Blog Archives
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.
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
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 painting day in Arlington Bluebell Woods in Sussex
The woodlands at Bates Green Farm at Arlington in Sussex are famous for the intensity and the vast amount of Bluebells there in the Spring.
I am most indebted to Alison Cotton , a local Sussex Artist and Watercolour tutor, for arranging this lovely day there in what turned out to be perfect sunny and warm weather!
Phillipa, from the Bluebell Farmhouse Kitchen prepared a really tasty lunch of Asparagus Quiches, amazing salads and a Rhubarb crumble for the eight of us which was all really delicious.
Having the extensive woods all to ourselves was amazing and we all really enjoyed watching Alison’s demonstrations and trying hard to capture the colour and the masses of bluebells , with the trees and dappled shade of their surroundings.
I was pleased to have had time for three watercolours 14 inches by 10 and to have time to take many reference photos for the future.
So here are my efforts. Painting watercolours “en plein air” is always tricky but in the warm dappled sun it was nevertheless a great experience.
“At the edge of the Woods”. Watercolour 14 inches by 10 on Arches 300 gsm paper
“A path through Arlington Woods”. Watercolour on Arches 300 gsm paper, 14 inches by 10
“A glimpse of the pond in Arlington woods”. Watercolour 14 inches by 10 on Arches 300gsm paper.
My thanks to Alison, Philippa and everyone that made the day so enjoyable. Maybe a return visit to paint the woods in the Autumn would be a good chance to sample more of the great food from the Bluebell Farmhouse Kitchen and enjoy more painting in Arlington Woods.
Happy Travelling
Brian
Larger and more impressionistic!
Hi Everybody
I have alway been interested in painting larger watercolours but only now have I really got round to giving it a go.
After the recently posted Salisbury Cathedral watercolour, shown again here, I have been painting a few larger more impressionistic watercolours either at 78 cms width or 95 cms width.
Salisbury Cathedral 75 by 25 cms on Arches 300 gsm paper
Here are the two new wide paintings , the first one on Saunders 600gsm paper which is very heavy and takes lots of water very well.
A Wide watercolour,78 by 20cms on 600gsm warecolour paper
The second was painted on heavy wallpaper lining paper and although I was sceptical if it would take watercolour at all it has turned out fine and the paint dried nicely on this fairly smooth paper.
Even wider 95 by 20 cms on Commercial lining paper about 200 gms.
This paper is many times lower in cost than watercolour rolls of paper and so I will try it again.
Both are as you see semi abstract Fen like scenes and I have been pleased with the interest shown in this style which is for me a bit of a departure from the norm!
This week i hope to be away painting the Bluebell woods in Sussex and this may also give me an opportunity for a really wide watercolour too. If so I will post it here soon
Any comments gratefully received!
Happy Travelling
Brian
Large and Small watercolours for sale on Artfinder
Watercolour sketch, Faversham Standard Quay, 25 by 22 cms
I love to paint watercolours and I am pleased to say that there are quite a lot of people that own my paintings around the World.
I really enjoy hearing that they enjoy the places depicted which may be their favourite places, or reminders of holidays or places that they would like to go to.
But not everybody has room on their walls for larger pieces and so I have started offering smaller versions of some of my larger watercolours, even some tht have been sold in the past.
They all wiil appear on http://www.Artfinder.com/brianswatercolours and are I hope will be very affordable.
Here are some recent ones for you to see
Boating on Lake Bitterer in the English Lake District Watercolour on Arches paper, 29 by 13.5 cos. £120 on Artfinder.
The Original Large watercolour of Autumn at Lake Buttermere, 46 by 26 cms £200 on Artfinder.
Dawn at Broadstairs in Kent. Watercolour on Arches paper, 35 by 25 cms. £135 on Artfinder
A Larger watercolour Of Broadstairs, 35 by 26 cms currently in an Exhibition at “The Drawing Room Gallery ” in West Malling in Kent.
“Stormy Skies at Fair Head” on the Antrim Coast of Northern Ireland. Watercolour 29 by 13.5 cms on Arches Paper. £120 on Artfinder
Larger Watercolour “Stormy Skies over Fair Head”. Watercolour . 40.5 by 30.5 cms .£220 on Artfinder.
And an even bigger one of this same scene, this time a Watercolour on a Primed Canvas which is good to use for really large watercolours
Watercolour on canvas ,60 cms by 30, ready ready to hang as no frame requred .£245 on Artfinder
So if you notice any more of my Watercolours that you think you would like to buy a smaller version of on Artfinder.com/brianswatercolours, just send me an email and I will endeavour to paint one and put it up for sale.
Happy travelling
Brian
Pen and Wash sketches of Canterbury
Hi Everbody
It is hardly the weather for outdoor sketching at present here in Kent so here are three quick Pen and Wash watercolours in and around Canterbury in Kent, all done in a few idle moments over the Christmas holidays from photos in my library.
With them come my Best Wishes for the New Year too!
Regards to all
Brian
