Blog Archives
The Delights of Cornwall.
St Ives Harbour in Cornwall.
Hi Everybody
In 1983 we enjoyed a holiday in Crackington Haven in Cornwall. Our children were quite young then and after the sandcastles were built, the swims over, and the games played I decided to have try at a bit of sketching, – I had never tried before. 1 year later I had started painted holiday watercolours.
So here we are in 2021 nearly 38 years later and there have been many watercolours produced since 1973 and a fair few of Cornwall. If you follow this blog you will have seen many of them!
I fact I notice on my stats that over the past year there have been over 9000 views from 76 different countries around the world –Thank you for looking!
These past weeks we have also been enjoying a Rick Stein series on Cornwall on the TV and so these things have brought me to doing a post of some of my Cornwall watercolours, some old, and some new which I hope you will enjoy.
The header is one of St Ives , one of the most famous of Cornish towns, and like many parts of Cornwall a haven for artists.
Toward the most westerly parts of Cornwall is Cape Cornwall and this watercolour tries to capture the Cove and Cape Cornwall from the Kenidjack valley as a storm brews over the sea.
Storm Rising at Cape Cornwall
Not far away from there is Priest’s Cove (accessible from the Cape Cornwall Car park) where a few fishing boats still go out to sea.
Priest’s Cove near Cape Cornwall
Also on the North Cornwall coast there are many ruins of Tin and Copper mines , some right at the edge of the precipitous cliffs. Here is a watercolour painted recently of the Crown Engine houses at Botallack Mine.
Stormy seas at Bottalack Mine
You can also visit the Levant Mine and beam engine a little further north and see a working Beam Engine there. Amazing for any engineering fans!. After passing or stopping in St Ives the coast will eventually lead you to Hayle and eventually Newquay.
Further on is Bedruthan steps with great coastal views and then Padstow, a great place to have a meal or sit by the quay, as we did, and enjoy a traditional Cornish Pasty. The passenger ferry crosses to Rock but to drive round to Rock and Polzeath the road takes you via Wadebridge.
At Polzeath there is a great beach which is a favourite place for surfers due to the excellent waves coming in from the Atlantic.
Polzeath Beach, popular with surfers!
And a bit further on the coast is Port Quin and then the famous Port Isaac, well know as the setting for the TV series of Doc Martin.
Port Quin
A new impressionistic watercolour of Port Isaac, TV viewers will know it as Port Wenn.
Further up the North Coast, beyond Crackington Haven is Bude, a larger summer resort again famous for the sandy beaches, and I seem to remember very good ice cream!
Bude
Leaving the North coast behind the South Coast of Cornwall is equally appealing, with quaint fishing villages, much history and beautiful coastal scenery.
A few places that I have painted watercolours of are here now and all are well worth a visit if you are there.
St Clements is near to Truro on the River Tresillian. I was introduced to it by another blogger who produces a great Blog about Cornish History and Folklore ( Cornishbirdblog.com The Cornish Bird) and this watercolour is, with permission, from a photo from that blog.
The village of St Clements near Truro
The south coast has so many great places to visit but here is just one real favourite of ours, Mousehole, tricky to park at though!
Recent watercolour from photos of Mousehole on the Cornish Coast
Lastly for this post about my Cornwall watercolours is a view of St Michael’s Mount, where today there is the choice of ferry or a walk across the Causeway at low tide.
This watercolour tries to capture the scene as people arrive from the last evening ferry.
“Arriving on the last ferry”. St Michael’s Mount near Marazion on the South Cornwall Coast
I have only been able to give you a flavour of the “Delights of Cornwall “here but it is a great County of England to visit. In many ways it is unique and has the most stunning coastal scenery and lovely towns and villages to spend time in..
I hope you will be able to visit there and that we too will once more be able to go there again.
Happy travelling — when you can!
Stay safe and well
Brian
The joy of Pen and Wash watercolours!
San Gimignano in Tuscany from one of my sketchbooks
Hi Everybody
I love to paint watercolours, and I have always been fascinated by this medium.
