Category Archives: Landscape
Recent watercolours
Hi Everybody
The Domes of St Marks Basilica in Venice from the Campanile Watercolour 10 by 15 inches. From a photo taken by me in 2008!
I haven’t been posting much of late but I am still producing a lot of watercolours!
Here are some of this years paintings , most can be found for sale on Artfinder/brianswatercolours or on Artgallery
I hope you enjoy them and please do let me know what you think
Happy Travelling
Brian
Prague in the Spring Watercolour sketch 10 by 8 inches
Sunset at Viking bay in Kent Watercolour 18 inches by 10
Meadow in the Norfolk Fens Watercolour 30 by 12 inches
Sailng in Mauritius Watercolour sketcg
Mauritius beach sketch
El Capitan in Yosemite Watercolour 18 inches by 12
Scotney Castle in Kent Watercolour
Low tide at Mousehole in Cornwall Watercolour 18 by 12 inches
The beach near Portowan in Cornwell Watercolour 18 inches by 10 inches
Fairhead at Ballycastle on the Antrim coast in Northern Ireand Sketch 10 by 8
Across to Fairlight in Sussex from Rye Watercolour 18 by 12 inches
Bewl Water in Kent. Watercolour 18 by 12 inches
Some more soon!
Brian
A few days in Delightful Devon
The Cary Arms at Babbacombe, watercolour 36 by 25 cms.
Hi Everbody
We have just had a few days on the very sunny South Devon coast, staying at the lovely Cary Arms Hotel in Babbacombe Bay.
South Devon has many lovely places to visit and one of our favourites is Dartmouth and the River Dart.
Time too for a few watercolours ,sketces and a formal watercolour.
We also ate in two very good restaurants whilst there plus in our Hotel where the food is good too!
In Torquay I would recommend Amici, an Italian restaurant in the heart of the town.
In Babbacombe we would highly recommend The Waddling Duck at Hamiltons, just superb and good value too.
The National Trust property of Coleton Fairacre is for us one of the best in the Country , featuring an Art Deco House and stunning gardens looking out over the sea. My next subject for a sketch!
Anyway here are few watercolours and sketches
The River Dart near Dittisham. “Greenways”, Agatha Christie’s former home can bee seen across the river. Watercolour 36 by 21 cms.
The view from our Terrace at The Cary Arms. Sketch 22 by 18 cms
Paignton Harbour in Devon.Sketch 22 by 18 cms
Brixham Harbour, sketch
If you know South Devon then I hope you will enjoy seeing these paintings. If you haven’t been then do go, you will enjoy the many charms of the lovely area of England.
Happy travelling to you all!
Brian
Have a look at my Watercolour shops too!
http://www.artfinder.com/brianswatercolours
and
http://www.artgallery.co.uk/ Brian Tucker
New Lake District watercolours
Hi Everyone
I have recently been painting some new watercolours of the Lake District of England. It is an area we have enjoyed visiting and we hope to again next year.
I am indebted to the site “Walk my World” for letting me use one of their Lake District photos of Lake Buttermere. Do visit their site as it is a great place to see more of their extensive travels. Thanks Cat and Joe.
I have included a few other watercolours painted previously to show some more places of this delightful part of England.
The view below of Buttermere is from near the Honister pass on the lower slopes of “Haystacks”
Lake Buttermere, Watercolour 46 by 31 cms
Lake Buttermere and Cummock Water in Winter
Grange in Borrowdale, watercolour 46 by 31 cms
Not far away is the little village of Grange in Borrowdale with it’s unusual twin arch bridge over the two branches of the River Derwent.
Near to the spot where the River Derwent enters Derwentwater this watercolour includes St Herberts island
Scafell Pike and Peak are so well known that I have had to include this watercolour of tem here and below this is a watercolour of yachts sailing on Lake Windermere
Scafell Pike and Peak
Lake Windermere
“Haystacks” behind Lake Buttermere
Here are some Lake District Bridges painted during previous visits.
Aira Force sketch
The house on the bridge at Ambleside
And finally a watercolour again of Buttermere, a lake that I find is a continuous source of inspiration for my paintings
Lake District Buttermere
There is no doubt that we are very lucky in this small island of Great Britain to have such wonderful places to visit and in my case to get inspiration for even more watercolours
Happy Travelling
Brian
Don’t forget that many of these watercolour are for sale on my internet shops.
