolours

Hi Everybody

Thanks for reading this blog post.

I like to paint my watercolours in a few regular sizes

On travel they are often 10 by 8 inch pen and ink studies that sometimes become larger paintings. Here is a recent example

In the studio or en plein air I like to paint watercolours that are 14 by 10 inches or 16 by 12. For me it a comfortable size and I quite often use Arches 300gsm watercolour paper blocks which are very nice to work with whether indoor or outside.

Again here is recent one

Varenna on Lake Como

Occasionally I will paint lager paintings in watercolour up to about 25 inches by 20. For me these take a bit more preparation and thought and naturally take longer to do.

So here is  recent example of a lager painting recently sent to a customer in the USA. It is of Durnstein on the Danube river and was based on painting and photos taken there a few years ago.

It is 24 inches by 16 inches and was painted on 600gsm Saunders watercolour paper . This thick paper is great to use as it retains the water for long periods and that helps with larger areas of washes.

 

Watercolour of Durnstein. 24 inches by 16.

Here are a few more larger watercolours painted over the last few years

Misty morning in Norfolk. Watercolour 25 inches by 20.

Portofino Watercolour 20 inches by 10

 

Watercolour of Burnham Overy Staithe. 25 inches by 20. Painted during a Herman Pekel Workshop.

I hope to be painting quite a lot more larger watercolours in the future

Happy Travelling 

Brian

 

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