Whilst I get great pleasure trying to paint big and bold watercolours I often find myself returning to where I started , using a pen and wash technique.
The sheer pleasure of the pen marks casually laid on the paper which may or may not be important later on is such fun and then applying washes of watercolour over it in a not too rigorous edgy manner is very exhilarating.
Maybe I am easily pleased but this process, which has to be pretty speedy, has been the backbone of my watercolours for many years and I hope will continue to be so.
Pen and wash can be in my sketch books, or slightly more formally on Watercolour paper, I particularly like Arches watercolour blocks which are so great for use when travelling!
Let’s hope we can travel again soon though!
So here are some older and more recent Pen and Wash watercolours which I hope you will enjoy.
These first three were painted just this week from photos of previous visits and that is often how they happen. When I can in love to sketch on the spot but that is a luxury which I can’t do at present of course.
Two scenes for Yorkshire first
Staithes on the Yorkshire Coast
The village of Robin Hood’s Bay
And now a recent painting of Mousehole in Cornall and one of the River dart in Devon
Mosehole in Cornwall
Greenway Quay on the River Dart in Devon
A few on place in Provence
In St Paul de Vence
At The heart of Vence
Fayence
Seillans
And a quick trip into Spain and Portugal
Sintra
The Hotel Courtyard in Sevilla
Sevilla Cathedral
Salamanca
An finally , for now at least, a few of both Canterbury and York
Canterbury Cathedral from Mercery Lane
York Minster from the City Wall
The Shambles in York
I hope from these you can see the reason why I enjoy Pen and Wash so much. Immediate , Colourfull and fun to do!
Stay safe and well and maybe this year we may all get to travel again.
Brian
Mountains from our Travels. – Part 1
Hi Everybody
Happy New Year to Everyone, and thanks for reading my Blog!
Let us hope that 2021 turns out better for us all than 2020. I am keeping my fingers crossed!
Alas I doesn’t seem that we will be travelling soon so some virtual travel will have to be the way forward for now.
I painted 116 watercolours during 2020 and I am not planning on stopping this trend for this year.
For many years when I was working I travelled extensively on business and went to Seattle many, many times working with Boeing of various airplanes programmes, most notably the 777. I usually stayed at Bellevue but whenever there was some free weekends I took the opportunity to travel to the coast and the islands or into the Cascade Mountains. The scenery of the Cascades is amazing but the one site that dominates all is that of Mount Rainier. Although 60 miles from Seattle it looms large and is a spectacular site even from a distance.
And so painted from some of the many photos that I took in those days ( I rarely had a sketch book with me) I have any last painted a view of Mount Rainier. This painting shows haw due to it height Mount Rainier keeps a snow covered top all year. It is possible to drive right up to 6000 feet there but this watercolour is from one of the approach roads.
Mount Rainier in the Spring. Watercolour 18 inches by 11 on Arches 300gsm paper. I hope those little people give it some scale! Mount Rainer is 14411 feet tall and is a very large and active Volcano!
We have visited many mountains over the years and way back in 2003 I painted this sketch of Table Mountain at Capetown in South Africa.
This mountain dominates Capetown even more that Mount Rainier does in Seattle but it is a very amazing site from across the bay.
Table Mountain in South Africa. Watercolour sketch.
Also near Capetown are the 12 Apostles Mountain range and here is a painting again from some years ago of these spectacular mountains above Camps Bay in the evening.
The Twelve Apostle Mountains at Camps Bay in South Africa. Watercolour 14 by 10
Even further away from the UK is New Zealand with some of the most amazing scenery we have ever
Here are just three watercolours, the first of Mount Tongaringo in the North Island and the others from the South Island.
Mount Tongagingo in New Zealand Noth island. A massive dormant Volcano. Sketch 9 inches by 8
Mount Cook, New Zealand’s highest mountain. Sketch 10 by 8 inches.
The Amazing Milford Sound at Dawn in New Zealand. Watercolour 18 inches by 12.