In and Around The Mourne Mountains of Northern Ireland
The Shimna River near Newcastle and the Mourne Mountains. Watercolour sketch 11 inches by 8.
We have just returned from a very nice long weekend in Northern Ireland visiting friends and family and admiring the scenery. Alas it wasn’t great weather but even so still some time for some paintings and watercolour sketches, mostly imagined in sunnier weather!
This first painting however was painted a couple of weeks ago during the Irish Open Golf which was held this year at Royal County Down Golf Club, nestled below Slieve Donard (2790 feet high) in The Mourne Mountains. This course is arguably considered to be one of the best, if not the best, golf course in the World!
The 18th at Royal County Down Golf Club Watercolour 21 inches by 10.
The scenery is great and this watercolour, painted from sketches made whilst watching the golf on TV shows the view from the 18th Tee toward the Clubhouse and the Slieve Donard Hotel.
In Tollymore Forest park , accessed from near Newcastle, County Down , you will find Foley Bridge on one of the many great paths through the Forest.
Foley bridge in Tollymore Forest park. Watercolour sketch 11 inches by 9
Beyond Slieve Donnard , in the Mourne’s, near the Hilltown Road, is Trassey Bridge with views toward Slieve Bernagh.
Trassey bridge crosses the River Trassey, a tributary of the Shimna River. Watercolour sketch 11 by 8 inches.
Near Dundrum is Murlough Bay, just North of Newcastle and here I have sketched Downshire bridge viewed from the North with views across to the Mourne Mountains, Slieve Donard on the left.
Dundrum has also a great Restaurant with Rooms, The Buck’s Head with Alex Greene as Chef and co owned with Bronagh McCarmick. We had a really terrific lunch there using local ingredients. I can highly recommend it if you are there, and only 35 minutes from Belfast.(www.thebucksheaddundrum.co.uk)
Downshire Bridge,a watercolour sketch 11 by 8 inches
From there it isn’t to far to St John’s Point and it’s tall Lighthouse, the second tallest in Ireland I believe. This was imagined in brighter weather as the mist was impenetrable that day!
St John’s Point Lighthouse. Watercolour sketch 11 by 8 inches
Wherever you go around the Mourne’s the views are spectacular and the Town of Newcastle is well worth a visit too with its great promenade by the sea and the River Shimna.
Northern ireland is a great place to visit with its wonderful scenery and so many attractions to see. If you havent been , get it on your list of places to go!
Happy Travelling
Brian
PS Don’t forget you can see some of these and many more Irish watercolours on my Blog , http://www.brianswatercolours.blog and also at my shops on http://www.Artfinder.com/brianswatercolours and http://www.Art Gallery.co.uk/briantucker.
Revisiting the stunning Côte d’Azur
Hi Everybody
For many years we have loved visiting the Cote d’Azur in Southern France.
This year was no exception and so we have now returned from a great family holiday in a fine house near Mougins, not far from Cannes.
The weather was great and although it is a very busy time of year in that area we had a really great holiday.
And a little time to paint some new watercolours of the area!
This year we travelled by car over a few days to Mougins, enjoying the French scenery on the way, and on the way back the great scenery of the Alps on route to Grenoble.
On the way we paused at at Castle Mornas, a magnificent castle high above the Rhone.
Castle Mornas in Provence. Watercolour sketch 10 inches by 8
Near Orange I spied this harvest scene and so this sketch resulted of the harvest.
Later on in our holiday this sketch became the basis for larger watercolour of a Provence harvest scene
Harvest in Provence, sketch , 10 inches by 8.
Provence village at harvest time. Watercolour 18 inches by 12 on Arches 300gsm paper.
Mougins, near where we stayed is a very pretty village of winding streets and great restaurants, always worth a visit if you are nearby. Le Petit Fouet restaurant is to be recommended as is Rita in the lower town.
Towards Mougins, a watercolour sketch 10 inches by 8
Mougins , a sketch from a previous visit, 10 by 8 inches
One evening we had a great dinner in La Farigoulette Restaurant in Fayence. It is right at the top of the town and from there the views are wonderful. Here is sketch of that view with some of the many rooftops of this “perched” Provence Town.
