DOWN THE COAST

May 29, 2013

With the school holidays over and the weather starting to cool down, it seemed like a good idea to take a couple of weeks exploring all the little beaches and coastal villages to the south of us.

We left home with clear skies and blazing sun, but my wish was for threatening clouds and dramatic light along the beaches – I guess you can’t have everything.

diggers

Perfect camping spot on a sunny headland with kangaroos and sea eagles at Diggers Camp.

redcliff

Sunrise on Redcliff Beach

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Cool, clear mornings and deserted beaches

sea

After a few days zigzagging in and out of all the southern beaches, rainclouds started moving up the coast and the swell picked up.

solisland

Looking towards Solitary Island under threatening skies. Great for photographs – not so good for painting watercolor.

diggersbeach

Painted in haste with a cup of sea water between showers as the tide came in.

tidal shelf

Back home in the studio, shuffling around ideas for a large wet and rainy painting.

WEEKEND STUDIO WORKSHOPS

February 15, 2013

Over the past two weekends I held a couple of 2 day workshops here in my studio. A lot of people, due to work commitments, find it hard to attend the 5 day workshops. We had an enthusiastic group both weekends and managed to do a lot of painting in between chatting, drinking coffee and eating cakes. The demonstration paintings below show a couple from each workshop.

Studio Workshop

junk

This was the first painting we did in one of the workshops. A simple subject, but lots of interesting colors and textures. We used a mixture of watercolor, gouache, ink, charcoal and inktense pencil.

pellestrina

Here I chose a more complicated subject, but broke it down into simple shapes, then went to town with the different colors and textures. The first washes were watercolor over charcoal lines, then gouache, ink and pastel were added. the intense blue of the boat hulls is Ultramarine Gouache.

pellestrina2

Another complicated subject treated in a simple way – playing around with washes while holding on to a clean, high contrast focal area.

window

This was the first demo in the second workshop. Again a simple subject with plenty of color and texture to play around with.

These workshops were a lot of fun and booked out very quickly, so we will run a couple more towards the end of the year. Mean time, there are still a few places left in the 5 day march workshops

John Lovett’s Textures, Techniques and Special Effects for Watercolor

January 31, 2013

Have a quick flick through my new book. They have finally arrived and are being shipped out now.

Get your copy now for around US$19.95 plus p+p

MALDON AND THE MOUNTAINS

December 9, 2012

With 5 days up our sleeve before the Maldon Workshop started we decided to slowly plod our way down to Victoria via backroads and out of the way places rather than race down the highway.

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We camped behind the pub in the little town of Goolma, where the publican spun us a great tale about his favorite dog staring down a possum – neither would give in and they both died without ever moving.

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This is the possum

dog

…and this is the dog

mitsubishi canter 4x4 motorhome

Foggy morning behind the pub

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We wound our way down onto the Murray River before heading across to Maldon. Great to see the river with so much water and the country in such good condition.

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Julienne, the workshop coordinator in Maldon, arranged for us to stay in this fantastic little farm house – complete with chooks and a veggie garden.

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Maldon is a beautiful little town protected by a heritage listing to preserve the unchanged character of the place.

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The 5 day workshop was a lot of fun. We met some fantastic people and really enjoyed the quiet little country town.

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Melbourne was in the middle of the Spanish Festival in Brunswick and the Polish Festival in the City, so there was a lot happening.

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After a few days in Melbourne we took off towards the Snowy Mountains via the Sale Wetlands…

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…a spectacular series of swamps, creeks and billabongs just out of town – made even more dramatic by the approaching storm clouds.

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From Sale we drove up towards the Snowy River and took the long windy track down to McKillop Bridge.

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The mountains were magnificent and the road signs basic.

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MacKillop Bridge across the Snowy River. First built in 1935 and washed away a few days before it was due to open.

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Mmmm – Jindabyne Steak, 4 minutes each side, Yum.

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Above Charlotte Pass there were still patches of snow on the ground.

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Snow Gums

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Thredbo River

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Platypus in one of the small creeks.

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Stormy night up near Kiandra

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Creek on the Long Plain Road

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Home via Washpool NP.

PRAGUE

October 13, 2012

The old city of Prague is an amazing collection of domes, turrets and spires. The ground is completely covered in cobble stones  and the Gothic architecture is fantastic – the only downside is that thermometers in Prague only need very small numbers.

St Vitas Church

Large Religious thing covered in gold, silver and angels – St. Vitas Church.

Inside St Nicholas Church – No man in red suit inside.

The Chapel of All Saints in the town of Kutna Hora, outside Prague, is completely decorated with human bones – the remnants of up to 17000 bodies killed by the plague in the 16th century.

Kutna Hora – a quaint little town with some weird signs on the shop windows

Big gun in central Prague

The Palace Guards do a much better job of standing still and doing nothing than the white faced, sheet draped buskers standing on boxes around the city.

Buskers on Charles Bridge

Prague has very few old cars, in fact late model Porsche’s are such a common site that, to stand out in the crowd, the owners must go to ridiculous lengths.

These tiny blue cars are police vehicles.

Lost in translation

Like many bridges throughout Europe, Prague has it’s share of Lovers Padlocks. The idea is you take your sweetheart down to the bridge, pledge your undying love, attach the lock then throw the key in the river.

This guy must have had commitment issues and opted for a combination lock! (names were written in pencil too)

The ultimate extreme sport – a balloon ride over the spikiest city in the world.

LAKE COMO

October 9, 2012

Lake Como is a long V shaped lake set among steep, mist covered mountains in Northern Italy.

It is fringed with small villages accessed by a winding maze of roads or a busy network of ferries.

The town of Como is the main Ferry hub and has a Funicular railway to the village above.  The views from the mountains are spectacular and from the water the lake takes on a mysterious, fairytale quality with imposing villas and castles and small picturesque villages set at the bottom of steep, dramatic mountains.

Como

Varenna

Varenna

Italians love anything that goes fast. Lake Como host boat races that see speeds of 130kph. These guys came a proud third.

Menaggio

Painting at Menaggio

Como Funicular

All the colored mechanical bits that pull the carriage up the hill.

View of Como from the ascending funicular.

VENETIAN BOATS

October 5, 2012

Boats in Venice are long, skinny and stylish. They vary slightly depending on what function they perform.

Traditional ,cool and stylish

Fast and stylish.

Fast, wooden and stylish.

Yellow Vaporetto.

Airport taxi.

Cool and wooden.

High speed transport

Service station

Italian Cool

Foreign invader

Two men in boat with a pole.

Ugly

Sewerage barge

Work barge

Happy work boat

Black vaporetto.

Goods barge

Courier Barge

Garbage Barge

New Vaporetta

Old Vaporetto

Middle aged vaporetto

Very long boat

Color coordinated delivery barge

Work Barge Figure Head.


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