I hope that you have enjoyed this first part of my Mountain Travel Post. I will be adding more on Part 2
Stay safe and well
Brian
Places I would like to be – Norfolk in the UK
Sunset at Hunstanton
Hi Everybody
This will be my last post of 2020 and it will be a year I am sure we will not look back on happily.
There have been many lows but some wonderful highs such as the achievement to create new vaccines so quickly and the care so many have shown to others in such troubled times.
My watercolours have been a wonderful visual journey to get me through these lockdown days and during the year I have painted well over one hundred watercolours of many places around the world as real travel has had to be replaced with fantasy journeys to places that we love or would like to go to.
To all of you who have taken the time to look at these posts, my grateful thanks, and I hope that as 2021 arrives we can all look forward with more optimism to a better world.
And so it was that over the holidays I was talking to a friend about Norfolk and it spurred me into action to do one of these “Places I would like to be” posts. I do plan to go there in 2021!!!
With travel a distant memory it would be good to be in Norfolk for it’s lovely countryside, coast, big skies and amazing sunsets. Not to mention the food and yes, Norfolk wine too!
So here are some watercolours painted over the past few years of Norfolk and they will help me and I hope you to reminisce about or if you don’t know the area to get on to your list!
One of those big Norfolk Skies and the shore
Let’s start on the coast where the lovely beaches meet the sky
On the North coast lies the picturesque town of Balakeney famous as one the best places to try crab rolls and sandwiches. Blakeney is apopular harbour town with many boats and yachts moored there ready for the incoming tide.
Here is my watercolour of the harbour, a great place to sit and watch the world go by!
The quay at Blakeney
And one of some boats waiting for the tide
Waiting for the tide
To the east of Blakeney is the pretty little town of Cley Next The Sea, with is equally famous windmill which has been the subject of paintings for over two hundred years.
Here is one of my watercolour but in the style of the very famous watercolourist, Edward Seago whose paintings of the British coast and Europe too are all really wonderful. I really admire his work done in the 20th Century.
Cley windmill in the style of Edward Seago.
And here is another of the Cley Windmill but in my more usual style
Cley windmill pen and wash sketch painted on site.
In 2019 I was lucky to go to a watercolour workshop held at The White House Hotel at Sussex farm, with Herman Pekel, a fantastic Australian watercolour painter and we painted around the Burnham Market area , a very pretty town and with great places to eat and drink too!
These are some of the watercolours I produced during that week with his help and guidance.
Burnham Overy Staithes
Local houses near Burnham Overy Staithes, right opposite the Hero pub with it great food and drink!
The pond at Sussex farm Hotel, The White House, a great place to stay.
Across the Norfolk fields
A Tidal inlet near Thornham
Near Burnham Overy Staithes
Thornham Old Harbour
Boats moored at Wells next The Sea painted on a bench by the coast.
And lastly a dawn seascape at Sctby on the East coast of Norfolk
Dawn at Scratby beach
I am sorry this has been a long post but anyway I hope you have enjoyed this glimpse of Norfolk and that you have a Very Happy 2021.
Best wishes
Brian
Around Broadstairs in Kent in Watercolour
Around Broadstairs in Watercolours
Dawn breaks at Broadstairs. Watercolour 13 inches by 9 on Arches paper.
A couple of years ago a venue for the Sky Arts Landscape painter of the Year competition was Broadstairs in Kent, and I was lucky enough to be selected to paint there on that day.(I didn’t get selected for the final alas though!)
Although we had been to Broadstairs before that from then on I have enjoyed visting this picturesque seaside town, and painting watercolours from various photos and some sketches.
So I have collected a few in this post which I hope will encourage you visit to our sandy beached resorts on the Kent coast.
The watercolour I painted during the Sky Arts completion. Painted over a 4 hour period on the sandy beach, and it was 28c temperature! 17 inches by 12.
On that competition day I had some spare time , especially as it was so hot for painting watercolours. So I did this second monochrome version, which one of the passing judges said he liked, result! 17 inches by 12.