The rooftops of Fayence. Watercolour sketch, 10 by 9 inches
Near Mougins is Cannes, and this watercolour tries to capture the scene of the Croisette there and the Esterel mountains in the distance. We love the drive from Cannes through la Napoule to Agay along the beautiful Esterel coast, one of the great Coastal drives in the World
An lately here isa watercolour of the lovely harbour at Cannes
Cannes and the Esterel Mountains. Watercolour 18 inches by 12 on Arches Watercolour paper.
And lastly here is a watercolour of Cannes Harbour with the colourful boats, and the old town of Le Suquet with its Castle and the Church of Notre Dame d’Esperance.
Cannes Harbour. Watercolour 14 inches by 10 on Arches watercolour paper
So home with many more photos to paint of our great holiday.
Happy travelling
Brian
PS
Don’t forget to look at my watercolour shops at
http://www.artfinder.com/brianswatercolour , or at
where many of my watercolours are for sale.
New watercolours while the sun shines in England!
Hi everybody
I have managed recently to produce some new watercolours, some of which are in exhibitions and others for friends or just for the pleasure of painting them. A few are copies of recent commissions which I have really enjoyed painting, and receiving the very generous responses from their new owners.
Paintings completed during our South East Open Studios event at “The Drawing Room” Gallery in West Malling.
Six local artist were exhibiting for all of June and we were delighted to welcome vistors and friends to the Gallery. Some sales were made as well I am pleased to say.
We each took turns to produce paintings in the shop front window which was a lot if fun. Here are the ones that I produced.
Dawn sky at Broadstairs in Kent
Godrevy Island in Cornwall
The Landgate in Rye in Kent
A very quick “en plein air” sketch of West Malling
Some recent Commissions
Three scenes of Lucca and the Tuscan countrysde
And one of Bosham in West Sussex
Here are a few recent watercolours painted just for the sheer pleasure of doing them.
Cape Cornwall
Eillean Donan Castle in Scotland
St Michael’s Mount in Cornwall
Storm clouds forming over Irish Cottages
I painted this Kent sunset for a local art club competition, but then found out the subject was “Birds”, so I added a flock of Lapwings!
I hope you will enjoy having a look at these recent watercolours and remember some are for sale on http://www.artfinder.com/brianswatercolours
Happy Travelling
Brian
The End of 2023 , and a Happy New Year for 2024
Salisbury Cathedral
Hi Everybody
2023 has been a pretty busy year for my watercolour painting.
With over 90 watercolours and sketches completed and quite a few new destinations explored I have had a lot of fun. Lucky I am retired!
I hope that 2024 will be as good for my painting and rather better from some personal issues. Maybe, just, maybe a bit more peaceful across the World as well.
It would be too long a post to cover them all so I have selected some to reprise for this post.
It has been a good yoear too as I have been lucky enough to have some watercolours in a few exhibitions here in Kent, and whilst sales haven’t been high it is nevertheless very rewarding to know others are , hopefully , enjoying my work. On line sales have been low too, probably as a result if the current economic situations.
So here are a selection of this past years effirts, many have been on the posts before but gathered together this way may be interesting for you to see.
Studio and larger Watercolours
Kent
Lake District Buttermere
Fair Head
Mournes from Murlough Bay
The Regatta
Leigh on sea dawn
Scotney Castle
Rye from the Marshes
Bluebell Woods
Bluebell Woods
Antibes
Drôme le Provencal
Lake Windermere
In The Lake District
Pin Mill 64 by 30
Sketches and Pen and Wash Watercolours
Mousehole
West Malling 1890
Augusta the 12th
Provence Pont Madame
In the Peak District
Peak District
Coombesgate Bay Devon
Semi abstract and very large Watercolours
Bamburgh Castle
Irish cottages by the sea
The Lighthouse 80 by 20 cms
Fens, 80 by20 cms
The Shore
The Mourne Mountains
Dawn
The Beach
Bamburg Castle Dawn
We are looking forward to 2024 and with some further a field travels planned I hope there will be lots of opportunities for more painting and Blog Posts too.
