WATERCOLOUR LANDSCAPES (page 1)

 

 

 

This is the Thames from Richmond Terrace (a stone’s throw from the Roebuck pub). The view has been painted by JMW Turner (‘Richmond Hill on the Birthday of the Prince Regent’), as well as by Sir Joshua Reynolds, and Oskar Kokoshka among others, and is said to be the most painted in the British Isles.

   The Petersham Hotel (the building to the left) wasn’t there in Turner’s time of course, but Petersham Meadow (to the left of the bend in the river) has been grazed by cattle at least since the 17th Century. Though just out of view here, Twickenham rugby ground is right under your nose. On a clear day you can see the North Downs (about 17 miles away) and pick out various landmarks, including Windsor Castle and the steadily revolving radar tower out at Heathrow airport.

 

 

A watercolour painting of the River Thames from Richmond Hill in Richmond-upon-Thames, Surrey, England.

 

 

▲‘Turner’s View’, Richmond-upon-Thames, Surrey 19x38cm watercolour over pencil on paper

 

On a balmy summer’s eve in good company, with a pint of (warm!) English bitter in hand, there’s hardly a better place for watching the sun set while chewing over the day’s events. As you contemplate the queue of planes coming in to land (at a rate of roughly one a minute) it’s a vista which seems to present a world of possibilities. If you’re ever out that way, take a stroll on the terrace.

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A watercolour painting of the Thames from Richmond Hill in Richmond-upon-Thames, Surrey, England, made in early summer.

◄ ‘Richmond Hill, early summer’
20x30cm (approx) watercolour
over pencil on paper

 

A watercolour sketch over biro of the River Thames under the Millennium footbridge looking towards the Tate Modern art gallery.

 

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►‘Flotsam under the bridge
with moon’ 26x18cm watercolour sketch over biro
on paper

 

 

 

 

 

I made this watercolour drawing (right) from the South Bank over a couple of September evenings. The bankside lights in front of the City of London School and under the Millennium Bridge itself made the water shimmer and sparkle. The dome of St Paul’s was illuminated by up-lighters and stood out against the fading light but there was still enough natural light for the sky to hold some good autumnal colours of its own.

A watercolour painting of the River Thames with the Millennium Footbridge looking towards St Paul's cathedral.

 

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◄ ‘St Paul’s and the Millennium Footbridge’ 20x31cm watercolour over biro on paper

 

I like this time of the year. You often get warm, still evenings. But they have too a hint of coolness and melancholy – winter is on its way, reminding us of the passage of time, and I suppose, of our own mortality too.

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