A more recent watercolour of Viking bay, trying to capture the incoming tide. 16 by 12 inches
Around the headland is Dumpton Gap bay, where the beach is strewn with large chalk rocks and at times the sea has a milky appearance. 16 inches by 12.
Just North of Broadstairs is Botany Bay and these next two painting are the views , south and north at the Bay.
Kites flying Botany bay looking South 14 inches by 10
Botany bay looking North. 14 inches by 10.
So there you have a few views of this rather quaint Kentish seaside town with strong associations with Charles Dickens too.
In the mean time Best Wishes for Christmas and let us all hope that 2021 will turn out to be a better year that 2020.
Stay well and safe
Brian
PS. If you would like to buy any of these watercolours of any other from my blog please just contact me at brian@brianswatercolours.com and I will respond with availability and price very quickly. A good many paintings have already found nice walls to hang on around the world so please check with me. However if already sold I am always happy to paint a new, original and unique version just for you. I don’t sell copies but I can provide Canvas style prints of most of my watercolours.
Payment can then be easily made by PayPal and courier delivery, usually only taking a few days, will follow. Prices will include the shipping to anywhere in the world.
Thanks
Brian
Back in Lockdown! Back to the easel!
Alas as the COVID infection rate has risen in the UK we are, in England, back in a four week lockdown.
At least the sun is shining and so going out for a walk is pleasant, although alas we can’t play any golf.
so this week I have been busy painting a few new watercolours
During October I was lucky enough to have some paintings in Galleries in Tonbridge, the Artspring Galley, and in the Creek Creative Gallery in Faversham. They both were featuring artwork created during Lockdown and being involved was very interesting. My thanks to them for letting me be a part of their exhibitions.
I had lots to chose from to supply to them as I had painted over 60 watercolours during that first Lockdown.
So here are this weeks paintings some of which will be going to a Gallery hopefully in December.
Firstly a watercolour of White Rocks Bay near Portrush in Northern Ireland, on the beautiful Antrim Coast.
I had previously painted this bay as part of a painting and post of the Royal Portrush Golf Course but this watercolour is from just a bit further along the coast at the Bay.
White Rocks Bay on the Antrim Coast. 14 inches by 10
These next three paintings may go to a Gallery in time for Christmas and are quite small compared to my usual watercolours.
They are all A4 size in their white mounts which I have included here.
They were fine and relaxing to paint and so I think I will do a lot more this size.
Ihope you like them
Oare Creek in Nirth Kent near Faversham Watercolour 8 inches by 6.
Canterbury Cathedral from Mercury Lane Watercolour 6 icônes by 8.
Barges at Standard Quay in Faversham. Watercolour 8 inches by 6
So as Lockdown has started again I guess I will be back painting some more watercolours and sending out a new Post
Take care, stay safe and chill out!
All the Best
Brian
Kent – The Garden of England 3, and a quick trip into East Sussex
In Parts 1 and 2 of this series of Posts about Kent we explored the countryside of Kent and some great places visit.
In Part 3 , the final one of this series we will return to some of the coast that we didn’t see in Part 1.
As an artist I am much drawn, excuse the pun, to Faversham and the marshes around that area ,especially Oare and the Creeks there.
So let us start in Faversham at Standard Quay with its sheds, shops, boats and barges.
A threatening storm at high tide.Faversham,Standard Quay. Watercolor 16 by 12inches
The rejuvenation of the old town of Faversham has made this very old port an attractive place to visit too.
Here is sketch of the Town centre on market day
Faversham, Market Day. Watercolour pen and wash 10 by 9 inches
From Faversham its is quite nearby to go to Oare and then take the road out to Harty Ferry on the Saxon Shore Way.
A ferry used to go from there across to the Isle of Sheppey, but alas no more. A walk East along the Saxon Shore way will bring you to the entrance to Oare creek with it boats ,barges and boatyard.
The boatyard at Oare Creek. Watercolour 16 by 12 inches.
If you had travelled to the opposite bank from Faversham the scene is a little different and there, at Hollowshore there is a great pub for a drink and good food, “The Shipwrights Arms”.
