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Hagia Sophia
Read more: Hagia SophiaThis is a remarkable building. It is almost 1500 years old, which is not bad for a building sited in the middle of an earthquake zone! It was for a long time the world’s largest interior space, and the design of this building, in particular its large central dome, effectively became the archetype for the…
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Pergamon
Read more: PergamonThis is a view from the Asclepion of Pergamon towards the Acropolis, which true to its name is on the top of the hill in the background. We visited Pergamon as one of the seven churches mentioned in the Revelation to St John, found at the end of the bible. However, to me one of…
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Primroses
Read more: PrimrosesThe plants which grow best in my garden are those that are often labelled as weeds! I’m not sure whether primroses are normally classified by others in this way, but given how vigorously they self-seed and then grow in my lawn they seem to fit the bill. However, they have the advantage of being colourful…
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Sandpit
Read more: SandpitThere are many quarries near where I live. A few of these sites are still being worked, but most are now inactive. In this region (and quite possibly elsewhere too) a disused quarry will tend to turn into a lake, so we have several man-made lakes around here as well. The lake that I have…
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Chion-in (知恩院)
Read more: Chion-in (知恩院)I find it rather odd that the less paint I put on the paper the more effort it takes me to do so. I have long admired those who can seemingly capture the essence of a scene with just a few broad and (apparently) lazy brush strokes, rather than getting caught up as I often…
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Toque Macaque
Read more: Toque MacaqueThese monkeys are quite common in Sri Lanka, particularly near Sigiriya where the original photo of this character was taken. These creatures look very sweet and endearing when you first see them, particularly with their quirky hairstyles, but there is a good reason why monkeys have a reputation for mischief. Just a few minutes before…
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Limes
Read more: LimesI have become quite partial to limes of late, so a lime being cut open on a chopping board is quite a common sight in our kitchen these days. I was quite keen to paint a lime that looked as if it had the taste I crave from the fruit. In all honesty I think…
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An Audience
Read more: An AudienceAs I spend more time wrestling with my watercolour paints, I have realised that as well as applying ever more colour to the paper it is also possible to remove paint from the surface to lighten an area. This scene was created to experiment with ways of removing paint from certain places to create the…
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Sunset Regatta
Read more: Sunset RegattaAnother piece based on my imagination and mainly composed of triangles, this time with just a few supporting semicircles. I’m not a sailor, but nevertheless I rather suspect that most regattas aim to finish before sunset so that they can see what is going on. However, that detail would have somewhat spoilt this arrangement.
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Tropical Beach
Read more: Tropical BeachLoosely based on a photo taken on Mirissa Beach in Sri Lanka, here is another experiment using watercolours and quite a lot of water. Once again my first attempt was too wet, meaning that the background trees grew enormous as they spread over most of the sky! This second version was closer to damp rather…
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Wet Flowers
Read more: Wet FlowersHaving been advised to try watercolour paints on posh proper cotton watercolour paper, I decided to have another go at the “wet on wet” approach, where the paper is dampened before the paint is applied. It turns out that the amount of water is quite critical! My first go at what I thought would be…
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Two Doors
Read more: Two DoorsThese doors don’t really exist. This image popped into my head whilst I was making a rather obvious choice between two alternatives. Now I suppose that contrasting a welcoming light beyond an open door with a locked door guarding an apparently dark room is a rather hackneyed image, but it summed up my thoughts at…











