Hi Everybody
Life here in the UK is changing daily, and not for the better it seems, as we contend with the Virus.
Not going out is the new phase we are in and as it will last a while we will all be rather frustrated.
Maybe some more time for painting, reading, gardening and hopefully still some golf will now now be our new norm! Travel will have to wait for now.
So today I painted a watercolour of the skyline of Toronto.
After a recent commission from there I thought I should look up Toronto as I had only passed through it years ago when visiting Niagara Falls.
I immediately saw that like a number of other cities it has an impressive skyline and so here is the watercolour.
Toronto. Watercolour 18 inches by 8 on Arches NOT watercolour paper.
I have painted a few skylines before and so they are reproduced here. They are enjoyable to do and I like the almost monochrome approach I have used here.
As they are fun to do I think I might do some more, well there is going to be plenty of time over the next few months!
I hope you like these so far,more to follow.
Red roof on Teal lake. Watercolour 10 inches by 10.
San Francisco. Watercolour 16 by 8 inches
Rye from the Marshes. Watercolour 14 by 8
San Francisco, watercolour 11 by 7 inches
Montreal. Watercolour 14 by 9 inches
Stay well and Travel will return for us later on.
Brian
The 12th green at Augusta National Golf Club
Last weekend we enjoyed watching the amazing Master’s Golf on the TV from Augusta. As ever it was fantastic spectacle, and made even more so by Tiger Woods once again winning the Trophy.
While watching I sketched these three small watercolours as the scene of the course with the Azealeas is as always so wonderful to see.
These are simple line and wash watercolours, each one about 9 inches by 8 and on Khadi watercolour paper in the sketchbook.
It could have been one of my ” Places I would like to be” posts and maybe one day we will visit there to see the beauty of this golf course at first hand.
I hope you like them , and if you play golf that the quality of the play from the Professionals will inspire your game too.
Happy travelling
Brian
The 16th Hole at Augusta national, known as “Red Bud”
The 12th Green at Augusta National Golf Course, viewed from the Tee.
The Capitol at Night. Watercolour 13 inches by 10.
For many years I travelled to Washington on business and enjoyed many happy times there.
I saw a photo the other day that reminded me so much of those exciting times and the friends that I made there over the years.
So today I thought maybe a quick watercolour would be a fun thing to do and true enough all those memories came flooding back.
I haven’t visited Washington for a few years now but the view across to the Capitol is one of my lasting memories.
If you were one on the many who shared those times with me I hope you too have fine memories of this great City.
Anyway I hope you all like this effort to capture that evening scene.
Happy Travelling – and – a Very Happy Christmas to you all and Best Wishes for the New Year.
Brian
Some friends’ recent holiday to the Canadian Rockies and our trip a few years ago to Yosemite have inspired me to try to paint a few mountain scenes.
Using their, and my own photos, from these trips here are just 3 watercolours of those places.
Our trip to Yosemite was amazing, such scale and grandeur is hard to beat. and our friends photos of their Canadian trip reminds me that the West of Canada is still on our “bucket list”
I hope you enjoy this short post , I found producing these paintings a lot of fun, and maybe a visit one day? Lets hope so.
Happy travelling
Brian
El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. Watercolour 14 inches by 10.
Sunset at Lake Moraine in the Canadian Rockies. Watercolour 16 by 12 inches.
Lake Louise in the Canadian Rockies. Watercolour 13 inches by 9.
Hi there,
The vast plains and mountains in the centre of the USA have always fascinated me. In my many visits to the USA I flew over many areas like this but alas did not have much time to vist them in person.
Recently a Photographer and fellow Blogger, Mitch Zeissler, published this great photograph of Mount Calowahcan in Montana.
You really should go and see his excellent photos at his Blog http://www.exploratorius.us – they are always inspiring and interesting.
Mitch has kindly allowed me to “borrow” his photo as the subject of this Post, one of a series on “Places that I would really like to Visit” . Thanks Mitch!
I hope you like it, maybe I will get there one day!
Mount Calowahcan –Mission Mountains,Montana, by permission of Mitch Zeissler. Watercolour 18 inches by 7 painted on Hahnemuhle 450 matt watercolour paper.
Happy Travelling
Brian
The 12th Hole at Augusta National Golf Course
Hi Everybody
Some time ago I posted about “Places that I would like to visit”. The first one was of Lake Bled, Bellagio and New Zealand and my thanks to those who enjoyed seeing the paintings and the post.