Barge at Hollowshore. 14 by 10 inches
Back in Oare the view along the Creek across the marshes offers yet another view of the area.
Oare Creek. Watercolour 20 by 16 inches
So lets move on along the coast to Whitstable and a sketch of the harbour there. Again lots of interesting shops and walks along the shore at Whitstable, nowadays a very popular town to visit , especially for its Beer Festival and abundant seafood, in particular the famous Whitstable Oysters.
Sketch of Whitstable harbour and Fishermens sheds. 10 by 9 inches.
Across Kent to East Sussex finds you able to visit The Seven Sisters chalk cliffs and this well known view is captured on a cold winters day in this watercolour.
The Seven Sisters Cliff in East Sussex. Watercolour 14 by 10 inches
Hastings is nearby with the fishing boats of on the “Stad”
Fishing Boats at Hastings. Watercolour 16 by 12 inches
Back towards Kent but still in East Sussex is the wonderfully quaint town of Rye
Rye skyline from Romney marsh. Watercolour 14 by 8 inches
In Rye the Landgate entrance to the Town. Watercolour 14 by 10 inches
As we come to the end of this series of views of Kent and East Sussex it would be an omission to not include some Bluebells, probably the flower of Kent, and beautiful in the spring.
Here are two watercolours of them
Bluebell woods. 16 by 12 inches
Bluebells near Hawkhurst. Watercolour 14 by 10 inches
Returning nearer to our home town these two watercolours of Barming’s St Margaret’s Church are somehow very typical of Kent scenes in summer and in the snow.
Poppies in the fields near St Margaret’s Church Watercolour 11 by 7 inches
Evening snow at St Margarets Church. Watercolour 11 by 7 inches
A finally home to West Malling
Two quick sketches of our home town with it many pubs, restaurants and shops.
In West Malling high Street Sketch 9 by 7 inches
West Malling High Street and St Mary the Virgin Church. 9 by 7 inch sketch.
I hope you have enjoyed these views of Kent through my watercolours. They have all been great fun to create.
I have recently published on iBooks a Book contains many of these watercolours and it is FREE as a download.
Look for it on Apple iBooks. It can be purchased also from Peecho as a hardback book . You can also download
a pdf version of the new book here.
Travels with a Brush Kent Vol 3 V2 1
Be safe and happy wherever you are.
Brian
Kent – The Garden of England Part 1
Hi Everybody wherever you may be.
All this extra time at home this year has made me realise how fortunate we are to live in the very beautiful County of Kent in the South East of England
So I thought maybe a few posts of some old and new Kentish scenes would hopefully be interesting to my readers.
It isn’t a tour exactly but a rather haphazard wandering of our very fine piece of England. Due to the large number of places(and watercolours!) I would like to include this post will come in Three parts and this is thus Part 1
I was born In Kent rather a long time ago and more by luck than judgement we can back to live in Kent in the 1970’s. It’s a decision that has worked out well for us as a family and it has given us all the benefits of this lovely part of the UK and it’s proximity to Europe too.
Historically Kent has had a big part to play in the development of the UK and this is very true of our first stopping place, Canterbury.
Canterbury is dominated by the magnificent Cathedral and it’s history, especially that of Thomas a Beckett and the Canterbury tales by Chaucer.
It can be seen from all around the City and here are two watercolour sketches, one of the Cathedral and one of St Augustines Abbey.
Canterbury Cathedral from Mercery Lane. Watercolour sketch
St Augustines Abbey in Canterbury. Watercolour sketch
It is only a few miles to travel to the North Coast of Kent from Canterbury and from Whitstable there is a long range view toward Reculver,a ruin today but once Roman fort and then an Abbey.
Reculer on the North Kent Coast Water 12 by 10 anches
Sunset at Margate. Watercolour 14 inches by 10
Continuing round the Isle of Thanet brings you to Broadstairs and the white cliffs coast that stretches all to way to Sussex. Here the beaches are sand but as you travel further west the sand changes to shingle.
