Marktplatz, Basel

Basel used to be my home town, and after a break of two years, it was great to go back for a visit. Basel has a wonderful old town with the Marktplatz at its centre. What drew me to paint this scene were the late afternoon shadows splitting the houses diagonally.

It's always a challenge to simplify a busy scene and I decided not to include bicycles and street furniture, which I felt would detract from the main idea of the painting.

Painting a busy scene

Every so often, I have looked at my reference of Temple Bar and thought it would make a good painting. Certainly its architecture is beautiful, but the focus for this painting was going to be people going about their business.

Here are some progress shots about my process:

I usually start with the background but decided I would paint the crowd first.

I then started on the buildings:

Next came Temple Bar itself. I deliberately did not make it as tall as it is in reality to keep the people as an important part of the composition.

Finally, I felt it needed some directional lines on the ground.

Fish in a pond

Watercolour of Koi, 30cm x 40cm

I took some reference photos of fish in a pond at Wimpole Hall, with a view to trying out the watercolour methods of Cheng-Khee Chee. This masterful painter starts with an abstract background and then lifts out the lighter areas of the koi.

The first stage of dropping in paint and letting the colours mingle was really quite enjoyable. When next placing my fish, I was looking for a circular movement and let the composition happen organically.

Of course, my effort does not even come close to Cheng-Khee Chee's masterpieces, but I am nonetheless quite pleased with the result.

Rustic Pots

watercolour 30cm x 40cm

I found this selection of jugs and flower pots on a shelf in the gardeners' cottage on the Wimpole Hall estate and thought it made a nice found still life.

Wimpole Hall is a national trust estate just north of Royston, which we visited last weekend for the first time. It is quite a large estate with a beautiful mansion and is also popular with families because of its working farm.


The paper I used was Saunders Waterford rough. For the paints, I chose a limited palette of Jacksons cobalt and ultramarine blue, raw siena and Winsor & Newton permanent alizarin crimson.

Sailing boat at Blakeney

I came across this boat along our coastal walk to Blakeney, Norfolk, and loved its bright colours and the strong reflections it cast in the water. In my painting, I cleared the spit of land of the many cars that were parked there, but added some dog walkers, of whom I saw many in the area.

Sailing boat at Blakeney

Oxburgh Hall, Norfolk

Watercolour, 30cmx40cm

I visited Oxburgh Hall for the first time in February. This is a stately home in a beautiful setting and doesn't seem to get too crowded, although it might be busier in the summer than early in the season. We had a guided snowdrop walk through the grounds and found out not only interesting facts about this plant but also more about the history from knowledgeable guide David.

There are staff in each room of the house, who you can ask for information about the exhibits etc. I preferred this personal approach to the usual way museums are organised, where you have to read the information yourself or listen to an audioguide.

I always love painting water, probably because I like the colour blue, and wanted to bring out the lights and darks in this painting.

The Rosin Box

Dancer watercolour

Another figure study to ring the changes from landscapes. With an "empty" background, this was easier to paint than landscapes, as I just had to adjust the background values to bring forward the subject.

Dancers dip their soles into a box of rosin to make the shoes less slippery. The only other time I have come across rosin is the one used for violin bows.