I had trouble with the painting and almost abandoned it on one or two occasions. The right-hand-side stair pillars gave me inordinate trouble. The shadowing required a skill I don't have. I also made an error late, when I'd almost completed the painting: I didn't leave a gap to suggest the light that spills through the left-hand-side stair pillars onto the steps and I had to scrub away at the wet paint with a sponge and repaint it. However, I'm moderately pleased with the resulting rescue. This is one watercolour which I feel I might get framed one day. Lambay Island is off the coast of County Dublin, Ireland. I copied this from a photograph in a lovely book called "Ireland's Islands" by Peter Sommerville-Large.
I'm most pleased with this lady's dress, which is painted in a very loose, suggestive style, colours bleeding nicely and with hard edge errors allowed and accepted. She has a certain twinkle in her eye.
The Dodo Terrace in Mount Stewart. Parts of the foliage are well done, other parts not so well. The leaves of the trees in the upper left-hand corner are without depth and lifeless. The subject is not well constructed either. I like the paving stones in the foreground though.
I'm a big fan of this quite loose and fluid watercolour which suggests a lot more than is actually painted. Much of the work was done wet-in-wet. It's also quite a large painting, on 20 x 16 inch paper.
Mount Stewart is on the east shore of Strangford Lough, County Down, Northern Ireland. I'm only so-so pleased with this painting. There is nice definition in the pool's reflections, but the plants and trees at the top of the steps are ill-defined.
I hate this painting! The sea is unsuccessful, the foreground daisies and thistles are overpowering and the rocky shore very poorly painted. Overall the composition layout is dreary, formulaic and without interest. The only reason I've kept it is the sky, which is simple and subtle, consisting of a single wash of various blues, purples and greys and is much better than this photo shows. St John's Point is one-and-a-half miles south of Killough in County Down, Northern Ireland.
I don't like advertising Ballykinlar beach. It's one of my favourite spots and it's rare to see anyone else on it, and I want it to stay that way. This painting has the snow-tipped Mourne Mountains, which Donard's famous shape sweeping down to the sea. I'm happy with the effect of the horses' legs disappearing in the surf, and also with the seaweed strewn beach. This painting was done fast and furiously in little over two hours, and most of that was drying time.