Broadstairs – Viking Bay. Watercolour 16 inches by 12
Kites flying at Botany Bay, near Broadstairs. Watercolour 14 anches by 10
Toward Dover is the North Foreland Lighthouse on top of the cliffs and in Dover itself the view of the Castle from the Harbour spit is gréât.
North Foreland Lighthouse.Watercolour 14 by 10 anches
Dover Castle from the Harbour. Watercolour
From Dover travelling west now you come to Folkestone and Hythe and then Hastings. So here to finish Part 1 are few watercolours of Hythe and Hastings.
Fishing boats at Hythe in Kent. One of my first ever watercolours ,over 20 years ago!
Fishing boats on the Stad at Hastings
More fishing boats at Hastings
Regards
Out and about – A visit to the Marshes at Oare in Kent
It is very nice to once again be able to get out and about and even spend time sketching in the June sunshine in Kent.
This week I was able to do some sketching at Oare, near Faversham in Kent.
The marshes at Oare are a great wildlife and bird sanctuary and there is a pathway called the Saxon Shore Way that goes all around the coastline.
Where the Oare Creek meets the Faversham Creek is for me a nice place to sit and paint the boats, building and long distance view across Kent towards Faversham and beyond. I wasn’t going to be there long so the sketchbook, brushes and paints and three legged stool were enough equipment to paint a couple of scenes which could then be used to do some larger studio watercolours.
So here are the two sketches, each about 10 by 9 inches , one a closer detail of the boast and boatyard at the junction of the two Creeks. It was low tide so rather a lot of mud and not much creek!
The Boatyard from Oare Marshes. Sketchbook pen and wash. 10 inches by 9
Low tide at the Boatyard and the scene from Oare Marshes. Sketchbook watercolour, pen and wash. 10 Ickes by 9.
Back home I had started some larger paintings in watercolour of this scene from older photos but my sketches have now helped finish these paintings off for you to see.
The first is from across the creek toward the boatyard with the buildings and the pub there in the background. The second is the same view as the sketches with a glimpse of St Mary’s Church in the centre of Faversham able to be seen even though it must be about 2 miles away across the flat marshy land.
Barges and boats in Oare Creek. Watercolour 15 inches by 10 on Arches NOT 300gsm paper.
The Boatyard at Oare Creek. Watercolour 15 inches by 10 on Arches NOT 300gsm paper.
And this view you have seen before. A rather impressionistic view from Oare of the creek with some barges moored.
Barges at Oare. Watercolour 15 inches by 10 on Arches NOT 300gsm paper.
Out of interest the two sketches take about 20 minutes each to do so it is fast and furious, but the larger watercolours take me about 2 to 3 hours to complete , albeit with some drying time for the washes.
I hope you enjoy them all.
Where next I wonder?
Stay safe and well
Brian
Week 9 of Lockdown – preparing for coming home!
Mauritius – Paradise Isalnd
HI Everybody
As things appear to improve and Lockdown is easing very slightly it is time to think about travelling home from my virtual journeys.
But first we have to enjoy our few days in Mauritius having got here from Johanesburg.
Mauritius is a very nice holiday location, very friendly people and lovely hotels, good food and excellent local rum too.
Over the years we have enjoyed a good many trips there and never been disappointed, indeed quite the opposite.
These paintings were done earlier this year whilst there and be there will be a lovely way to end our journey, get on the plane and whizz back to England.
Mauritius has really lovely beaches and excellent golf courses, often adjacent to each other. This first painting was done sitting on a loiunger looking out to sea, oh I can feel the warmth even now!
By the beach
There are fishermen everywhere and lots of great little boats to paint all over the island.
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Fishing boats
The Mountains from the Beach
Often there are views from those beaches to the extraordinary mountains of Mauritius and boulders everywhere indicating it’s violent pre history when the whole large island must have been a continuous series of volcanic eruptions on a colossal scale leaving unusual large basalt mountains all over the island.
So now after a final dip in the sea we must fly home to London and hopefully get ready for a bit more easing of the lockdown!
I will be able to play Golf again!
Yippee!
Stay safe and well and who know maybe in a while we will be really travelling again
Brian
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