Views
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Gatton Wood
I drew this picture a few years ago, and was reminded about it by the snow I saw lying around whilst walking in these same woods today. So this seems like as good a time as any to post a lock-down wintertime scene …
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Riverside Lights
On a recent trip to Budapest we took a lamplit walk along this part of the river. Someone has obviously given some serious thought as to how best to light this area, as I don’t think such atmospheric illumination is at all likely to happen by accident! I’m not quite sure what is in the…
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Tram
I know we now have trams in England again, but to me the sight of a tram on the streets of a continental European city still feels rather satisfyingly foreign. I was pleased therefore to discover there are many trams in Budapest. This particular unit is running along the “Pest” bank of the Danube, where…
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Bethlehem in Triangles
There is very little that is novel in this picture, except perhaps the fact that it is composed entirely of triangles. This follows on from previous attempts at “triangle” pictures Treeangle and Trencadis(h), which is an absorbing (i.e. takes a long time!) approach that gives interesting results. I have never figured out how a star…
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Two Statues
This unlikely pair are to be found in front of the Hungarian Parliament Building in Budapest. The rather casual and lanky Attila Jozsef in the foreground was a very popular local poet writing between the 1st and 2nd World Wars. The more classical equestrian statue behind is of Ferenc Rakoczi, who fought against the Habsburgs…
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Nikko II
The temples in Japan are extremely elegant – none more so than this example in Nikko called Rinno-ji (輪王寺). I suspect that I could have painted a more accurate picture of this building using brushes, or drawn it more cleanly using a pen, but I have to say that spreading these rich colours across the…
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Torii
The island of Naoshima, situated in the Seto Sea just off the mainland coast of Japan, is well known for its contemporary art exhibitions and installations. However, as far as I am aware this torii gate which we saw on that island is not a piece of art, but in fact a real torii gate…
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Nikko (日光市)
Nikko is a popular tourist site in the mountains to the north of Tokyo, full of superb shrines and temples, nearby a picturesque lake and several onsen (hot springs), and at this time of year full of autumn colours. There is also this bridge, which no longer carries any traffic but which (for obvious reasons)…
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Stonehenge
These stones have been here for a very, very long time, and hence exert a fascination on many people. The A303 main road, which passes close by Stonehenge, has only existed for a relatively brief time but already exerts a horror to many drivers because of the seemingly permanent traffic jams near the stones. I…
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Autumnish
We all know autumn well – it is something that occurs every year. This happens to be an autumnal view along the Pilgrims Way as it crosses Reigate Hill, although it could be almost anywhere at this time of year. This also happens to be a picture that I painted four years ago, although it…
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View From A Plane
I suppose most of us have seen this type of view, which is both constantly changing but which also seems to have stayed the same throughout the many hours of the flight. For the record the photo from which this is drawn was taken during the descent of a flight into Singapore, and from the…
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View from Blackfriars
On our way back home recently, after visiting a Van Gogh exhibition in London, we found ourselves waiting for a train at Blackfriars Station. The view from the southbound platform (which spans the Thames) is always inspiring, and on this occasion at dusk the view was more than a bit like Vincent’s painting “Starry Night…