I have also been asked to do a few demonstarions to painting groups and I now feel confident enough to take on these skighlty daunting tasks. Painting and talking about the orocess to other very competenet artusts will be n exciting challenge.
in April I will be mounting a month ling solo show of my Paintings at aLibrary in Crambrookin Kent and I am really looking forward to that, and I hope to continue to exhilit at some local Galleries. What fun!
The past year also saw me try painting some semi abstract watercolours and I plan to continue with more of these from time to time.
Large ,over one metre, watercolours are tricky but very exciting as the speed of the work has to be quite high, watch this space for some more
In the mean time Best Wishes for 2024
Happy Travelling
Brian
Buying my Watercolours
Most available watercolours can be seen on http://www.artfinder.com/brianswatercolours
Some are also for sale on http://www.artgallery.com
In Kent in the UK some watercolours and prints are being exhibited and are for sale at “The Drawing Room Gallery” in West Malling and at The Creek Gallery in Faversham.
Or email me and I can advise how to purchase anything you see if it is still available and of course Commissions can n be made through Artfinder too!
Brian
Where did the Summer go!
A few days in La Napoule near Cannes resulted in this sketch of the local Castle
Hi Everybody
Thanks for reading my Blog.
Its been a wet and rather odd summer in Kent this year with showers, wind, heavy rain and sun too.
It has been a odd time for my painting too but nevertheless I have managed to paint quite a few watercolours including s9me new styles and sizes.
i have also now have some watercolours in a local Gallery and in a few other locations in Kent.
I don’t think that in these difficult times that buying Art is not high on peoples priorities but maybe the winter will see sales retuning for artists once again.
So we here are some recent watercolours for you to see in case you think I have stopped painting!
I had a big desire to paint a series of very impressionistic watercolours and here are some of them
Bamburgh Castle at Dawn
Venice Lagoon sunrise
Dawn off the Kent coast
And a few more traditional watercolours
A sketch of the Watersmeet hotel where we once stayed at in Devon at Coombesgate bay
A large notebook sketch done in preparation for a watercolour of Malcesine on Lake Garda for some very good friends.
Sailing on Lake Windermere, painted from a sketch when we visited there
At the Beach!
Broadstairs in Kent for a local Exhibition at “The Drawing Room” in West Malling
So there you are , a few of my Summer 2023 Watercolours which I hope you will like.
And lastly our local Art Club asked for a Black and white only artwork for a little competion
Here are two , they were such fun to do and so quick!
Oare Creek near Faversham
Rye in East Sussex at low tide
If you do a moment do have a look at my Artfinder site
http://www.artfinder.com/brianswatercolours
Or if you are in Kent do visit the Gallery in West Malling called “The Drawing Room”where you will find many artworks by local Kent artists, ideal as Presents!
Happy travelling
Brian
Sketching in the English Peak District
Chatsworth and the River Derwent, watercolour sketch 20 inches by 10.
In Derbyshire lies the English Peak district.
An area of great classical English country beauty with rolling hills, interesting towns, famous historical Country Houses and , in the High Peak some really spectacular scenery.
So for a few days we stayed in a great Hotel, The Cavendish Hotel at Baslow, It is very close to Chatsworth House and whilst based there we toured around this fine part of Central England.
Good and generous food portions and really delightful scenery abound and so it was a nice opportunity to do some sketching and painting of the area.
As we were so close to Chatsworth we spent some time there both inside this extravagant home of one of England’s historically richest families and in the countryside of the Derbyshire Dales.
If you haven’t visited this area it is very well worth doing so.
A more formal watercolour of the River Derwent as it passes by Chatsworth. Watercolour on Arches 300gsm paper. 14 iches by 10. For sale on Artfinder.
Derbyshire and the Paek District has some wonderful Pack horse bridges and waterfalls. Here are Sketches of two of them to give you some idea of the great scenery to be seen in the area.
A bridge over the River Wye near Bakewell
A Derbyshire Pack Horse bridge
Whilst in the Peak District one the best places to visit is the Hope Valley and Castleton. Castleton is a nice small town nesting below Winnats Pass with lots of pubs and coffee shops. It is also the home of Blue John Jewellery which is mined just outside the Town.
