New Pages

I have added a couple of pages to this blog site showing images from my sketchbooks and some watercolour paintings. Please do have a look.

A small painting of Venice

Since the start of 2014 I've been looking through my photographs and sketches of Venice. I have dozens of sketches to work from but thousands of digital photographs. Venice is such wonderful source of subject matter.
Just to get the year kicked off I painting a small watercolour of a very popular scene, looking towards the San Giorgio Maggiore from near St Marks. Hope you like it.

Essaouira, another sketch

Another Moleskine sketchbook painting in watercolour from Essaouira.

Looking from the town towards the entrance to the harbour, this wall and castle keep were designed as protection against seaborne invasion centuries ago. Late afternoon light this time as the tide was coming in.

Essaouira, Morocco with Ken Howard RA

Finally got some of my sketches photographed from my trip to Morocco. 

This first one was painted on the first full day, early evening against the light, in a Moleskine watercolour sketchbook using both pages.  Went straight in with the brush, no drawing as the light was changing too quickly to allow time to do that.

Wonderful to be painting alongside Ken Howard RA.

Morocco with Ken Howard RA

Just back from a fantastic week painting in Essaouira, Morocco with a wonderful artist Ken Howard RA. Paintings and sketches from the week will appear here soon.

Painting in Royal Scottish Watercolour exhibition

Visited the Preview Night for the opening of the Royal Scottish Watercolour exhibition in Edinburgh this evening.
I had my first acceptance into this exhibition which is on from 1st to 24th March. My painting is shown below. It is of Hardangerfjord in Norway.
As well as the RSW, there is also Visual Arts Scotland and the Society of Scottish Artists. Well worth going along in the next few weeks.

New painting

Just finished a small painting which didn't make it to the exhibition in time.  More on that in a moment.

Thank you to all friends and visitors to our exhibition in the Dundas Street Gallery, Edinburgh last week. So many months of planning, thanks mainly to organisational skills of Ken Young, resulted in the streamlined running of the show. Unlike last year, our first in the Dundas Gallery, the hanging took up a fraction of the time expected. I suppose it was easier having experienced the hanging system before.  Mike Young, no relation, did a great job on the creation of the flyers, poster etc.

The opening night was packed out (see photo) and all seemed to enjoy the exhibition.

Venice

I recently spent a week in Venice with two very good friends, Dave Gough and Lea Nixon, who joined us part way through the week. Dave is mainly a photographer, whilst Lea paints in watercolour en plein air.  Neither had been to Venice before and both loved the place. It was my third trip and I shall never tire of going to this wonderful place.

My painting was from a photograph I took whilst on the vaporetto water bus one evening and measures 10 x 8 inches, painting in acrylic on canvas board.

Evening Light, Grand Canal, Venice