This is the second in this occasional series of watercolours of places that I do hope to visit one day.
This post is about The Master Golf Championship at Augusta in Georgia in the USA, and the far North West of Scotland.
Being a keen golfers for many years I have watched the Masters Golf each year and that yearning to visit returns each year. It isn’t just for the golf ,the course looks both amazing and very beautiful at this time of year with flowers and Azaleas in full bloom.
From a photo, taken of the TV screen, I painted the watercolour above, a few years ago, which I hope you will like.
Maybe one day I will visit but until then just watching and painting has to be enough!
By next Sunday we will know who is this year’s Winner and Augusta National will disappear from our screens for another year but the memory of the course will remain. Good luck to all the golfers who are playing this magnificent course.
The second pair of paintings were gifts to some friends who love to spend time in the far North West of Scotland, near Durness and Cape Wrath. Painted from photos they try to capture the beautiful coastline at Balnakiel Bay and Sandwood Bay. The coastline of Britain is spectacular and these two parts of Scotland are more places that I would like one day to get to.
Balnakiel Bay near Durness in Scotland
Sandwood Bay on the North West coast of Scotland
I’ll just add them to my bucket list!
Happy painting, Travelling and Golfing!
Brian
Jan 16
This gallery contains 14 photos.
If you have been looking at my blog in the past or if its your first time here, may I wish you all a Very Happy New Year. This year I am going to try to blog some watercolours a little more often than in the past, however that will also depend on the time […]
Fairhead on the Antrim Coast
The summer has seen us take short trips to France, and Northern Ireland. There have been a few opportunities to paint quickly and also to paint a couple of watercolours from photos of Florence, as my son and his wife had just visited there and it is always nice to remember times that we spent there.
At least in France we had some sun, a rare thing it seems in the UK this year! Maybe if the weather improves we will be able to get outside to paint, if not its back to the photos!
The North Antrim coast is one of the most spectacular in the world, and we have been lucky this year to have been to three of the most famous coastlines in the world; the West coast of California, the Esterel coast in Provence and the Antrim coast in Northern Ireland
Pebble Beach on the Monterey Peninsula
. I have repeated a couple of previous paintings of these three coasts here to remind us of their beauty.
St Paul de Vence[gallery link="file" columns="1" orderby="rand"]
We have been lucky enough to visit many golf courses around the world. This spring we are golfing in San Diego and in between rounds I have managed to find a little time for some painting. So here are two paintings of the Grand Del Mar course, and a few others of California.
While we were there it was the Masters weekend at Augusta and although we were not there I thought a quick watercolour of the famous 12th hole might be good so it is here too.
Our travels in California took us to la Jolla and Carmel and these two paintings show a little of the beauty of these coastal areas.
Before travelling home we spent two wonderful days in Yosemite national park and then a day in the Napa Valley and lastly San Francisco.
I hope you enjoy them to look at as much as we did in visiting such beautiful places, and for me painting them as a reminder of our journey.
More to come over the next few weeks I hope.
Over the past few years we have travelled on a number of Golfing Holidays with some great groups of friends. This is my 2012 update to the previous Blog
With Pro Golfing Tours we have visited Portugal, Mauritius, New Zealand ,Legends Golf and Safari resort in South Africaand in 2012 The Grand Del mar near San Diego in California. Legends,about 3 hours north of Johannesburgh has the highest par 3 hole in the world, The Extreme 19th. To play it we had to go up to the Tee in helicopter. At 1400 feet the green below looks small and is the shape of Africa.
These have been great vacations organised by Ian Godleman and Lynnette Brooky. It has been terrific to have been there with such a great group of friends.
This has given us the opportunity to see some new destinations and for me to paint some of them. Occasionally this included painting some of the golf holes on the courses as well. Of course I couldn’t leave out a view of my home course too when the bluebells were in bloom. Here are some of those destinations both recent and over the past few years.
Many thanks Brian
Sounds wonderful! And so is the painting :)
And you two too DavId Very weird here but so far so good Thanks for you nice comment Cheers Brian
Beautiful colors Brian! Stay well you two, David
Hi David Many thanks! As we are stuck at home I might have ago at NY,Seattle and Singapore We are bo
Hi Brian, Always a pleasure to see your email. Love the skylines! Can't wait to see what's next! Sta
Hi Andrea Thanks I suspect I will be painting a lot and I need to start an excercise régime too! Lov
Your Toronto skyline is terrific! Such a lovely, cheering, positive blog. Thank you.