From Castleton the drive over Winnats Pass is amazing and for those with better walking capabilities than I it is a wonderful hiking area. At the top of Winnats Pass the scenery is really lovely with Mam Tor and the high peak area really delightful.
This sketch tries to capture that panorama there but you reall have to go there to experience the spectacular nature if the area.
On the top of Winnats Pass. A watercolour sketch 21 by 10
We visited the very interesting village of Eyam. There in 1665 plague struck and the villagers virtually sealed themselves off to await their fate, and thus not infect others. Many died both there and right across the UK and Eur0pe. In Eyam there is an excellent museum with great details of the history of that time and a lot of very interesting information about the village and the plague.
Quite close to the M1 in this area you will also find Hardwick House, the former home of Bess of Hardwick and the creator of Chatsworth. Another great house to visit and get the feel of Elizabethan 17th Century England.
We enjoyed our time in The Peak District a great deal and will return there again to explore more of the scenery, towns and villages of the area.
Happy travelling
Brian
Don’t forget you can see many of my watercolours at http://www.artfinder.com/brianswatercolours where they are for sale.And also on http://www.artgallery.co.uk
A Great Week in Northern Ireland.
A Panorama watercolour sketch of Donaghadee on the North coast of County Down.22 inches by 8
It was great to spend a week visiting friends and family in Northern Ireland and revisiting many great locations there, luckily I was able to fit in a few watercolour sketches along the way!
Readers of this blog will be familiar with how much we enjoy the North Antrim Coast and the spectacular scenery there.
Even the drive from Larne to Portrush is spectacular with the Causeway Coastal Route hugging the coast for so many wonderful miles.
We based ourselves this time in a great house rental in Whiteabbey (Abbeyselfcatering.co.uk) which I would strongly recommend as it’s location, near to Belfast and Carrickfergus is a great touring base for all of Northern ireland.
Whlist in Northern Ireland there wasn’t a lot of time for painting but I did manage a few “en plain air” sketches which are in this blog and were painted during out visits to the areas.
Firstly, The Giants Causeway, sitting on those famous hexagonal stones, and dodging the showers gave me time for couple of quick sketches .
The Giants Causeway. Watercolour sketch
And also the next bay with the amazing rock formations –
It is a busy place and pre-booking is well advised as coach loads of visitors, some from cruise ships, go there to marvel at this natural phenomenon.
Just a few miles further down the road is the famous Carrick -a-Rede rope bridge which is some 98 feet above the rocks below.
Here are two sketches one on cartridge paper which will give you some idea of the Bridge.
Sunset at Carrick-a-Rede. Sketch on Cartridge paper.
Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge and headland with Scotland in the far background.
In the great seaside town of Ballycastle is one of the finest beaches you will see with the backdrop of the cliff known as Fair Head. This has been one of my favourite subjects over many years and here is a recent quick watercolour and a studio watercolour painted before this visit.
Fair Head and Ballycastle strand. Watercolour 14 inches by 10 on Arches 300 gsm paper.
Fair Head on the Antrim Coast. A Studio Watercolour in mixed media on prepared Canvas 24 inches by 12. Yes that is Scotland again in the background.
Of course for me a trip to Northern ireland would not be complete without a glimpse of the Mourne Mountains 30 miles south of Belfast. No time for a sketch so here are two studio watercolours of these beautiful mountains above Newcastle and Murlough Bay.
Studio watercolour of The Mourne Mountains from Murlough Bay. 21 inches by 9 on Arches paper.
And lastly a semi abstract watercolour of the same scene painted a couple of weeks ago.
Semi abstract watercolour of the Mourne’s on Arches paper. 18 inches by 9.5.
This was a short but lovely visit to Northern Ireland with is wonderful scenery, people, food and drink. ( Yes, I did manage a quick stop at the Bushmills Whiskey Distillery in Bushmills to collect some supplies!)
I hope that you will enjoy these sketches and watercolours.
If you would like to see more please download my free Guide Book to Ulster which you will find in the Header to this Blog, or search of for the book on the Apple iBookstore.,where it is also free.
Some of these and many more of my watercolours are for sale on http://www.Artfinder.com/brianswatercolours
Happy travelling
Brian
