A Panorama watercolour sketch of Donaghadee on the North coast of County Down.22 inches by 8

Hi All

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